Web data extraction which is also known as web scraping is a way of extracting an enormous amount of data from the websites on the internet. The data present on the website might not be easily available for download. It might only be accessed via a web browser. The web is a mine of open data and it has been growing exponentially from the inception of the internet. WebDataGuru is one of the best data scraping companies providing exclusive products and services to many industries. Read on to know more about web data extraction.

Web data extraction is useful to all kinds of businesses across industries. Now, when we say industries, we mean businesses that are conventional and unconventional both, online or offline both. For instance, it can help e-commerce platforms, research firms, governments, media companies, data scientists, or healthcare services. As AI grows to evolve, it is high time for businesses to take a step toward technological advancement to adapt.

Just imagine the data on the real estate platforms, retail sites, classifieds, social networks, and online shopping websites available easily in a structured format which is ready to be analyzed. This data can be utilized to lead your teams with a good backup. However, most of the sites don’t offer the functionality for saving their data to a cloud or local storage.

Though one can copy and paste the data from a website to the local storage, it can be quite time-consuming and inconvenient. Also, it is not a great choice when dealing with huge amounts of data. Web data extraction helps in scraping and saving the data in an automated manner with accuracy and efficiency. A web scraping tool interacts with the website in the same way as a web browser. However, instead of displaying the data on a screen, it gets saved in a storage system. And that data can then be accessed by companies to materialize their operations effectively.

Web Data Extraction Software Applications

There are several uses of web scraping tools across the industries. Here’s a look at how businesses can benefit from web data extraction:

1. Price Intelligence

Price intelligence is getting popularity over the years owing to the cut-throat competition in the online arena. Also, the growth of many eCommerce startups has fueled this popularity to its peak. It is necessary to create a change for your company’s position when there is a significant change in the market going on. For instance, if the market tends to showcase a trend where the prices are going to be low, then you must know it beforehand. Now, this doesn’t necessarily mean that you slash your prices, but this can help you strategize your pricing strategy in an efficient manner.   To begin with, eCommerce portals have to keep an eye on their competitors with the help of web scraping to get access to the real-time pricing data. It helps them fine-tune their prices for sustaining the competition. Web crawlers can help in fetching data about the product name, variant, prices, etc. The data is then plugged into an automatic system which offers ideal pricing for each product after evaluating the competitor’s prices. The ability of web crawlers to extract real-time prices makes them helpful.

2. Automated Cataloging

E-commerce platforms have enormous products listed on their portals. It’s challenging and manually impossible to update and maintain the catalogs. Thus, several businesses rely on web data extraction tools for collecting the data needed for updating the catalog. It also helps the businesses in finding out new categories of which they weren’t aware. They can also update the existing catalogs with new images, videos, and descriptions.

3. Market Research

We can’t emphasize this enough in research. Data and research are crucial parts of businesses. No matter what your business is, you need enough research with your company to succeed in the long run. Firstly, market data is not meaningful unless a huge amount of data is involved. Secondly, considering the limitations of the conventional ways of data acquisition and the amount of relevant data available on the internet, web data extraction is the easiest way to collect the data required for market research. The big shift that businesses have made from physical to online stores has made online data an appropriate source for conducting market research. The pandemic has pushed this shift in the right way and if we might say faster. So, this is the time for businesses to take the wheels and get their businesses to their destination without any breaks. Maneuvering this will not be an easy task and web data extraction is going to help you along the way.

4. Sentiment Analysis

Sentiment analysis needs data from the websites where individuals share their reviews, complaints, opinions, and feedback about the products, services, or any other customer-focused offering. Extracting this user-generated content is the first step for the sentiment analysis project. Web data extraction services help in meeting the purpose effectively.

5. Competitor Analysis

According to a survey, there are approximate, 12-24 million eCommerce sites across the globe. Now, that is a huge number and not just on paper but in reality. Companies and brands are literally fighting for a consumer’s attention left-right-center. So, it becomes vital to be present at every level possible to grow and strive.

Generally, it was never this easy to monitor the competitors till web scraping tools came along. With the help of web spiders, and tools by WebDataGuru can help you closely monitor competitor activities. Furthermore, businesses can get insight into promotions, social media activity, press releases, marketing strategies, catalogs, and more. It enables them to enjoy an upper hand in a competitive scenario. Web crawlers take the game ahead with real-time competitor data.

This is very valuable for companies as the bottom line is having customers who are loyal to your company for a longer time. And competitor analysis can help you drive the customer’s attention toward your brand.

6. Collecting Content

Media websites require immediate access to trending news and information on the internet on a constant basis. Being quick at presenting the latest news is the key for them to stay ahead of the competitors. With web data extraction they can monitor and extract the data from famous new portals, sites, and forums about trending subjects and keywords. As the update speed required is high in this case, low-latency web crawling is a perfect choice.

7. Monitor a Brand

Every brand understands the impact of customer focus on the growth of a business. It is helpful to have a clean reputation for their brand to survive in a competitive market. Most companies make use of web scrapers to sustain themselves in a competitive market. They use web crawling solutions for monitoring popular social media platforms, forums, e-commerce sites, etc for mentions of the brand and product. It helps them in staying updated with customer opinions and voices and resolves issues which might ruin the brand’s reputation. A business that focuses on customers can definitely climb up the growth chart.

Find Reliable Sources

1. Ignore Sites with Many Broken Links

Links act as connecting tissues of the web. If a website has many broken links, it is a poor choice for web data extraction. It is a reflection of a poorly maintained site and crawling such as site won’t offer a great experience. Scraping can get obstructed if it comes across a broken link. It eventually tampers the quality of with the data.

2. Avoid Sites With Dynamic Coding

This might not always be possible but try to avoid websites with dynamic coding for a stable crawling experience. It is difficult to extract data from dynamic sites as they change frequently. Maintenance can also become a huge issue. It is better to avoid complex sites while crawling.

3. Quality of the Data

The freshness and quality of the data play a crucial role when selecting the data extraction source. The extract should be relevant to the current time period so that it can be of any use. Check the last modified date on the site’s source code for getting an idea about the freshness of the data.

You can find various web data extraction tools in the market for your specific needs. It is easy to choose the software based on the desired features and budget.

Direct Your Business Growth in the Right Direction

In today’s digital era, creating something is not enough. You must have the right tools to promote and sell the same so that it helps solve a problem. Web data extraction is one such tool for your business that can pave a foundation leading toward growth. WebDataGuru understands the pain points of different industries as we have a very diverse and rich portfolio of clientele. If you are taking a chance with data extraction then let us assure you that with us you are not. We are the experts in our field with a strong presence across the globe. Order a free demo to know more!