-
What strategies can I use to scrape websites with limited search functionality?
Using advanced search operators like site:example.com on Google sometimes reveals hidden pages not accessible through the site’s search function.
-
7 Replies
-
- For sites that return limited results, I break down queries into smaller categories or keywords to increase the chances of finding all relevant data.
-
I use pagination if available, or switch to scraping individual category pages rather than relying on the search function itself.
-
Monitoring the site’s network traffic can reveal API calls with hidden parameters. Often, tweaking these parameters yields more search results.
-
If search results are restricted by region, I use proxies from different locations to uncover additional content.
-
Combining searches with user-agent changes can sometimes bypass limitations, especially on mobile vs. desktop versions of a site.
-
Scraping each letter of the alphabet or individual keywords separately is a last resort, but it’s effective on sites with poor search capabilities.
-
I also check the site’s sitemap, as it often contains URLs that don’t show up in the internal search but are publicly accessible.
Log in to reply.