Here are 5 greatest tips on how to scrape data using working Yelp proxies.
How Data Scraping Works and the Tools Required for it
In this age of cut-throat competition, the significance of quality reviews can no longer be denied. Businesses need positive reviews of their existing customers to get more. It’s as simple as that. This fact alone has given rise to many business review platforms one of the best of which is Yelp.com.
It’s an online business directory that offers crowdsourced reviews for the business listed on it. Although it is a US-based company, it is also available in several other countries, such as Australia, Canada, Belgium, Denmark, Austria, France, Poland, Singapore, Italy, Finland, Turkey, and Switzerland.
Yelp Scraping and its Applications
Yelp scraping refers to collecting the data available on the yelp database. The data scraped from Yelp can be used for several purposes including marketing, research, and decision-making. The customer reviews on Yelp can help businesses get a better understanding of their customer’s expectations. They can help them evaluate the performance of the business and its specific strengths as well as flaws.
People working on a business idea could use Yelp scraping to research the industry they plan on entering. Moreover, interested parties can use the business data scraped from Yelp to evaluate businesses for potential collaborations.
Automated Web Scraping Tools
Despite the benefits web scraping offers, it’s not a simple process to perform. However, there are certain tools available on the internet that can automatically scrape through a website’s data. These tools are fast, efficient, and easy to operate. With just a few clicks, you can easily get your desired pieces of data scraped and delivered to you in your preferred style, format, and locations.
Benefits of Using Automated Data Scraping Tools
Given below are some of the reasons why using automated data scraping tools is better than hiring a company to do the same:
- Automated web scraping tools are much faster and can provide you with the required data within minutes, if not seconds.
- In addition to being time-saving, these automated tools are quite inexpensive as well. Most of the basic web-scraping functions are available in their free versions. For advanced features, you might have to get the paid version. However, the subscription fee of these tools is nothing when compared with the sky-high prices of the professional web scraping companies.
- These tools are extremely efficient and very easy to handle and operate. You don’t need to be an expert to run a web-scraping tool. Why would you pay someone to do something you can do by yourself!
Proxies
Choosing a proxy is one of the most crucial decisions of a web-scraping project. Proxies are used as a way to guard your personal IP information against being exposed while you are scraping data from a website. They are also quite helpful when looking for data specific to a location other than yours.
Free v/s Paid Private Yelp Proxies
There are two versions of proxies available for you to choose from, i.e., the free version and the paid versions. Free proxies usually have very limited features while the paid versions offer a wide range of advanced features in addition to the basic ones. A paid proxy has customer support available for troubleshooting should anything go wrong. While a free proxy has been programmed to meet the requirements of the general public a paid private proxy’s features are tailor-made to fit your specific needs.
Yelp Proxies
When it comes to Yelp scraping, or any web-scraping in general, choosing a paid proxy is the best option. A Yelp proxy will help you get access to business information and reviews related to whatever location you enter. Through this, you can scrape through the website more freely than you would in the absence of a proxy.
Yelp Proxies for Yelp Scraping
In choosing a proxy for Yelp, an HTTP proxy is your best option. However, make sure that your proxy provider offers 24/7 customer support or ensure the availability of your personal support team. If Yelp scraping is not a one-time project for you, the best option is to buy a Yelp proxy and treat it as a long-term investment.
Web-scraping Tools
Some of the best web-scraping tools available on the internet are as under:
Scraper API is specifically designed to aid developers involved in developing a web-scraping tool and has command over Captchas and proxies as well as browsers. It helps developers collect raw data in HTML format and does not require you to manually control and manage your proxies. Instead, it comes with its own collection of proxies from multiple proxy-providers.
Octoparse, unlike Scraper API, is meant for people with little to no knowledge of coding, web development, and programming, etc. It has a simple and friendly user interface and consists of a site parser as well as a hosting solution for people interested in scraping in the cloud. You can even get customized crawlers who can do all the technical work for you and simply provide you with the results you need.
Scrapesimple is designed to be used by people with specific web-scraping needs. This web scraper can be a customized or tailor-made web scraper to meet the requirements and expectations of its users. You simply have to fill in a form with detailed instructions about the features you want in your web-scrapers and the nature of the data you will be using it to scrape.
Web Data Extractor
A web data extractor can be defined as a type of software that regularly collects data from non-static web pages and delivers it to a specific database or supplication. Given below are some examples of data extractors:
- X-tract.io: It offers a customizable solution for all your data extraction needs. It can be customized to perform a number of functions, such as scraping and structuring of web data, documents, social media posts, and emails, etc.
- Import.io: Offers cloud services for storage and easier access to data and provides accompanied by visualizations, charts, and reports. It also comes along with automated workflows, web interactions, and a friendly log-in interface.
- Content grabber: It allows you to switch between multiple platforms, provides data at a faster pace, and allows you to generate web pages with separate web API.