[Carley Warren]

Handling missing or inconsistent data is another important consideration. Craigslist listings may not always have a price, location, or other expected fields. Adding checks in the script to handle missing elements gracefully prevents errors during scraping. For example, using Python’s try-except blocks or checking if an element exists before accessing it ensures your scraper doesn’t crash. Logging these issues can help you refine your script and adapt to changes in the site’s structure over time.

[Carley Warren]

For dynamic websites, I’ve found that headless browsers like Puppeteer or Playwright work well. They simulate real browser activity, making it harder for the website to detect scraping.