Web scraping is the process of extracting information from a source or website which contains valuable information and scraping all of that and saving it in your system in the format you would like to view it in such as CSV file and much more.

Previously, if a company needed to extract information from a website, they would opt for the method of copy-pasting. But the drawback here was when it comes to large data the copy-pasting would consume a lot of time to conduct the action and when you copy-paste big data the website slows down alerting the owner of suspicious activity.

But with web scraping, this isn’t the case. In just a few minutes you can easily extract information without slowing down the website which is why it has grown to be popular. To conduct web scraping activities is convenient, all you need to is:

1. Select the website/source you want to scrape

2. Choose the data which you needs scraping

3. Run the web scraping code

4. Save it all in your system

So why is web scraping important and why does it matter in the near future?

1. SCRAPES RELEVANT DATA FROM THE CROWD

There are tens and thousands of data available online but not all that data is relevant to help your business grow. As a brand you know what is required for your brand’s enrichment and hence with web scraping, extracting only that portion of essential data that can help brands succeed faster in their lead capture activities. 

Let’s understand this with an example:

If you want to scrape data from your competitor's websites, web scraping makes that happen without the competitor's website slowing down or having any risk of any brand conducting this action to be detected. 

2. QUICKER IMPROVISATION OF BRAND’S SOLUTIONS

A brand can enhance its solution when it has the right data which exhibits the requirements needed to improvise the solution. Web scraping provides accurate data because all the data being driven is from sources that have been following it or from platforms where prospects have mentioned their opinion on their expectations about a particular product. 

Interesting Read : Web Scraping with Selenium: DIY or Buy?

All of this contributes a valuable data collection to brands which can help them to improvise their solution better. Since brands have an analysis of what their prospects are expecting, it becomes easier to adapt to the modifications and also plan out the next possible changes before the new trend hits. 

3. RETAINS BRAND SUCCESS

A brand success can only be retained when a band continues to serve the needs of all its prospects even with each changing trend. But how can that happen when the trends have no time of their arrival? 

With the data collected, brand’s can have an idea, it might not be the exact prediction but a simple analysis of how their solution will be looked upon a few years from now. Not only that aspect, but brands can also have an analysis of how their prospects will look at a product. 

Let’s understand this with an example:

Maybe the current product offered by a brand is great,it has all the features and the prices are great, with web scraping you can get data which will help you analyze what more prospects are looking for. For instance maybe they want few features to be automated or they want a specific feature and so on.

 Web scraping ensures that you get the data that can help you still cater to the prospect's needs no matter the changes and still retain the success crown for longer. 

4. OUTSELL COMPETITORS

The harsh truth is if you want to be successful, outselling your competitors can win you over some brownie points. With web scraping, you can easily scrape any information which will most likely help your brand to hover in front of your competitors. It could be their pricing strategies, their prospect reviews and any other information which will most likely help in catering to your very own prospect needs. 

Interesting Read : Using Web Scraping for Lead Generation

The market is growing and changing all the time when it comes to conducting activities which can pull your brand closer to assisting their needs better, web scraping is an ideal tool for that action to take place.

5. INDULGES IN LEAD GENERATION ACTIVITIES

To capture the ideal lead for a brand, it takes up a lot of research time to find the right audience which fits a brand’s target audience. Wouldn’t it be easier if you could just have a list that consists of the leads which can be interested in what your brand has to offer? Web scraping lets this happen. 

There are moments where you find leads in the most unimagined places, for instance, your blog post comments, or if someone has shared your post and even leads can be found within your peers activities as well such as their engagement sections of the individuals they interact with openly online, all these prospects stand as a potential sales leads for your brand. 

With the help of web scraping, you can easily scrape such information, get their contact details as well as email addresses without breaking a sweat and conduct efficient cold calling and emailing on the spot. This not only saves a lot of time for the sales agents to find them through the crowd but also speeds up the process much quicker than imagined. 

The data in which web scraping extracts are all accurate and from relevant sources means that if you apply that data it becomes easier to improvise the solution you are selling. 

Generating leads in a market where their prospects are well informed can be tough hence with a solution such as a web scraping, you can benefit some major advantages that could help your lead driven activities to function better.

1. HELPS YOU FIND THE RIGHT AUDIENCE

The key ingredient to tapping leads is to find out first which is your target audience. When you don’t engage with the right target audience, your chances of converting leads becomes relatively less. Hence with web scraping, you can easily find out which audience will be best suited for your brand. You can scrape websites of your competitors and monitor which leads are great for your brand and start engaging with them sooner.

2. COLLECT CONTACT INFORMATION

With web scraping, you can easily collect lead information without any hassle. So many times, your competitors or other sources have a sign-up option for their leads to engage with them. If you scrape such data you can easily retrieve email addresses and phone numbers which will help you to tap leads and convert them into a potential sales lead. For B2B leads the number one way to go ahead and win leads is through referrals and when you can collect such information it becomes quicker for you to assist them too. 

3. MONITOR DATA

The market keeps changing and so does your client's preferences. Before your competitors can even plan their next move it is crucial that you hit the target audience first With web scraping you can subscribe to daily data capture from sources so that you are always aware of what your current clients are looking out for.

For B2B lead generation, web scraping helps you to monitor the raw data you have in hand so that you can apply the solutions when you plan your next lead generation action. 

4. ASSISTANCE IN LEAD GENERATION ACTIVITIES

For B2B lead generation to take place, many things are vital as mentioned in the above pointers, the right target audience, the contact details and the update on client preferences. With web scraping, this can all be assisted. Since all the vital information is being extracted it is put to good use with your lead generation activities. This data that you receive is important because it helps you in nurturing your clients at the right time whilst tackling the huge competition in the market. 

Interesting Read : How web scraping can benefit the real estate industry?

Did you know that when you conduct web scraping practices, on a more regular basis, there are chances where you can be blocked?

Just like how web scraping is a modern solution to online data retrieval, proxy servers are another modern solution to safeguarding online activities without the fear of any identity reveal.

Proxy servers stand between a user and the website it wants to access. When a user sends a request to view a restricted website the proxy server will receive the request first and then send it to the website. The reason why a proxy server receives it first is that it changes the IP address.

Many times you get blocked when viewing restricted sources of information because your IP address speaks about the location you are in. What a proxy server does is it helps to eliminate that issue by hiding your actual identity and giving another one.

When it comes to web scraping for your business activities, proxy servers are beneficial. While you continue to scrape the multiple websites, proxy servers ensure that your identity is hidden and that the scraping activity conducts quicker.