The SEO scraper: everything you need to know about this data collection tool

Through our SEO Agency Optimize 360.

Scraper

In the field of SEO and digital marketing, an essential tool has emerged over the years to optimise website performance: the scraper.

But what is a scraper, how does it work and what purpose does it serve?

In this article, we'll take a look at the main features of the scraper and its various applications in the SEO sector.

What is a scraper?

The word 'scraper' comes from the English word 'to scrape'. A scraperalso known as a scraper, scraper blade or scraper, refers to a tool capable of collect information from a web page or online data source.

A more precise definition can be given: a scraper is software or an automated script that explores the content of a web page (or several) in order to extract certain information. structured data.

These can then be analysed, used or made available at a later date.

How a scraper works

A scraper generally follows a well-defined process:

HTTP request : To access the content of a web page, the scraper sends an HTTP request asking for access to the page. It poses as an ordinary Internet user, or even as a search engine (such as Googlebot).
Exploring the source code : once the web page has been loaded, the scraper explores its content based on its source code HTML. This enables it to identify the different sections and tags present.
Data extraction : From this exploration, the scraper is able to extract precisely the information that interests it. This could be hypertext links, titles, descriptions, metadata, texts or geographical coordinates.
Storage and processing : the data collected is then stored in a usable format such as a CSV, JSON or XML file. It can then be analysed, processed or reused according to the needs of the user or the project in question.

In some cases, the scraper can bypass certain "barriers" put in place by websites to restrict access by automated robots and scrapers. These barriers can take the form of request limitations, CAPTCHAs or the use of robots.txt.

Why use a scraper for SEO?

In the world of SEO and digital marketing, the scraper has become an essential tool for a number of reasons:

Competitive analysis: by retrieving data from your competitors' web pages, you can obtain an overview of their content strategies, their backlinks or their internal networking.
On-page optimisation: retrieving data relating to HTML tags, titles, meta descriptions and other essential elements will enable you to identify your site's strong and weak points and determine what needs to be optimised for better referencing.
Performance analysis: Scrapers can help detect technical problems that impact on SEO, such as 404 errors, "bugs", etc. broken linksduplicate content and the status of redirects.
Sector watch: using a scraper allows you to monitor trends, news and new developments in your sector in real time.

Limits and precautions when using the scraper

Although scraper is a very useful tool in SEO, it is important to be aware of its limitations and the precautions to be taken when using it:

Respect for privacy and copyright : certain data extracted by the scraper may be protected by confidentiality and copyright laws. It is therefore crucial to use this tool responsibly and ethically, and to comply with the legislation in force.
Risk of banishment : Some websites do not hesitate to block or ban IPs suspected of abusively scraping their content. It is therefore important to modulate the frequency and volume of your requests to avoid arousing suspicion.
Data reliability : As the scraper is dependent on the source code of the targeted web pages, it may be necessary to regularly adapt the search and extraction parameters to take account of any changes to these pages (structural changes, changes to tags, etc.) in order to ensure the relevance and consistency of the data collected.