Driven by constant advancements in Information Technologies and web communication, the role of digital information has transformed every area of our lives, with the biggest leaps in business growth and management. Nowadays, the vast availability of public data has devalued the significance of certain insights, but the sheer quantity of information online has increased its importance and impact, creating a worldwide dependence on the best inventions of cyberspace.
However, the significance of big data poses new-age problems that require modern solutions. First of all, there is a lot of information – even too much, as the human brain is incapable of recording and storing even a small fraction of data, even in a very niche field, and the rate of information growth far surpasses our ability to learn.
That being said, when there is a will, there is a way, and business competitors do not sit around overwhelmed by information. Instead, the technology that created such data storages can be leveraged once again to extract, analyze, and “purify”, leaving only the most valuable, accurate, and, most importantly – applicable insights. With efficient web data collection, the speed and accuracy of derived revelations make sure that your company is first at utilizing this knowledge.
This article will explore advanced methods for gathering public web data to drive business insights and growth. It will focus on techniques that enable businesses to scale their operations by efficiently collecting and analyzing valuable online information that would be impossible to go through without assistance from Information Technologies. Here you will also learn why companies buy proxy server solutions to reach the highest level of data collection efficiency. To learn more about these tools, click here. For now, let’s cover the key elements of an effective data-collection strategy before covering the need to buy proxy server tools.
Best Modern Data Collection Approach
Unlike the rigorous practices of aggregation in the past, IT advancements have revolutionized smart data collection strategies. Nowadays, we have the power of automation dominating all industries, and data scientists require a substantial level of technical proficiency to keep up with rapid data collection from competitors.
Automated data collection is not a novelty, which of course, has its pros and cons. While the web is full of free and publicly available resources to learn about data aggregation, each process has to be pushed to peak efficiency to maintain a competitive edge.
Web Scrapers – Best Tools for Smart Data Collection
Among the variety of potential aggregation approaches, web scraping is the most effective way to build large data sets within seconds. Web scraper is a powerful tool that can vary in complexity but its foundation consists of two key structures – a scraper and a parser.
The scraper takes care of the initial step of the process, automating the download of HTML documents from target websites. While this may seem like a simple step (and it is), automating the download still saves time compared to a manual extraction, and scrapers can schedule repeated downloads at specific times to keep up with information changes without lifting a finger.
Okay, now you have a bunch of HTML files on your device: what now? While these lines of code can be rendered on a browser, they are not used much in a document’s raw form. This is where a data parser gets to work, using various coding libraries, frameworks, and user instructions to identify key data elements and store their values. And just like that, one streamlined and automated sequence of processes transforms an unintelligible document into a data set of values from which businesses derive insights. While there is no better learning experience than writing your web scraping script with popular coding languages like Python, with enough resources, you can get a premium scraping tool with an understandable user interface and skip the growing pains by going straight to daily operation and maintenance of a high-quality pre-built scraper.
Best Data Collection Targets
While some options may vary depending on your business model, your starting point should focus on the most useful sources of public data. For example, most retailers aim their data collection machines at other vendors in their respective industries, mostly focusing on businesses that deal in the same products and services. With a watchful eye on their platforms, you can set up scrapers to extract product names, prices, and quantities to track any changes at desired time intervals. This way, you can see how often the changes occur to undercut the prices, restock your products when competitors are running out, and even predict changes to always remain the most attractive option in the eyes of the consumer.
However, one must not forget that most top retailers also utilize web scraping to make adjustments. This has led to very high price sensitivity, where the best players, like Amazon, update their prices every few minutes. Find appropriate time intervals for data extraction to ensure continuous monitoring and stay ahead of the curve. Other prominent targets include social media platforms for the search of marketing opportunities, search engine scraping for Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and monitoring, client review pages and other targets that possess valuable public data.
Maximizing Web Scraping Efficiency
Many data collection campaigns fall short after encountering associated challenges. First, because web scrapers send more connection requests than real users, sites can use anti-web scraping systems to block the sender’s IP address. The likelihood of blacklisting only increases if the company uses multiple web scrapers at the same time. Then, you will also encounter instances where the site is not available in your region.
That is why web scrapers buy proxy server solutions. They provide intermediary stations that reroute your web access, eliminating the previously mentioned challenges. If you buy a proxy server package from a reputable, business-oriented provider, you can scale data collection operations efficiently and restore access to any site at will.
By starting multiple web scrapers at the same time, you can split one connection for tens or even hundreds of web scrapers and ignore the threat of blacklisting by never revealing your real public IP address. This way, no one will stop you from collecting and analyzing valuable online information.
