Python Web Scraping: A Step-by-Step Guide for Beginners

Web scraping is a valuable skill that allows you to collect and analyze large amounts of data from web pages with almost no manual effort. In this article, we will provide a step-by-step guide on how to perform web scraping using Python on an Ubuntu VPS.

Prerequisites

An Ubuntu VPS with Python, pip, and venv module installed.
Secure Shell (SSH) access to the VPS.
Basic knowledge of how to run commands on a terminal.

While you can technically write Python code for web scraping without using a Virtual Private Server (VPS), we recommend using one, especially for beginners. A VPS hosting plan provides more stability and better performance for web scraping tasks, especially for large-scale operations.

How to Web Scrape with Python

Setting up your environment for Python web scraping

To set up your environment for Python web scraping, follow these steps:

Log in to your VPS via SSH.
Create a new virtual environment for Python.
Activate the virtual environment.
Install Beautiful Soup and requests packages.

Making your first request

To make your first request, create a Python script and use the requests library to send an HTTP GET request to a URL. Print the HTML content of the response.

Extracting data with Beautiful Soup

Use the Beautiful Soup library to parse the HTML content and extract specific information. Find elements with specific tags and extract their text content.

Parsing HTML and navigating the DOM tree

Understand how the Document Object Model (DOM) works and how to navigate it using Beautiful Soup. Learn how to locate specific elements and extract their content.

Storing scraped data

After scraping the data you need, you may want to store it for later use. Learn how to save scraped data to a CSV file or a MongoDB database.

Using regular expressions to scrape data

Regular expressions can be a powerful tool for pattern matching in web scraping. Learn how to combine Beautiful Soup and regular expressions to scrape data that follows a specific pattern.

Handling dynamic content and Ajax calls

Discover how to handle dynamic content that is loaded via AJAX calls or JavaScript. Learn how to use Selenium or analyze network requests to retrieve the data you need.

Error handling and logging

Implement proper error handling and logging techniques to handle unexpected issues during web scraping. Learn how to gracefully handle errors or exceptions and prevent your script from crashing.

Creating a simple web scraper application

Create a simple web scraper application in Python that takes a keyword and a URL as input. Learn how to count keyword occurrences and find external links in the page.

Conclusion

Web scraping is a powerful technique for extracting data from web pages. In this article, we have provided a comprehensive guide on Python web scraping using an Ubuntu VPS. We hope you find it useful for your web scraping projects.

Python web scraping FAQ

Which Python libraries are commonly used for web scraping?

The most commonly used Python libraries for web scraping are Beautiful Soup, requests, and Scrapy.

Is it possible to scrape websites that require login credentials using Python?

It is technically possible to scrape websites that require login credentials using Python. However, it may involve replicating the login process, which can be complex. Make sure to comply with the website’s terms of service before proceeding.

Can I extract images or media files with Python web scraping?

Yes, you can extract images or media files from websites using Python web scraping. Use Beautiful Soup to locate the appropriate HTML tags and extract the URLs of the images or media files.

Web scraping vs. API: which is better?

Both web scraping and APIs have their advantages. If an API is available and provides the data you need in a structured format, it is generally the preferred option. However, if the website doesn’t offer an API or you need specific data, web scraping may be necessary.

👉
Start your website with Hostinger – get fast, secure hosting here 👈

🔗 Read more from MinimaDesk:

🎁 Download free premium WordPress tools from our Starter Tools page.