VisualPing – Monitor Websites for Visual Changes

Nobody has time to sit around clicking refresh on a website all day while they wait for an important change to go through. With VisualPing, people can find out immediately when the look of a website has changed, either because of a product launch, pricing decrease, ticket availability, or because of updates made to a page without RSS.

Enter the URL of any website you want to track on VisualPing’s main page, then click “Go!” VisualPing will capture an initial snapshot of the page. You have the option to resize the captured area based on where you’re looking for change on the page. This is a useful tool, because it helps avoid instances of erroneous page change notifications. (Like when an advertisement on a page updates, for example.) Next, you can tell VisualPing how frequently to check the site for changes, and choose a “trigger”—for example, tiny change, medium change, or major change. Enter an email address where VisualPing should send your notification, and your work is complete.

When VisualPing checks the site and discovers a change, you’ll receive an immediate email letting you know and inviting you to visit the page to see for yourself. VisualPing also offers a localized Google search option, which people should use to track the rankings of their businesses on the front page of Google results.

Practical Uses:

• Find out when a pre-ordered book has been released
• Be the first person to see when new when concert tickets have gone on sale
• Receive an email notification when the price on a TV has changed
• Track changes to where your business appears in Google search results over time

Insider Tips:

• Use the selection tool to limit the areas of the page that you’re tracking
• A “tiny change” is just a 1% change, whereas a “major change” is a 25% change
• Change the interval to control how frequently VisualPing checks your website
• The smaller the selection rectangle a person uses, the fewer notifications he’ll receive

What we liked:

• VisualPing is an excellent solution for tracking changes to pages without RSS
• Users can adjust how sensitive VisualPing should be to website changes
• Localized Google searches help people see what local search results look like for people living in other areas
• People can earn credits on VisualPing by sharing the site on social media

What we didn’t like:

• VisualPing charges people based on the number of jobs run, regardless of interval

Alternatives:

• None

Company Info:

• Launched: 2013
• Privately Held
• Headquarters: Switzerland
• Founded by: Christian Merkel, Marc Oertle, and Roger Dudler
• Web site: https://visualping.io

Costs:

• 1 credit per job-run
• $10 for 5,000 credits