Web Scraper Freeware – An Easy Technique For Beginners From Semalt
Information extraction from various websites, called web scraping, is quite handy when acquiring web-hosted data that APIs do not supply. For most cases, if you are looking for stand-alone data, it is much quicker to web scrape than to develop direct API connections.
Since websites already supply plenty of data, easy access is a reliable supplement for analyses, either to provide some context or to input the data for asking new questions. Despite the numerous helpful approaches to web scraping, you can utilize web scraper freeware which can further boost your efforts.
This article elaborates on the approach which is quite easy, even for a beginner. All you need to do is use Import.io for creating a specific extractor for the intended sites.
Here are the steps for you to start following right now:
Step #1: Sign Up
Visit https://www.import.io/, and click "Sign up" to register. It is quite simple to find it, this is on the top right corner of their homepage.
Step #2: Dashboard
Once you are done signing up, go to your dashboard to manage the extractors. The dashboard is at the top right corner of the homepage after you log in.
Step #3: Extractor
On the top left corner, click "New Extractor" and then paste the URL, which contains data that you intend to scrape, on the "Create Extractor" pop-up. As an example, last year's top scorers given by ESPN from last year in tabulated form. Although users tend to bet high, and the stakes are just as considerable, you have to get it correct on your first time. With web scraper freeware, it is possible for you to find information that will enable you to stay among the top teams.
Step #4: Data Viewing and Sorting
Sooner or later, Import.io will finish scraping all data from the selected website. "Data View" will display it for you. On this portion, you can add, remove, or even rename table's columns by choosing elements on the site. This enhances the arrangement of your dataset before you begin to generate the live query API URL. Lastly, you would not even have any trouble performing such tasks in the Designer.
Step #5: Import Data
When the data is ready to be imported, click the "Done" button, which you will see in the top right corner, and it is colored red. View the extractor you made in the previous step on the Dashboard. Next, you select the extractor and click the "Integrate" button. You can find it below the name of the extractor, then you copy-paste the "Live Query API" that you can see here, onto a browser window. By doing so, you can either copy the JSON response with your data, or you may use the "Download Tool."
At this point, you should have a live query API for your website. You can try other sites as well using the extractor. To learn more, just check out the Import.io community, for more web scraper freeware techniques.