If you’re tired of throwing spaghetti at the wall with cold outreach, you’re not alone. Most B2B prospecting wastes time on the wrong people. But when you know exactly which companies use certain tech—or just dropped a competitor—you can skip the guesswork. This guide is for sales pros, founders, and marketers who want a real shot at building targeted, high-quality lead lists using Builtwith (more on what that is in a sec).
Let's get to it.
Why Use Builtwith for Lead Lists?
Let’s start with the basics: Builtwith is a tool that scans millions of websites and tells you what technologies they’re running—think payment processors, CRMs, chat widgets, ecommerce platforms, and more.
This might sound simple, but it’s a goldmine for B2B outreach. If you sell add-ons for Shopify, wouldn’t you rather email stores actually using Shopify? Or, if your product works better for folks on HubSpot than Salesforce, you want to know who’s using what, right?
Builtwith lets you cut the noise and target companies that actually fit your product. No more “spray and pray.”
But, here’s the thing: Builtwith isn’t magic. It’s a solid data source, but you’ll still need to do some work to build, clean, and use those lists wisely. Let’s walk through it, step by step.
Step 1: Get Clear on Who You Actually Want
Before you even log in, get specific about your ideal customer. Builtwith can spit out thousands of companies, but more isn’t better if they’re not a fit.
Ask yourself: - What tech stacks do your best customers use? - What size companies do you want (startup, mid-market, enterprise)? - Any industries you want to focus on—or avoid? - Are you targeting decision-makers, developers, marketers, or someone else?
It’s tempting to grab every company using a tool, but that just makes more work later. A little focus now saves hours down the road.
Step 2: Search for Technologies (and Stack Combinations) in Builtwith
Now, log in to Builtwith and start searching. Here’s where the magic happens.
Basic Search
- Plug in the technology you care about (e.g., “Shopify,” “HubSpot,” “Stripe”).
- Builtwith will show you a massive list of domains using that tech.
Combine Filters
Don’t stop at one technology. The real power is in combining filters. For example: - “Companies using Shopify and Klaviyo.” - “Websites running WordPress but not WooCommerce.” - “Sites that used to have Mailchimp but now don’t.”
Why does this matter? Combo filters weed out noise and surface more qualified leads. If your tool is for companies using both Shopify and Recharge (for subscriptions), you don’t want generic ecom stores.
Pro tip: Builtwith’s “Historical” filters can show you companies that recently dropped or added a tool. Great for timing your outreach (e.g., they just left a competitor).
Step 3: Narrow Down by Geography, Traffic, or Industry
A list of 100,000 sites isn’t helpful. Trim it down.
- Location: Builtwith lets you filter by country. If you only sell in the US, filter out the rest.
- Traffic: Sort by estimated traffic. If your pricing only works for bigger brands, skip the mom-and-pop shops.
- Industry: Not perfect, but you can filter by categories like “Retail,” “Finance,” etc.
What works: Use traffic and location filters together. It’s not always 100% accurate, but it’s better than cold-blasting everyone.
What doesn’t: Relying on Builtwith’s “industry” tags alone. They’re broad and sometimes off. Use them as a rough guide, not gospel.
Step 4: Export Your List (But Don’t Just Grab Everything)
Once you’ve narrowed your list, use the export feature.
- Pick CSV or Excel. You’ll get domain names, tech used, sometimes company names, and basic info.
- Don’t download every field “just in case.” Focus on what you’ll really use: domain, company, country, maybe employee estimate.
Heads up: Builtwith caps how many leads you can export, based on your plan. If you’re just starting, don’t pay up for the biggest plan unless you’re sure you’ll use it.
Step 5: Clean and Enrich Your Data
Now comes the grunt work. Builtwith is a solid start, but it won’t hand you verified emails or job titles.
What you get: Website, tech used, sometimes company name and size.
What you need: Contact names, email addresses, LinkedIn profiles. Builtwith doesn’t give you that.
How to fill the gaps:
- Use tools like LinkedIn, Hunter.io, Apollo, or Clearbit to match domains to company contacts.
- Prioritize decision-makers: Head of Marketing, CTO, whoever fits your sales process.
- Remove duplicates, outdated companies, or those outside your market.
Don’t: Trust Builtwith’s “emails” if you see them—they’re almost always generic or outdated.
Do: Spend the time to get real, relevant contacts. The best list in the world is useless if you’re emailing “info@company.com.”
Step 6: Prioritize and Segment
You now have a refined list. But don’t blast everyone at once. Segment your list for smarter outreach.
Simple ways to segment: - By technology combo (e.g., “Shopify + Recharge” vs. “Shopify only”) - By company size or traffic - By how recently they adopted or dropped a tool (hotter leads)
Start with your “best fit” segment—smaller, more likely to convert. Tailor your outreach to what you know (“Saw you just switched to HubSpot, congrats!” works better than a generic pitch).
Step 7: Outreach—Be Relevant or Be Ignored
You’ve got your list. Here’s where most folks screw it up: sending the same bland message to everyone.
What works: - Reference the tech stack (“Noticed you’re using Shopify and Klaviyo…”) - Mention recent changes (“Saw you just dropped Mailchimp…”) - Keep it short and human
What doesn’t: - “I see you’re a leading company in your industry…” (everyone sees through this) - Overly automated, generic emails
Builtwith gives you a reason to reach out. Use it.
Real Talk: Builtwith’s Limitations (and What to Ignore)
- Accuracy: Builtwith is pretty good, but it’s not perfect. Some sites use tech behind the scenes you won’t see. Some data is old. Double-check before you pitch.
- Contact info: You’ll always need another tool to get emails and roles.
- Industry tags: Meh. Use as hints, but don’t trust them blindly.
- High-volume plans: Don’t buy the biggest plan unless you’re running massive campaigns. Start small.
Bottom line: Builtwith is a tool, not a magic wand. It’ll save you hours, but you still need to do the work.
Keep It Simple (and Iterate)
Don’t overthink it. Start with a small, focused list. Reach out, see what lands, and tweak your filters as you go. Builtwith is best used as part of a process—not a one-click lead vending machine.
When in doubt, come back to this: clear target, focused filters, clean data, relevant outreach. That’s how you actually get responses. And if you’re not getting traction, don’t be afraid to adjust. The perfect list rarely exists the first time around.
Happy hunting.