- 15th Feb '23
By Mathieu Picard- 6 minutes read
The Beginner’s Guide to Web Scraping
Source: Canva
Does your day include having to gather a large amount of data from websites every time you’re at your desk? If you’re looking for a faster and easier way to do just that, web scraping is the answer. You’ll be able to automate the entire process and save yourself a whole lot of time and effort.
If this is your first time hearing about web scraping and you’re not familiar with this process, keep on reading. This blog will serve as your web scraping guide. It will explain what it is, why it’s useful, and how you can go about web scraping.
What is web scraping?
Web scraping is also known as data scraping. It’s simply a term used to describe collecting data and content from the Internet. When you copy and paste text or pictures into your folders, that’s an example of web scraping.
However, when people use the word “web scraping”, it’s usually in refrence to software that automatically does the job. And since the process is automated, a large amount of data can be monitored and saved in a short period.
What are the benefits of web scraping?
Why do we need data to be scraped and saved quickly? Believe it or not, there are plenty of reasons why. Here are a few:
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For business competition. Businesses can use web scraping to see the prices of their competitors. From there, they can react in real-time so that they can keep up with the competition.
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For generating leads. Agencies can get potential clients by gathering public contact information. They can quickly find new customers this way.
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For SEO purposes. If you want to improve your website’s visits, you can gather popular keywords and trends, and apply them to your site.
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For monitoring current events. There are plenty of organizations that need to find out about the news quickly. For example, international police can have updates on criminals they’re tracking. Ornithologists can quickly be updated if the birds in different countries are not acting according to their usual behavior. Many others can benefit from this kind of data accumulation.
Methods For Scraping The Web
There are several ways to scrape the web:
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Design your scraper. If you have the programming know-how, you can write a scraping program. You can use various languages like Python and Javascript to create your own. While you have full control over it, making one can be a time-consuming procedure.
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Manually scrape the web. You won’t use any software for this. You simply download the whole page as an HTML file and then get your required data using any text editor. It’s very time-consuming, though, and is recommended only for small web extraction needs.
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Getting web scraping services. Many companies offer this service. Just provide them the web addresses of the sites you want to be scraped, and you’ll get what you need. Make sure to only get reputable companies, though.
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Using web scraping tools. There are plenty of web scraping tools that you can use. Just sign up for an account, pay, and you’re good to go. You won’t need any technical knowledge either—just input the URL and the software will do the rest.
How does the web scraping process go?
Even if there are different ways of scraping the web, there’s a general process. Here’s how it goes:
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Identify the websites you want to scrape and the particular data you want to target. Program all that into your scraper.
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The scraper sends an HTTP request to the site that it is targeting. That’s the equivalent of knocking on someone’s door and asking to be let in.
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Once the site gives the scraper access, the scraper can then start extracting the information it has been programmed to target.
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The data is then stored locally, and you’re now free to use the data for your purposes.
What are the best practices for web scraping?
While web scraping is generally legal, it's important to use it responsibly and follow ethical guidelines. Here are some best practices to keep in mind:
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Check the website’s terms of service. As mentioned above, if the website doesn’t allow scraping, respect their rights. You can try to get the website owner’s permission, but if they don’t agree, then find a different website. This ensures that you’re not breaking any rules and that you will avoid any legal problems.
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Don’t overload website servers. When doing data scraping, send HTTP requests slowly. If not, you might cause the website to crash and get your IP address banned by the website.
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Regularly review the data you’re getting. Make sure to check if the information you’re getting is still accurate. Otherwise, your web scraping efforts will go to waste.
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Only scrape information that’s open to the public. Don’t scrape copyrighted content or sensitive data. That makes your scraping unethical.
Is web scraping legal?
Web scraping is just an optimized way of data gathering from websites. It’s not ethically wrong, since all that information is publicly available on websites anyway. Scraping is also not made to cause problems for the websites.
However, what can be illegal is what you do with the information. If all you’re doing is for research or educational purposes or price comparisons, that’s fine. But if you’re going to use the information to hack accounts, or gain unfair advantages over competitors, that’s different.
Plus, the website you’re scraping may also have terms or conditions that prohibit this activity. If you’re detected to be doing it, you’ll likely get sued. And of course, if you damage the website you’re scraping, the owners won’t be happy!
Key Takeaways
Web scraping is the process of collecting data and content from the internet. There are companies that benefit from having a large amount of data on hand, which is why this process is done. To recap what we learned about web scraping in this article:
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Web scraping has various uses. It all depends on the user’s requirements, but ultimately, scraping can help that user make data-driven decisions.
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There are several ways to scrape the web. Each one has its advantages and disadvantages. Use what works for you best.
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While web scraping is legal, it’s better to stay on the safe side and use it responsibly to avoid future legal problems.
Mathieu Picard
CEO, Anyleads, San Francisco
We are the leading marketing automation platform serving more than 100,000 businesses daily. We operate in 3 countries, based in San Francisco, New York, Paris & London.
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