An IP address is a set of numbers assigned to your computer’s network interface. Your device needs to send and receive data whenever you access anything through the internet. Your IP address is the equivalent of a physical address for a UPS delivery, allowing it to travel and land safely. Every online transaction involves an IP exchange, in which both the device of both party’s learn each other’s IP address. A good example, to put it differently, is ordering takeout: you need to know their phone number to make your order and you need to provide your home address for delivery. We will return to discuss how this information can be useful in IP tracking later on.

We can avoid manually transferring data and online information across devices by using IP addresses instead of memory cards, CDs and other external storage. To access a shared file, send an email or perform a Google search, we all require the strength of IP addresses. It’s simple to overlook the significance of this vital sequence of numbers! These IPs, which can take many various forms, are essential to computing technology.

Dynamic IPs vs Static IPs

Any device employing a static IP address will always have the same address whether connecting to other networks or accessing the internet since it is constant. This IP is preferred by enterprises or residential networks since it remains in use during  device reconnections.

A dynamic IP changes each time a device connects to the internet by linking to a public, external IP. These IP addresses function well for smartphones, tablets and laptops.

Each type of IP has benefits and drawbacks. Data transmissions using static IP addresses are more dependable and are much faster. They are, however, less secure and less difficult to track. Additionally, they cost more, and frequently your ISP (internet service provider), who assigns IP addresses, can only supply them upon request. In addition to being much safer and harder to trace, dynamic IPs are also less expensive because ISPs can use them continuously.

It’s likely that most of your devices will use dynamic IP addresses to function.

Private IPs vs Public IPs

Everyone can find your public IP and send you information, just like your home address. Every time you access a website or send an email, your public IP address is globally unique to your device, and anyone with the right software can figure out your IP address.

A private IP, as you might expect, is private and it prevents your devices from exposure. Most large residences and businesses have a public IP for their internet router and choose to have all connected devices use private IPs.

Private IP addresses appear to be preferable to public ones because they conceal your IP. But this isn’t always the case. Since everyone can access public IP addresses, full connectivity and internet access are possible; nevertheless, according to the IP rules, online activity requires an IP exchange. Due to their limited visibility and potential for IP connection problems, private IP addresses must function through a public router. If the IP relates to a person, it’s considered personal data under GDPR. This means that if it is accessible, significant legal restrictions apply to using it.

Learn about IPv4 vs IPv6 here.

How can your company benefit from IP tracking?

The answer is obvious: IP tracking and IP targeting. By logging the IP addresses that your website interacts with and gathering useful information around them, these methods can significantly help marketing and sales teams to hit their goals.

IP tracking is often used to unveil more info about website visitors. IP addresses can provide several business advantages depending on the website traffic tracking technologies you select to use:

• Some analytics systems can track IP location, giving users access to geo-location data and connecting it to a company. Your marketing staff will have a deeper understanding of your audience as a result, helping carry out effective campaigns. Your website might have lately experienced growth in Australia, giving you the exciting opportunity to expand. This is thanks to geolocating carried out by IP tracking.
• Companies with the capacity to track IP location are now providing marketing alternatives based on IP location. Marketing teams who run expensive campaigns, like PPC, have a competitive advantage through regional personalization.
• Your sales team can access new leads that have already expressed interest in your business by visiting your website. This is thanks to software like ours that can extract the required data from visitor IP addresses. To determine which companies are accessing your website, Lead Revealer employs IP tracking. After capturing the visitor IP, we run them through the world’s biggest privately-owned database of company IP addresses. Finally, we link the IP addresses to their owners. We provide the visitor location, the names and phone numbers of the decision-makers, and a breakdown of the website journey.

Frequently Asked Questions: IP Tracking