What Is Website Visitor Identification?
Website visitor identification is the process of revealing the real identity of anonymous website visitors – their name, email address, job title, phone number, and company – using identity resolution technology that matches web traffic to known person records.
How It Works
When someone visits a B2B website, they are typically anonymous – analytics tools like Google Analytics show page views and sessions but not who the visitor actually is. Website visitor identification tools use a tracking script combined with an identity graph (a large database of person records) to match anonymous visitors to real people.
The process works in three steps: First, a lightweight JavaScript tracking script is installed on the website. Second, when a visitor arrives, the tool's identity resolution engine cross-references the visit against the identity graph. Third, if a match is found, the visitor's identity – name, email, company, job title, and more – is returned to the website owner in real-time.
Company-Level vs Person-Level Identification
There are two types of website visitor identification. Company-level identification reveals which organizations are visiting your site, typically using reverse IP lookup. Tools like Leadfeeder and 6sense focus on this approach. Person-level identification goes further, revealing the specific individual – their name, email, and direct contact information. ClearView uses person-level identification powered by a 254-million-person identity graph.
Why It Matters for B2B Teams
Approximately 97% of B2B website visitors leave without filling out a form or identifying themselves. This means the vast majority of your marketing spend drives traffic that your sales team never sees. Website visitor identification captures this otherwise-lost demand, turning anonymous traffic into actionable leads with names and contact information your team can follow up on immediately.
Key Features to Look For
- •Person-level identification (not just company-level)
- •Large identity graph (more records = higher match rates)
- •Real-time identification (not batch processing)
- •CRM and tool integrations (push leads directly to your workflow)
- •Lead scoring (prioritize high-intent visitors)
- •Transparent pricing (no hidden fees or enterprise-only contracts)
- •Privacy compliance (first-party data, no third-party cookies)