As a business, you understand the value of data – when it comes to marketing, data is everything! In this digital era, there’s a lot of information on the internet. Any company will do all that it takes to safeguard their data. How then can you collect data and use it for your advantage? It’s straightforward; Web Scraping.
If you have never done web scraping, you’ve been missing a lot. However, I have good news for you; it’s not too late to start using the right tool for your business! Most of the successful brands out there have been using web scraping to collect data, re-strategize, and gain a competitive edge. So, how are the big boys doing it, and above all, what kind of data are they harvesting, and for what purpose?
You can indeed collect as much data as you need manually and for free on the internet. But given the ever-growing pace of businesses today, you won’t stand a chance using the manual and traditional methods of data collection. Therefore, there’s the need to find a data harvesting method that works best for you – an approach that will maximize profits and cut on expenses and efforts. This all narrows down to web scraping.
[insert page='saas-marketing-vlog-a-view-of-how-ahrefs-cmo-tim-soulo-and-his-team-strategize-their-marketing' display='single-related-article-02.php']
Data scraping requires the use of proxies. I’ll tell you why. Many organizations today have taken safety measures to protect their sites from any bot-like activity, especially those bearing corporate IP addresses. They will blacklist any IP address whenever they notice unusual activity. When this happens, you won’t be able to access that particular page using the banned IP address.
Proxies come in to help mask your IP address. Every time you crawl the internet, proxies will hide your IP address, thus allowing you to browse anonymously. With the use of a proxy server, you can be able to collect data without exposing your online identity.
Collecting data from the internet will require you as a business to use automated data collection means and proxies – proxies are the keystone to the data collection process. Here are some of the ways you can use web scraping to gain a competitive advantage.
Building a successful brand takes a lot of time, money, and commitment. After making it in business, you must stay on high alert to protect your name. Is this really important? It only takes hours to bring down a business. Switched-on enterprises have realized that their companies face a lot of threats that can harm their reputation. To protect their piece of cake, they use web scraping to secure their businesses.
Take, for example, the issue of copyright infringement and counterfeiting. With the help of proxies, many successful businesses crawl relevant markets, e-commerce sites, and auction sites to detect any fraudsters.
Another way you can use web scraping to protect your brand is by retail monitoring. Using proxies, you can access different sites located in almost any location worldwide. The right tools will help you pinpoint any unauthorized trader transacting using your name and take the necessary action.
[insert page='5-trends-in-brand-media-relations-that-will-be-big-in-2020' display='single-related-article.php']
To excel online, market research should come on top of your list. With most trades happening on the web, market research also has taken a new turn – it evolved! Without having the right marketing strategy, you won’t be able to stand the stiff competition. So, how can you outmaneuver your competitors? Web scraping – with the right crawler, you can quickly get the job done!
Data collection for purposes of market research can be a daunting task, especially at a time like now, when almost all businesses have taken measures to protect their sites from corporate IPs. As mentioned earlier, proxies safeguard your whole data scraping experience. Market research will help you understand your target audience and come up with the right marketing strategies to improve your productivity and sales.
With almost every business going online, there’s the need to ensure that your website ranks higher on your favorite search engine. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) determines whether your target audience gets to see your product or services. I mean, what’s the essence of having a great product which no one gets to see?
With the right tool and proxies, you can access a lot of data online that will help you launch a search engine intelligence campaign. Such data includes:
With all this information, staying at the top of any search engine won’t be a big problem. Many tools are now leveraging the power of selenium/python to help with scraping efforts, which can provide invaluable insights for search marketers. Think about major tools like Ahrefs, Moz or SEMRush - These are all essentially web scrapers, delivering powerful insights to search engine marketers.
[insert page='6-essential-tips-for-keeping-your-content-relevant-and-ranking' display='single-related-article-02.php']
Did you know that a lot of adverts never reach the intended audience? The fact that it is difficult to calculate the actual returns that come from running ads makes it even trickier. That’s why it is vital to secure your investment. With Ad fraud taking center stage, there is the need to ensure that your ad lands on the right sites.
With the right crawler and proxy server, you can improve ad performance, run anonymous simultaneous checks on your advertisers’ landing pages, and above all, detect fraud.
Web scraping is the future of business. A lot of organizations are already reaping the benefits of the practice. What are you waiting for? Realize the full potential of web scraping today!
