Making money online is big business. Like, really big.
Retail analysts estimate that ecommerce will generate an eye-watering $6.542 trillion USD in 2023, and 51% of businesses now interact more with their customers online than offline.
These numbers only tell half the story, though.
A huge number of digital start-ups fail, if not within the first year, within the first 3, 5 or 10 years. One of the main reasons for this trend is a lack of data on market conditions, industry competitors and customer insights.
If you’re one of the many people looking for growth opportunities online, you need to stay ahead of the competition and on top of your game.
Web scraping is one of the best ways to do just this. Whether you have your sights set on a career change or want a boost for a side hustle, web scraping services can improve your financial situation.
In this blog post, we'll tell you all you need to know about web scraping. What it is, how it works and, most importantly, how you can make money from it.
What is web scraping?
Web scraping is the automated process of extracting data from websites. It involves using code to fetch web page content, examine it, and extract specific information for various purposes.
These purposes can include things like analysis, research, or data collection. It's essential to follow ethical guidelines and respect website policies when performing web scraping.
Companies can use any information you gather through scraping, meaning you can make money doing it and selling to them.
How do web scrapers work?
Web scrapers work by automating the process of fetching web page content, examining it, and extracting data. Here, you can see a step-by-step overview of how web scrapers typically work:
Sending HTTP requests
The web scraper initiates by sending HTTP requests to a targeted website's server. These requests will simulate the actions a web browser would take to access a web page.
Receiving HTML content
The server responds to the requests by sending back the HTML content of the web page. This content contains the text, images, links, and other elements that make up the webpage.
HTML parsing
The web scraper uses HTML parsing libraries to parse (examine) the received HTML content. This step involves breaking down the HTML into a structured format that can then be easily navigated and sorted.
Data extraction
From here, the scraper identifies and extracts specific data elements from the parsed HTML. This can involve searching for specific HTML tags (for example: <div>, <p>, <table>) or using CSS selectors to target elements of interest.
Data cleaning
Extracted web data can require cleaning and formatting to make it usable. This includes processes like removing unnecessary whitespace, converting data types, and handling any irregularities in the source data.
Storage and processing
The scraped data can be stored in various formats, such as databases, spreadsheets, or JSON files, for further analysis. Sometimes, it can also be used directly in applications.
Pagination and navigation
In cases where the data spans multiple pages, the web scraper may need to navigate through paginated content by following links to subsequent pages and then repeating the scraping process.
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It’s important to note that web scrapers can vary in complexity, from simple scripts that extract a single piece of information from a web page to more complex systems that can crawl and scrape large amounts of data from multiple sources.
How to make money with web scraping
If done correctly and effectively, web scraping can be a valuable skill for generating income, but it's important to approach it ethically and in line with the law. Here are a few different ways to potentially earn money with web scraping:
Data Services
Data Extraction Services
By offering web scraping services, scrapers can benefit financially by selling data to businesses that need it extracted from websites. The data can then be used for things like market research, competitive analysis, or gathering product information.
Data Enrichment
Enhance existing datasets by scraping additional relevant information from pages. Many companies are willing to pay for improved data quality.
Content aggregation and syndication
Create a website or platform that aggregates content from various sources through web scraping. From here, you can monetize through advertising, subscription models, or affiliate marketing.
Lead generation
Extract data to generate leads for businesses looking for new customers. Data scraping can provide them with a list of contacts matching their criteria.
Create price comparison websites
Build a price comparison website or tool that scrapes prices from various e-commerce sites. You'll see this commonly if you're looking for things like insurance providers. While these sites are live, you can earn money through affiliate programs or advertising.
Research market trends
Conduct market research by scraping data on product prices, customer reviews, or trends. Offer these insights to businesses or sell market reports. Businesses know that relevant data can be a hugely valuable asset when it comes to marketing plans going forward.
Creating job boards
Create a job board that scrapes job listings from various websites, similar to Indeed or Totaljobs. From here, you can monetize through job postings, premium features, or advertisements.
Presenting real estate listings
Scrapers can build a platform that aggregates real estate listings through web scraping. Once live, they can earn commissions or advertising revenue from property listings.
Content creation
Use scraped data to create original content. For example, generate news articles or reports based on scraped data and monetize through advertising or subscriptions. These ideas could also be pitched and sold to publications if you are less interested in the creative side.
Data analysis and consultation
Once you understand the industry a little more, you can offer data analysis and consulting services to clients who have collected data through web scraping but need assistance in getting the most out of it.
Web scraping top tips
Responsible web scraping involves adhering to ethical guidelines, respecting website terms of service, and being mindful of legal and ethical considerations. Here are some top tips to consider before you offer web scraping services:
Respect robots.txt
To adhere to ethical scraping practices and stay out of any hot water in a legal sense, web scrapers should check the target website's robots.txt file to determine which parts of the site are off-limits to crawling and scraping.
Implement a user-agent header
Some websites may detect and block web scrapers. To avoid detection, web scrapers often include a user-agent header in their HTTP requests to make them appear as if they are regular web browser requests.
Rate limiting
Responsible, experienced web scrapers will implement rate limiting to avoid overloading the target website's server with too many requests in a short period. This helps prevent disruptions and ensures fair usage across the board.
Use a proxy
Bot blocking, geo-restrictions, and IP bans can often stop web scrapers from accessing the sites they need. Using a proxy can protect you from this to ensure the process runs as smoothly as possible.
FAQS
Is web scraping a good side hustle?
Web scraping could potentially make you a lot of money. As we've covered in our blog, there are so many ways that you could put web scraping to use, so it makes sense to invest some of your free time to learn a new skill.
How much money can you make from web scraping?
The amount of money someone can make from web scraping varies massively, given the fact that you can go about it in so many different ways. If web scraping has caught your attention, you can always look at building your career in the world of big data as a full-time web scraping engineer.
A web scraping engineer at the peak of his career can be expected to earn around $131,500 annually. If you started scraping as a freelance junior, you could earn around $50-$250 an hour.
Is website data scraping legal?
Web scraping is completely legal if you scrape data that is available to the public. That being said, some kinds of data are protected by international regulations, so scrapers need to be careful around intellectual property and personal or confidential data.
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