What Are Web Crawlers And How Do They work

What are web scraping tools and how do they work?

I'm sure you've heard of web scraping and helps business owners to grow business from the data available on the web.
Web scraping is the automated process of data collection from targeted websites without coding. This data is used in areas such as: Telemarketing
SMS marketing
Email Marketing
Competition monitoring
Better customer satisfaction
Prices improve
Keyword research
Lead generation
But the data you collect, and as a result, the insights you gain depends on the effectiveness of the web scraping tool .
We'll take a look at how these tools work, show you the types of scraping tools you'll find in the market, and help you learn how to make the best choices.

How do web crawlers work?

Web scraping involves extracting data from a specific website. So the scraper is given a URL or keyword to scrape. It loads the HTML code of these web pages or searches the data from the website according to your given keywords and extracts the required data, such as email, phone number, reviews, and much more.
The scraper then puts the data into a readable format. It saves data in a database or spreadsheet for further analysis.

Types of Web Scraper There are three common types of web scrapers..

1) Browser extension

Browser extensions can be added to your browser. They are easy to operate and are best suited for running small scraping projects. This is because you can only spend one page at a time. You can't add advanced features that need to be out of the browser.

2) Software (Desktop Application)

This is downloadable and installable software that you can use to extract data from the website. It has the potential to provide advanced features. You can scrap one or more pages at a time, making it suitable for small to medium-sized projects. You can find and scrape data from websites by keywords and URLs by using these software’s.

3) Self-made

You can make your own website extractor, but it will require the latest programming knowledge. Unless you are a programming expert, self-made extractors will have limited functionality. They also need constant maintenance. Choosing the right web data scraper for your project will depend on the nature of your project.

Features an excellent web scraping tool

There are a few things to consider when choosing a web scraper for your project.

1) Easy to use

Use a scraper that is easy to set up and use. Make sure it has a fully customized user interface. You should be able to use the features easily and get the most out of the tool, despite your limited technical knowledge.

2) Flexibility

Websites are created using different programming languages. Your data mining software should be able to extract data from any website. It should be able to work beyond basic HTML code such as CSS and JavaScript.

3) IP rotation

IP circulation using proxies makes it easy to scrape data from a website without blacklisting your IP. Each web application for IP circulating scrapers will have a different IP address. You can scrape multiple pages or websites at once without slowing down or distracting from the website security system.

4) Flexible output formats

Get a scraper that provides a variety of options for exporting the collected data. The most common formats are CSV, Text, or Excel files.

What Are The Examples Of Some Best Web Scraping Software (Desktop Application)?

There are some powerful, trusted, and most used web scrapers used by more than 1 million people.

1. Cute Web Phone number extractor ( Find & extract phone numbers from websites)

2. Cute Web Email extractor (Find & extract emails from websites)

3. Top Lead Extractor ( Find and extract emails, phone numbers, and social media links from websites)

4. Google Maps Data Extractor ( find & scrape business data from google maps)

5. United Lead Scraper ( It can scrape data from social media sites, business directories, and e-commerce sites)

6. LinkedIn Lead Extractor ( It can find and collect data from LinkedIn profiles)

7. LinkedIn Sale Navigator Extractor ( It can find and scrape business data from LinkedIn Sale Navigator)

Final Thoughts

The quote "Information is power" also applies to the business world. The web is a great source of information that can be used to gain insight and dominate the business market. You can gain a deeper understanding of your customers, competitors, and market conditions.
But you need the right web scraper software for that. Make sure the tool you use for your web scraping project is user-friendly. This should give you enough flexibility to change your needs.