Getting specific data is not as easy as you have imagined. Even using tools like Zenserp only simplifies the process to a great extent. Why? You might ask.
You can get all the data on the website, a ton of them, easily. But when you want to get specific data from the websites, you want to narrow things down, that’s where things get a lot more complicated.
Beginners get overwhelmed with the loads of data they have. Many sites will not just let you walk in and grab their data like it is your delicious cookies. They have security in place that is meant to prevent your access or frustrate you out of your main goal. In order to make the process simpler, just like using Zenserp, this article will list some tips to help navigate the process.
1. Find the Right Tools
You will want to have a simple background in coding. It is not necessary but it is helpful. Once you are ready, you need to find and gather all your tools. Zenserp is one of them. It is an online web crawler that makes scraping easier. There are many tools available online, Google Chrome Web Scrawler is another good one.
Also, you have to make a choice between using a desktop app or a hosted scraping solution.
● Desktop Apps
This is just as the name implies, ‘desktop apps’. You will download it onto your PC, install it and run it from the PC or laptop. You keep up with the latest technology and development, you will give to update the app regularly.
● Hosted Solution
This is better and preferable for many reasons. There are many advantages to using the hosted option. It would be a great idea to consider the benefits of each before making a choice.
With a hosted solution, you are running the scraper on the website of their party. Their cloud servers are usually faster than what you can get with your own PC. That means if you are considering speed, you need to choose wisely. You will avoid typical issues that desktop-apps users face such as lag time and minor issues that can make scraping come to a sudden stop.
Another benefit is that you can scale a hosted solution, unlike desktop apps that are built and aren’t that flexible. You get what you buy in an app. To scale up your app, you will need to buy a new app.
Being easy to scale, you can start with scaling, say, a hundred websites on million hosted solutions and decide to move to a million as you go on. It is better to choose a hosted solution.
Scaling isn’t free though. You might want to ask your provider before you decide on who to host with. Paying for scaling is better than starting from scratch with a new app.
Once you have made a choice, we can talk about one essential tool that others ignore and that makes scraping a lot of hell for them.
What Is A Proxy?
When you have chosen the basic tools you need, don’t be like the majority who start scraping directly without proxy. This means they will be scraping with one URL. The website you want to scrape will recognize you too quickly and you have a higher chance of being blocked. Get a proxy before you proceed.
2. Start Slow
You have gotten the best tools in the world of scraping data. It is like having a good army in strength and weapons. But you will still want to start slow. Web scraping for data is not an easy process but people always want to finish too quickly than how the process works.
What should you do?
● Start with small websites. Do not go for big websites first. They have the algorithm than can frustrate a novice and render your efforts fruitless.
● You might get lucky with scraping a few big websites. Many beginners who fail once, run into the trap of sending many parallel requests which means they can get noticed quickly and get blocked.
● Parallel requests are the worst you can perform as a beginner. The algorithms of big dogs will identify you as a threat, a dangerous person engaging in Denial Service Attack. All your IP addresses will be blacklisted. Yes, even if you are using proxies.
Don’t forget the golden rule here: start slow. Don’t try to go too far in the beginning.
3. Don’t Take More Than You Need
Because you have access to data does not mean you have to scrape everything you can. Especially, when you are using a tool like Zenserp which makes things pretty easy, you might be tempted to keep it all. This is time-consuming and you need a lot of space to store the data.
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