Best Web Scrapers
Data scraping is a technique used to extract data from sources that are not proposed to be accessed or imported by the user.
Data scraping can be done manually, but it is often done using software that automates the procedure.
Data scraping can be beneficial for extracting data from sources that do not have an API or for extracting data that is not straightforwardly reachable through an API.
Data scraping can also be used to bypass security measures put in place by a website, such as a login page.
In this guide, we’re going to show you how to scrape data from website to excel. There are many ways to do it and analyze the data, but the most common method is to simply use a free web scraper.
A web scraper is a piece of software that simulates a user’s interaction with a website to extract data from the website.
Web scrapers can be written in any programming language, but they are typically written in Python or Ruby.
There is a long debate about whether web scraping is legal or not. In some cases, it may be considered a violation of the terms of service of the website being scraped.
In other cases, it may be considered unauthorized access to the website’s server. It is important to check the terms of service of any website before scraping it.
Some websites explicitly prohibit scraping, while others allow it as long as the scraped data is not used for commercial purposes.
Why Is Data Scraping Done?
Web scraping is a process of extracting data from websites. It can be done manually by copying and pasting data from a website, but this is usually a time-consuming task.
Web scraping tools automate this process and can extract large amounts of data quickly and efficiently.
There are many benefits to web scraping, including the ability to gather large amounts of data that would be difficult or impossible to collect manually.
Web scraping can also be used to keep track of changes on a website over time or to monitor prices on e-commerce platforms.
Additionally, web scraping can be used to generate leads for sales and marketing purposes.
Overall, web scraping is a powerful tool that can be used for a variety of purposes.
When used correctly, it can save a lot of time and effort, and provide valuable data that would otherwise be difficult to obtain.
How to Scrape Data from Website to Excel in 2023
Excel is a powerful tool for web scraping. You can scrape data from website to excel and it will be saved in a format that can be easily analyzed (Excel sheets).
There are a few things to keep in mind when using Excel for web scraping. Firstly, make sure that the website you are scraping allows this kind of activity.
Secondly, be aware of the potential for errors when extracting data from a website.
Excel can be used to extract a variety of information. This includes text, HTML code, images, and more.
To do this, simply open up Excel and navigate to the website that you want to scrape. Then, use the built-in web scraping tools to extract the data that you need.
Excel also aids in data analysis once the data is scraped. It can be used to sort, filter, and analyze data in a variety of ways.
This makes it easy to understand and interpret the data that has been scraped from a website.
After exporting data to Excel it comes in very convenient as you can analyze the data, draw conclusions and take further actions accordingly.
There are three common ways to scrape data from website to Excel for further processing.
1. Create A Custom Web Scraper
When you need data that is not readily available online, web scraping can be an authoritative tool to collect the information you want.
Scraping denotes extracting data from sources that are not proposed to be read or read by humans.
In order to scrape data efficiently, you will need to write a custom web scraper.
A custom web scraper can be written in any programming language, but Python is a widespread choice for this task due to its luxury of use and vigorous libraries.
BeautifulSoup is one such library that can support you to extract data from HTML and XML sources.
Before writing your own web scraper, it is essential to check if the data you need is already available through an API or other means.
If the data is already reachable, web scraping may not be required.
However, if you do need to scrape data from a website, make sure to do so in a way that does not violate the site’s terms of use.
When writing your custom web scraper, there are a few key things to keep in mind:
- The code should be well-written and well-documented
- The scraper should be designed to handle errors gracefully
- The scraper should be able to run on a schedule (if needed)
With these considerations in mind, you can start writing your own custom web scraper.
Custom web scrapers have numerous recompenses over general-purpose web scraping tools.
First, custom web scrapers can be designed specifically for the target website, which means that they are less likely to break when the website’s outline or original code fluctuates.
Second, custom web scrapers can be personalized to extract accurately the data that you need, which makes them more resourceful than general-purpose scrapers.
Finally, custom web scrapers can be unified with other systems more straightforwardly than general-purpose scrapers.
Python code can be used to scrape data into Excel in several ways.
One way is to practice using the BeautifulSoup library, which makes it easy to extract data from HTML documents.
Another way is to use the Selenium library, which can be used to scrape data from web pages that are rendered using JavaScript.
