"Not everyone can gather a team to build a product", Josephine told us during an interview.
Josephine works as an editor for a job aggregator website that collects job postings from major job boards and websites like Linkedin. She works remotely and uses web scraping tool to help her gather updated information on a daily routine.
Working from Home Becomes A Trend
In the post-covid landscape where staying at home becomes a more preferred working style, people are looking for a way to make a living by working remotely and collaborating with just a few persons online.
According to the Pew Research Center, around 22 million employed adults (aged 18 and over) in the U.S. work from home all the time , equal to roughly 14% of all employed adults. Just over one-third of workers in the U.S. That's an impressive number.
One can easily see why this happens. Working at home is safer in epidemic times, and people can achieve a better work-life balance. And for some people who want to start a business and control the cost, building a business without a physical premise can be a great release.
For either reason, those who have already started are armed with several online tools that help them overcome repetitive workloads and save time and human resources.
Monetize from Information
If you don't have a product, how are you going to make money?
Fortunately, we now live in an information era where information can be traded. This contributes to the emergence of a large number of aggregator sites. Information like new tools, launched products, news, job postings, training resources, stock prices, hotels, restaurants, and local services can all be collected in one place to provide further insights for people who need them.
The good news is, that the internet is a vast database where data pickers can scrape data almost infinitely on the condition that they pick the right scraping tools. There are numerous ways to collect target data—coding with Python, JavaScript, web scraping API, or some no-code web scraping tools. No matter which you choose, some rules need to be followed.
First, respect websites' terms of use. Many websites explicitly state which parts are not allowed to be scraped, especially personal data like emails and phone numbers, except that you have a legitimate right to do so. If you are not sure, it is always safe to consult your lawyer.
Second, avoid burdening the target websites. Scrape ethically. It might not cost you anything to scrape the data from a website, but at least please do it ethically by scraping the data in low demand time, such as midnight, and avoid sending too many requests within a short period.
While not many people are code masters, coding is too difficult to start with. Not to mention, various anti-scraping measures need to be tackled. That's when some no-code web scraping tool steps in.
No Code Data Scraping Tool
As a leading no-code web scraping tool, Octoparse has been in the market for nearly 12 years. From an intuitive point-and-click scraping interface to over 500 pre-built scraping templates, it listens to users' demands and evolves over time.
With Octoparse, users don't have to write a single line of code while getting their target data precisely. Pre-built templates have covered almost all industries from E-commerce, finance, Google Maps, recruitment, real estate, marketing, and life. Just enter some parameters like page URLs or keywords, and the online scraper will run for you.
Other features include cloud extraction and storage, meaning that users can free their local servers and use the time and resources to do what matters. Integration and API also help users connect the scraped data to third-party tools to automate workflow.
For anyone like Josephine, a task schedule enables her to scrape near real-time data. This is of much use, especially for e-commerce businesses where price monitoring plays a major role in product competitiveness.
What Websites to Build with Data Scraping
When building a website using data scraping, you can create value by aggregating and presenting useful information from multiple sources. Here’s a more detailed look at what types of websites you can build and monetize using data scraping:
1. Tool Recommendation Sites
Tool recommendation websites aggregate and compare tools across different categories. By scraping data from various sources, you can pull detailed information about software or products, including:
Features: Scrape websites like Capterra, G2, or user reviews for a comprehensive list of features.
Pricing: Gather and compare up-to-date pricing data across similar tools.
User Ratings: Scrape customer feedback and rating data to provide trustworthy reviews.
Use Cases: Collect case studies and success stories to guide users toward the best tools for their specific needs.
Monetization Strategy:
Affiliate Marketing: By linking to the official tool pages using affiliate links, you can earn commissions for any resulting purchases.
Sponsored Listings: Tools can pay for higher visibility or priority placement on your website.
Ad Revenue: Display ads for related products and services.
Examples:
2. Job Posting Sites
A job aggregator site can scrape job postings from various job boards (like Indeed, Monster, or LinkedIn). The aim is to centralize job listings into one easy-to-navigate platform.
Scrape Job Listings: Gather job titles, locations, salaries, and job descriptions from different platforms.
Company Data: Scrape data about companies hiring for these roles, including ratings, size, and other relevant details.
Advanced Search Options: Offer filtering by location, salary, experience level, and more.
Monetization Strategy:
Paid Job Postings: Companies can pay to have their jobs featured at the top of search results.
Subscriptions for Premium Users: Charge users for access to premium job listings or early access to new job postings.
Affiliate Links: Partner with recruitment services or career platforms for affiliate income.
Examples:
3. Coupon Sites
Coupon sites aggregate discounts, deals, and promo codes from various e-commerce stores. Data scraping can be used to keep these offers up to date.
Scrape Coupon Codes: Gather active coupons and promotional codes from a variety of e-commerce sites.
Track Price Drops: Scrape product listings to highlight when prices drop and make this data available to users.
Categories & Expiry Tracking: Classify deals by category (clothing, electronics, etc.) and scrape expiry dates so users only see valid coupons.
Monetization Strategy:
Affiliate Links: Earn commissions when users redeem coupons or buy through affiliate links.
Advertising: Run sponsored deals or place ads from brands that want exposure.
Email Lists: Build and sell targeted email lists of users interested in deals.
Examples:
Building a website using data scraping allows you to provide valuable, up-to-date information by collecting data from various sources. Each type of website has different monetization strategies, from affiliate marketing and sponsored content to subscription models. Focus on a niche that has demand, and ensure the content is regularly updated using automated scraping techniques to maintain relevance.
Conclusion
While the workplace is constantly changing, it's always better to learn new tricks to prepare for a more dynamic and flexible working environment. Working from home might be the trend for the next decade and everyone is free to build their online business with data scraping and embrace the future of automation.