Importing Target Websites

Everything starts on the Targets tab. You can add websites two ways:

• Paste addresses. One website per line. The https:// prefix is optional, contactID adds it automatically.
• Drop a file. CSV, TXT, or Excel files are all accepted.

When you upload a file, contactID automatically detects which column holds the URL. Any extra columns in your file become message tags you can use in your outreach, like {{city}} or {{owner_name}}, and they are listed under Columns we found so you can confirm what came in.

If your file already includes a written message for each website, turn on One I wrote per site and pick the message column. contactID will send that exact message per site instead of generating one.

Once your websites are on the Targets tab, press Check these websites.

1. A category dialog appears first. Label the batch (for example E-commerce, SaaS, or a label of your own) so you can filter and export by category later.
2. The check then runs server-side, in batches of up to 1,000 websites at a time.

Because checking happens on contactID’s servers, it keeps running even if you close the panel or your browser. You can come back later and the results will be waiting.

While a check is running, the progress panel gives you a live view of what is happening:

• Overall percentage complete.
• The current stage: opening websites, looking for contact pages, or checking forms.
• How many websites have been checked so far.
• How many forms found versus no form.
• Which sites are being checked right now.
• The current rate and estimated time left.

Click Hide to collapse the panel down to a small progress bar without stopping the check, or Cancel Import to stop it entirely.

When a check finishes, contactID shows a pre-flight report before you send anything, so you know exactly what you are about to do.

• Ready to send. How many websites have a working contact form and are good to go.
• No contact form. How many websites do not, each with a plain-language reason and Retry, Open, or Add URL actions so you can fix or replace them on the spot.
• Contacted before. How many you already reached out to previously, with the option to Skip all or Keep them.
• Sendable now. How many of the ready websites your remaining credits can actually send right now.

When you are happy with the numbers, click Continue to sending to move to the Send tab.

Per-import limits scale with your plan.

If your file is larger than your plan allows, contactID trims it to the limit and shows a notice. Anything trimmed off is not lost, just import the remainder as a second batch.

contactID is flexible about how your list is formatted.

• Supported formats: .csv, .tsv, and .txt (one URL per line). Excel files must be saved as .csv first before uploading.
• URL column detection. A column named URL, Website, Domain, or Site is detected automatically. If none of those match, you can pick the correct column manually.

Before anything is imported, a preview shows the first 5 URLs, the total count, and the duplicate count, so you can double-check the file before committing.

contactID handles duplicates carefully so nothing is dropped silently and nothing is sent twice by accident.

• Within one import. If the same address appears twice in a single import, it is queued only once.
• Across your account. Websites this account has already contacted before, from any browser, at any time, show up in the pre-flight report’s Contacted before card. From there you can Skip one, Skip all (moved to trash, and restorable if you change your mind), or Keep them and send again.

A few habits make large imports run smoother and perform better:

• Clean your list first. Remove non-web URLs, directory or aggregator homepages, and social media pages before importing.
• Segment your list. Group by vertical or intent rather than importing one giant mixed list.
• Keep batches reasonable. Roughly 500 to 2,000 URLs per single batch tends to work best.
• Time it well. For B2B outreach, run imports mid-week mornings in the recipient’s time zone.
• Test first. Send a small batch of about 50 before committing to a run of thousands.
• Export as you go. Export your Activity results after every batch to keep a clean record.

Websites sourced from Find Websites, or from a file you enriched, carry extra business data as merge fields you can drop into your messages:

• {{lead_name}}
• {{lead_city}}
• {{lead_state}}
• {{lead_country}}
• {{lead_category}}
• {{lead_rating}}
• {{lead_reviews}}
• {{lead_phone}}
• {{lead_email}}
• {{lead_technologies}}
• {{website}}

These fields are filled in automatically per business. For websites you pasted or uploaded manually yourself, without going through Find Websites or enrichment, these fields are simply left empty since contactID has no business data to attach.