Finally, the Scrapy framework can be used to shape more complex scrapers that can handle things like pagination and form submission.
The commonly used Python code for a custom web scraper is given below.
import requests
from bs4 import BeautifulSoup
class WikipediaScraper:
def __init__(self):
self.url = “https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_population_(United_Nations)”
def scrape_population_data(self):
page_source = requests.get(self.url).text
soup = BeautifulSoup(page_source, “html.parser”)
tablerows = soup.find(“tbody”).find_all(“tr”)
for row in tablerows:
row_element = row.find_all(“td”)
print(row_element)
country = row_element[0].text
population = row_element[4].text
print([country, population])
c = WikipediaScraper()
c.scrape_population_data()2. Use A Web Scraping Tool For Data Scraping
There are many web scraping tools available that can be used to scrape data from websites.
Some of these tools are free, while others are paid. The tool that you use will depend on your requirements and preferences.
Web scraping tools work by taking advantage of the structure of HTML code to recognize definite pieces of information that you want to extract.
For example, if you want to scrape data about product prices from an online store, the web scraper will look for the HTML tags that specify a price (such as <span> or <p>).
Once the web scraper has found these tags, it will extract the relevant data and save it to your computer in Excel.
The method of web scraping can be automated so that it can be done on a large scale.
For example, a web scraping tool can be programmed to extract data from hundreds or even thousands of websites automatically.
This can be very suitable for gathering large amounts of data for research or other purposes.
Most web scraping tools use the requests library to make HTTP requests. The requests library is a powerful tool that makes it easy to make HTTP requests.
It permits you to make GET, POST, PUT, and DELETE requests.
The requests library also allows you to set headers, cookies, and data. The requests library is a powerful tool that makes it easy to scrape websites.
If you want to scrape data from a website, you can use a library like Python-Requests to make HTTP requests and BeautifulSoup to parse the HTML.
Or you can use a dedicated framework that combines an HTTP client with an HTML parsing library, such as Scrapy.
Choosing The Right Web Scraping Tool For The Job
There are a lot of different web scraping tools out there, and it can be tough to know which one is the right fit for your project. Here are a few things to consider when choosing a web scraping tool:
- What kind of data do you need to scrape?
- How difficult is the website you’re scraping?
- How much experience do you have with web scraping?
If you need to scrape a lot of data from a simple website, then a basic web scraper should suffice.
If you’re scraping a more complex website, or if you need to scrape large amounts of data, then you’ll need a more powerful tool like Bright Data or Apify.
And if you’re new to web scraping, it might be a good idea to start with a tool that is comparatively easy to use like Apify.
Once you’ve considered these aspects, you should have a better idea of which web scraping tool is right for your project. Two of the best web scraping tools are listed and explained below.
A. Bright Data
If you’re looking for a powerful web scraping tool that can help you collect data from any website, then you should check out Bright Data.
With Bright Data, you can easily extract data from even the most complex websites with ease.
Plus, the friendly interface and intuitive design make it extremely easy to use, even for beginners.
So if you need a reliable tool for web scraping, be sure to give Bright Data a try.
Bright Data is very easy to integrate with Excel on your computer which helps to scrape data from website to excel which makes it easier to analyze and interpret.
Bright Data, formerly known as “Luminati,” is a proxy provider that has built an infrastructure that has won it the Best Proxy Ecosystem Award.
It is also known for its moral promotion of proxies and its denial to resell proxies.
It also needs a Know Your Customer process that acts as yet another ethical and private feature.
Among all of these, Bright Data also has a diversity of features that differentiate it from other proxy providers.
Features Of Bright Data
Along with being an ethical and customer-friendly web scraping tool, Bright Data also has several other features that make it the number 1 in the market.
Web Blocker
Web Unlocker of Bright Data can handle all your site unblocking requirements and deliver structured, parsed data in any format you want from a single URL.
With its trailblazing technology, you’ll be able to access the information you want swiftly and straightforwardly.
Proxy Manager
Proxy Manager of Bright Data is the most unconventional and resourceful tool that enhances your data collection.
It routes requests with the help of the most cost-competent possibilities, thereby dropping bandwidth usage.
Additionally, Proxy Manager substitutes between proxy networks to guarantee that all your requests are effective.
