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===Launch===
Directgov was launched in April 2004, replacing the [[Ukonline]] portal. Rather than just providing links to government departments as UKonline had done, Directgov carried its own material, designed around users' needs. The first three sections were for motorists, disabled people and parents.<ref name="Cross">[https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2004/mar/04/internet.egovernment Direct to your destination] Michael Cross; guardian.co.uk. 4 March 2004</ref><ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/3522649.stm "Big changes for government site"] BBC News; 1 March 2004</ref>
By 2006 the site had over ten million visits per month, and involved 18 government departments.<ref name="transformational2006">[http://www.cio.gov.uk/transformational_government/annual_report2006/index.asp "Transformational Government 2006: Enabled by Technology"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090328094914/http://www.cio.gov.uk/transformational_government/annual_report2006/index.asp |date=2009-03-28 }} Chief Information Officer Council, January 2007</ref>
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As part of the [[Transformational Government]] strategy, an annual report was published in January 2007 stating that hundreds of government websites would be shut down "to make access to information easier" for people. In future, most government information would be streamlined through two main "supersites" – either Directgov (for citizens) or [[Business Link|Businesslink.gov.uk]] (for businesses).<ref name="transformational2006"/> It was reported at the launch of the strategy that of 951 websites, only 26 would definitely stay, 551 would definitely close and hundreds more were expected to follow.<ref name=close_551/><ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/6252929.stm The doomed government websites] BBC News, 11 January 2007</ref> About £9 million a year was expected to be saved over three years by cutting back on sites that did not serve a useful purpose.<ref name=close_551>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/6247703.stm Government to close 551 websites] BBC News, 11 January 2007</ref>
On 1 April 2008, Directgov moved again, from the COI to the [[Department for Work and Pensions]] (DWP), in a [[machinery of government]] change.<ref
By the end of the fourth quarter of 2009 Directgov reported traffic statistics of circa 20 million hits a month from over 8 million unique users.<ref>[http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20121015000000/http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/SiteInformation/DG_10036216 Directgov Site Information]</ref>
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