Web scraping tools are the best way to make data accessible for your organization. It’s no secret that COVID-19 has accelerated digital transformation, and companies and industries are shifting all their focus towards digital adoption. But if there’s one thing that stands at the heart of digital transformation, it is data. 

Data available on the web is unstructured and ineffective in providing helpful business insights. Here, web scraping tools help in simplifying the data extraction process and enable organizations to obtain web data easily without spending much time and effort.

Table of Contents

How does a web scraper work?

A web scraper uses bots for extracting data from the web. Web scraping tools extract underlying HTML code and the data available in the database. The web scraper can replicate this extracted data into your downstream systems. Automated web scraping tools are the most viable option for businesses that want to access structured data from the web data in an automated manner. 

Although web scraping can be done manually, it is a tedious task and not to mention a time-consuming one. Instead, you can use a web scraper tool to simplify and speed up the scraping process and save valuable time and money. In addition, data gathered by a web scraping tool is more accurate than traditional manual scraping.

Why do businesses need a web scraping tool?

Today, a growing number of organizations prefer using a web scraping tool as it automates the processes of extracting a massive volume of relevant data. Businesses use web scraping for different purposes and obtain various benefits from it.

Instant and seamless data collection

Automated data extraction from websites is possible and quick, owing to constant technological innovations. Similarly, companies rely on data to drive innovation and success in their business. Getting high-quality data in time enables companies to quickly make critical business decisions, shorten time-to-market, and more.

Better market analysis

Change is good. But, certain unpredicted market changes are capable of negatively affecting businesses. Therefore, companies today need complete and accurate information on what their customers want from them and what their competitors are doing differently. Such insightful information helps businesses understand the upcoming market trends and streamline their products or services accordingly to stay relevant in the market.

Easy data enrichment process

Every day, 2.5 quintillion bytes of data gets generated. Meaning most of the data that companies obtain becomes less effective after a period of time. A data scraping tool can help businesses enrich their data to ensure relevancy, accuracy, and high quality. If companies leverage the right tool for data scraping, they can get validated data that is compliant with regulatory changes.

How to find the right automated web scraping tool?

With so many web scraping tools available, it is difficult for businesses to find the best one. A few factors for any business to consider while deciding on the tool.

Scalability

Scalability is a huge factor when it comes to using a data scraping tool. The number of data a business retrieves only increases with time, so it is important that you find a tool that won’t slow down with the massive increase in the data demand.

Ability to overcome crawling challenges

Businesses should pick a data scraping tool that can bypass site blockages. There are many websites out there that have set up anti-scraping measures. Intelligent bots that are built with robust algorithms are capable of overcoming these roadblocks. 

Quality of extracted data

Data quality is most crucial for businesses if they are to make profitable decisions. The extracted data should be enriched, validated, and organized in a desirable format. Tools that come with intuitive dashboards and reports make decision-making quick.

Now, let’s find the right automated web scraping tool for your business to kick off your digital transformation. 

Here’s a list of the 5 best web data scraping tools (out of thousands) available on the market that makes collecting data a breeze. 

Best web scraping tools 2021

  1. Xtract.io

If you are looking for a flexible tool for data scraping to automate all your data processes, you won’t need to look any further. Xtract.io offers to help you gather relevant data from a myriad of unstructured sources in a structured format of your choice. 

The web scraper tool is super easy to use and is built using cutting-edge technologies like AI, ML, and NLP. It uses IP rotation proxies to navigate billions of websites and pages to mitigate blocking & sleep time. They have 1000+ cloud IPs for Amazon alone. Moreover, you can easily integrate and store the extracted data by plugging APIs with your internal processes or systems.

Features:

  • Cloud, SaaS, Web-based
  • Offers customization
  • Supports Windows & Mac
  • Supports on-premise Windows & Linux
  • Automatic IP rotation
  • Pre-configured workflows to extract critical data within minutes
  • Built on technologies like AI, ML, NLP, image recognition, and predictive analytics
  • Powerful reports and dashboards for analytics

Website: Xtract.io

2. Scrapeworks

Scrapeworks provides advanced data scraping tools that can scrape dynamic websites in real-time. You can extract data at scale without compromising the data quality. Multiple levels of quality check and formatting ensure the accuracy of the data they deliver. Scrapeworks gather data from various sources and deliver it in the format you need. 

Features:

  • Real-time data extraction
  • Scheduled scraping
  • Customized solutions
  • Data formatting
  • User-friendly dashboards

Website: Scrapeworks

3. Web Scraper

Web Scraper is another effective web scraping tool for websites that can extract data from multiple sites with multiple levels of navigation like categories, subcategories, and product pages. It is built for the latest web and can access websites with JavaScript frameworks. What’s more? You can extract data in any format of your choice and access the data via API or webhooks. 

Features:

  • JavaScript execution 
  • Waiting for Ajax requests
  • Tailored data extraction
  • No coding required

Website: Web Scraper

4. Mozenda

Mozenda is a data extraction tool designed for enterprises that want a self-serve cloud-based platform. You can extract text, images, and specific data from web pages. Moreover, the tool assists you with organizing and preparing data files for publishing. 

Features:

  • Extract & publish data to the preferred source
  • Point-and-click interface
  • On-premise hosting
  • Request blocking & job sequencer for real-time data extraction

Website: Mozenda

5. Import.io

Import.io is one of the highly recommended web data scraping tools in the market. You can use the tool to create datasets by importing the data from target web pages and exporting the extracted data as a CSV file. Also, it allows you to integrate data directly into on-premise systems through powerful APIs

Features:

  • User friendly
  • Schedule data scraping
  • Store & access data on Import.io Cloud
  • Automate extraction and workflows

Website: Import.io

Final thoughts

We know how taxing it is for enterprises and businesses to pick the best web scraping tool, which champions all the aspects mentioned above. Therefore, the decision to make the shift towards digital transformation is a critical and big one to make. 

By choosing the right tool, you can speed up your transformation and, who knows, even emerge as an industry leader!

Author

Shruti is a content creator who specializes in content research, content writing, and development. When not writing, she's either busy reading and appreciating a good book or volunteering at an animal shelter.

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