Similarweb web analytics tool review

You’ve done all the hard work of getting your new business off the ground, but the toil never seems to end. Between opening your store, launching your website, and everything else that comes with your entrepreneurial endeavors, where is there time to keep an eye on the competition? 

While keeping your brand relevant can be achieved in more ways than one, staying up on the web activity, overall SEO, and site performance of you, your foes and familiars can help to let you know what’s working in the marketplace and what isn’t. But how does one even begin to hold a spyglass to these metrics? That’s what Similarweb is for.

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Launched in 2007, Similarweb is a digital intelligence software suite that provides web-tracking capabilities to its users, allowing businesses to keep tabs on web traffic, page performance, keyword optimization, and more. Whether you’re building a new website for a client or want to see how your own pages stack up against rival organizations, Similarweb is your one-stop-shop for all things tracking and quantification. 

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Features

Similarweb’s trove of web-tracking tools are separated into two distinct payment tiers - free and enterprise-level. A free plan is a great way to experience the fundamentals of Similarweb before deciding if the software is ideal for you and your company. Under the free subscription you’ll receive five results per metric, one month of mobile app data, and three months of web traffic data.

The true power and potential of Similarweb is unlocked with an enterprise subscription, netting you extensive benefits like unlimited results per searched metric, 28 months of mobile app data, up to three years of web traffic data, and additional tools like keyword analysis and the ability to onboard and manage multiple users at once.

Similarweb also offers a bounty of business management and optimization tools that you can find right on the landing page under Solutions. This includes digital research and marketing intelligence tools for purposes like benchmarking the competition and company and audience research, sales intelligence tools for generating leads and learning how to find/work with new and potential clients, and investor tools for things like stock management and consumer demands. 

When it comes to choosing your subscription plan, the price you will pay is dependent on the range of services your business will require. In the end, most users can expect to spend anywhere from $200-$800 per month. 

While a majority of these advanced resources are locked behind the professional and enterprise-level paywalls (with numerous pages linking back to the registration page and Similarweb’s price options), it’s clear that Similarweb has the singular goal of helping you grow your business by keeping your brand relevant, flexible, and ahead of the rest.

User experience and privacy

We tested various elements of Similarweb’s free tier using a 2021 Macbook Pro running Big Sur 11.2.3. Similarweb offers browser extensions for Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Mozilla Firefox, and Opera. For this review we used the Similarweb Chrome extension.

Before you’re able to use the extension, Similarweb will ask you to join the Similarweb Panel. In a nutshell, this is the company’s way of asking you to share your user data with them. While this may not bode well for some, in essence, Similarweb’s entire operation is built on tracking user data across the web. Readingthe site's privacy policy, one can get a better understanding of exactly how and why Similarweb collects personal info and what means to an end this serves for the software’s subscribers. 

Once we agreed to join the Similarweb Panel, we headed right over to Apple.com to get things started. After dropping onto the landing page, we fired up the Similarweb extension in the Chrome browser. Right off the bat, we were greeted to a host of poignant site metrics, including global, country, and category rank, as well as bounce rate, pages per visit, monthly visits, and average visit duration. 

That’s not all though. When you click More Insights at the top of the page, a new tab will launch (at least when using the Chrome extension), where you’ll be taken to a Similarweb profiling of the site you’re currently visiting. Here you can see things like how much web tracking is generated by the site through referrals, what mobile apps are affiliated with the brand, the generalized interests of the site’s target audience(s), and more. 

There’s even a handy Compare+ button that will allow you to easily stack and compare the requested metrics of more than one site at a time. Do keep in mind that as you begin to use some of the free extension’s more advanced resources you’ll eventually be zipped to a separate tab (at least through Chrome) asking you to sign up for a Similarweb account, whether free or paid.

Platforms

Similarweb’s suite of services are available across Windows, Mac, and Linux-based operating systems, with browser extensions available for Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Mozilla Firefox, and Opera.

The competition

Similarweb goes toe-to-toe with a number of other website traffic aggregators and marketing software suites. One such rival is SEMrush, a renowned SEO optimizer with products and resources on-par with Similarweb, along with the added benefit of a mobile app for on-the-go monitoring (at this time, Similarweb doesn’t offer an app).

Another popular optimizer and reference portal is Google Analytics. Offering a bevy of tracking options and customization features at no cost, Google Analytics is convenient to use and easy to learn.

Final verdict

While the lack of a mobile app may leave some users wanting more, Similarweb makes up for a missing on-the-go platform with its feature-rich website, browser extensions, and customizable service tiers that are tailor-made to match the needs of your business. 

From site traffic statistics to audience analysis, Similarweb is an excellent portal into the world of comparative metrics.

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