Database
If you’re looking for a web scraper that can provide you with vast amounts of data, Bright Data is the ideal choice.
With its pre-collected datasets, you can take advantage of over ten million data points to aid you to analyze trends, recognize individuals and social media influencers, and more.
Plus, Bright Data doesn’t bombard you with marketing emails as some other companies do.
It only sends you the important stuff. So why not give Bright Data a try? You won’t be disappointed.
B. Apify
Apify is a web scraping tool that makes it easy to collect data from websites.
It offers a modest interface that permits you to select the data you want to extract and then scrape data from website to excel.
Apify is perfect for collecting data for research, marketing, or any other purpose.
Scraping web data with the help of Apify is simplified. Apify is an excellent tool and it follows the process of using bots and automated tools to crawl websites and extract information.
The data can be downloaded in various formats such as CSV, JSON, XML, Excel, etc., depending on your needs.
By doing this, you can get the information you want without having to go through the hassle of manually gathering it yourself.
Apify is one of the leading data scraper tools available in the market.
The only reason for this popularity is its easy-to-use interface which can be handled even by newbies.
Apify has proven itself worthy of multi-tasking which is mostly needed when you are extracting data from hundreds of sources.
Benefits Of Apify
Apify might be the one tool you need for your every data scraping and sorting task.
Apify comes with a bunch of benefits that make it one of the best data extracting tools worldwide.
An Excellent Way To Scrape Data
Apify is an excellent way to extract data from websites automatically.
It uses APIs to collect data from whole sites, extracting exact info on things like weather forecasts, product prices, and marketing tactics.
Furthermore, Apify crawls your web pages which can assist expand your site’s ranking.
Appropriate For Everyone
Apify is picture-perfect for an extensive range of operators, from programmers and non-coders to enterprises and small businesses.
Whether you’re a student collecting data for a research project, or a startup monitoring your opponent’s site, Apify has the gears you want to prosper.
With its easy-to-use platform and approachable interface, Apify is flawless for anyone looking to get ahead in their field.
Perfect Multi-Tasker
Apify is the perfect solution for anyone requiring to get large amounts of data rapidly and proficiently.
Whether you want to generate a new stock exchange site, build a flight booking app, or analyze a real estate market, Apify can support you get the job done speedily and appropriately.
With Apify, there’s no need to worry about mistakes – just sit back and let the data come rolling in.
Clever Processing
Apify’s API can automatically discover and scrape data from website to excel spreadsheets, making it very appropriate.
It also uses JSON to store data, which is easy to transport between the client and server.
Furthermore, Apify keeps you reorganized about current marketing drifts and delivers feedback on the value of data.
You can use its Search API tool to find good bots on the internet. Apify filters data and generates discrete lists of products for you, making it a very supportive tool.
3. Hire Professional Data Extraction Services
The third way to scrape data from website to excel sheets and any other format to use for your ventures is to hire professional data extractions services.
Data extraction services professionals provide numerous returns for businesses.
They can gather detailed pieces of information from online sources rapidly and resourcefully.
Moreover, data extraction services let businesses subcontract their requirements to specialists who are familiar with the procedure. This can save the company time and money in the long run.
There are many assistants that businesses can gain by working with data extraction services professionals.
By leveraging the power of data extraction, businesses can produce leads, gather related information from rival business web pages, recognize trends from document collections, and expand their analysis of otherwise unstructured information.
These professionals usually make use of data extraction software to help with the extraction method, making it more competent and exact.
Subsequently, businesses that make use of these services can gain a competitive edge in today’s market.
FAQs
Why scrape data from websites?
The biggest reason that we can think of why you might want to scrape data is if you are a brand, and you are trying to glean information online about your competitors so that you can conduct successful market research.
Can I save my data in another format?
We have talked about being able to scrape data from a website and save it into an excel spreadsheet, but the good news is that you can save your data in multiple formats, it all depends on how you would like to look at your data once it has been downloaded.
Final Thoughts
Being able to scrape data from websites and save it to an excel spreadsheet is going to save you a huge amount of time, especially if you are busy with the brand side of things, and you want to be able to see all relevant data laid out in a nicely organized way.
Make the most of the web scraping tools that we’ve talked about above, and good luck conducting market research for the future of your business.
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Written by Jason Wise
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