If you want a real view of what tech your industry is actually using—not what vendors say they're using—digging into website trends is a smart move. Maybe you’re scouting new tools, keeping tabs on competitors, or just tired of flying blind. This guide is for marketers, founders, product folks, and anyone who wants clear, no-nonsense answers about web technology adoption. Let’s get into how you can use Wappalyzer data to cut through the noise.
What Is Wappalyzer (And What Can You Really Do With It?)
Wappalyzer is a tool that scans websites and tells you what technologies they’re running—think CMS, analytics, e-commerce platforms, JavaScript frameworks, marketing tools, and more. You can use it through a browser extension, online search, or by downloading larger datasets for heavy analysis.
What’s good:
- Fast way to see which tools are actually in use on real websites.
- Useful for competitor research, sales prospecting, product development, and tech trend spotting.
What’s not:
- It only sees what’s public on the front-end—not internal tools or backend-only services.
- Detection isn’t perfect; obfuscated or heavily customized sites might slip through.
- No magic crystal ball. Wappalyzer tells you what is there, not why or how well it’s working.
Step 1: Define the Industry and Website List
Don’t just wing it—get specific about what “your industry” means. A haphazard list will just give you noise.
How to Pick the Right Sites
- Start with a good list:
Use industry directories, rankings (like Alexa or SimilarWeb), or even your competitors’ customer lists. Don’t just grab random URLs. - Decide what counts:
Are you targeting ecommerce? SaaS? Local businesses? Be consistent. - Keep it manageable:
Analyzing 50-200 sites usually gives a good signal. More is fine, but it’ll get messy fast.
Pro tip:
If you’re scraping lists, watch for outdated or broken links. Wappalyzer can’t analyze what isn’t there.
Step 2: Gather Wappalyzer Data
Now, actually collect the tech stack data. There are a few ways to do this, each with trade-offs.
Your Options
- Browser Extension (Manual):
Good for small batches or one-off checks. Just visit each site and let Wappalyzer show you what it finds. - Online Lookup:
Paste in URLs on the Wappalyzer website. Works for a handful of sites. - Bulk Data (API or CSV):
For real analysis, use Wappalyzer’s paid offerings to process a big list automatically. You’ll get results in CSV or JSON.
What works?
For anything past 20-30 sites, bite the bullet and use bulk data. Manual methods are a slog and prone to error.
What to ignore?
Tools that promise “100% accurate tech stack detection”—no such thing. Wappalyzer is solid, but not flawless.
Step 3: Clean and Organize the Data
Raw data is messy. Take 15 minutes to clean it, or you’ll waste hours later.
What to Check
- Remove duplicates:
Sometimes the same company has multiple domains. Pick one. - Standardize tech names:
“Google Analytics” might show up as “Google Analytics” or “Google Universal Analytics.” Normalize these. - Fill gaps:
If some sites have missing data, decide whether to exclude them or just mark as “unknown.”
Pro tip:
A spreadsheet works fine for most people. If you’re handy with Python or R, use them—but don’t overcomplicate it for smaller lists.
Step 4: Analyze for Patterns
Here’s where the real insight happens. Look for trends, not just raw counts.
What To Actually Look For
- Most-used technologies:
Which CMS, e-commerce platform, or analytics tool dominates? (Example: “Shopify is on 60% of top apparel stores.”) - Emerging tools:
Spot smaller players gaining traction. If you see 10% using a new CRM, take note. - Outliers:
If one big player uses a totally different stack, ask why. Sometimes it’s innovation. Sometimes it’s legacy tech they’re stuck with. - Tech combos:
Are certain tools always used together? (Example: Most Magento stores also run a specific payment gateway.)
How to Visualize
- Bar charts:
Great for showing top tools by usage. - Trend lines:
If you do this regularly, compare changes over time. - Heat maps, scatter plots:
Only if you have lots of data and want to get fancy. Otherwise, don’t bother.
What to ignore?
Don’t obsess over rare one-off tools unless you have a reason. Focus on what’s actually moving the market.
Step 5: Draw Real-World Conclusions
Data’s nice, but you want answers.
Example Questions To Ask
- Are competitors jumping to a new platform?
- Is there a standard “starter kit” everyone uses?
- Are there patterns by company size or market segment?
- Does a certain tool’s adoption line up with recent news or funding rounds?
Honest take:
Don’t expect perfect clarity. Sometimes trends are obvious (“Everyone’s moving to Shopify”). Sometimes, it’s a jumble. That’s still useful—it tells you the market’s fragmented.
Step 6: Track Changes Over Time
One-off snapshots are OK, but real insight comes from watching what changes.
How To Do This
- Set a calendar reminder:
Check back every 3-6 months. - Log new, dropped, or swapped technologies:
Who’s ditching what? Who’s an early adopter? - Keep your process simple:
It’s easy to get bogged down in over-complicated dashboards. A spreadsheet with a few columns (“Site,” “Old Tech,” “New Tech,” “Date”) works fine for most.
Step 7: Share and Act on What You Find
Don’t let all your work die in a dusty folder.
Who Cares About This?
- Product managers:
Use findings to prioritize integrations or feature work. - Marketers:
See what tools the competition uses for personalization, analytics, or lead gen. - Sales teams:
Target prospects based on the tech they use (or don’t use). - Founders/Execs:
Gut-check industry hype against reality.
How To Share
- A short slide deck with key charts and takeaways.
- A one-pager for your team.
- Just talk through your findings. Don’t bury people in spreadsheets.
What Works, What Doesn’t, What To Ignore
Works: - Regular, focused tracking of real sites in your niche. - Simple visualizations over big, messy dashboards. - Comparing data against your own experience and gut feel.
Doesn’t: - Blindly trusting every tool detection. - Getting lost in tiny sample sizes. - Letting “analysis paralysis” stop you from making decisions.
Ignore: - Hype about new tech until you see real adoption. - Overly complicated analytics setups—keep it simple unless you’re running a huge operation.
Keep It Simple, Iterate, and Don’t Chase Hype
Analyzing website trends with Wappalyzer data isn’t rocket science, but it’s easy to overthink. Build a solid list, get your data, clean it up, and look for real patterns. Trust what you see, not what’s being hyped. Start small, revisit your process, and tweak as you go. You’ll get a clearer, more honest view of your industry—and you’ll spend less time guessing.