Best Data Extraction Software

What Is Data Extraction Software?

We live in a modern era where almost every organization thrives on data to make informed decisions.

Data extraction software accelerates the process of data collection and makes it easy to store, organize, and in most cases, process, and analyze it too. 

A data extraction system is a set of tools that can help extract or collect data from different web sources. The sources generally include web pages, PDFs, scanned text, emails, and other types of documents. 

The best part is that it can be customized as per your requirements, and it can extract information like name, age, sex, email IDs, addresses, bank details, and more. 

The software helps organizations achieve their marketing goals by identifying their audiences and extracting data from the right medium. This data is then compiled into a database that is actively used to develop new products and services and revise marketing policies. 

Types of Data Extraction Software

There are majorly three types of data extraction software: 

1. On-Premise Data Extraction Tools

On-premise systems can extract data in real-time or in batches from various sources. It can mine data in multiple formats and store them to the desired platforms. 

2. Web Scraping Data Extraction Tools

These tools are designed to extract data from websites or web pages automatically. It then stores the data in an Excel sheet or a database as desired. 

Because of the software, extracting data from the web has become easier and cheaper than ever before. 

3. Cloud-based Data Extraction Tools

Cloud-based data extraction tools gather data from various sources and store them on a cloud server. This cloud server can be private or public and be accessed from any device. It syncs data in real-time.

Features of Data Extraction Software

If you want to make the most data mining, you need to opt for the right data extraction tool. 

An effective data extraction software is capable of transforming collected data into actionable insights for businesses. Here are some of the must-have features of a data extraction system: 

1. Extract Data in Real-Time

For businesses to be able to make faster and smarter decisions, they need to have access to data on time. 

However, many organizations rely on batch data extraction. That means while analyzing, the information might not be up-to-date and have to make critical decisions based on historical data. 

Thus, an effective data extraction solution must be capable of collecting and analyzing data in real-time. 

For instance, you would need data on the current inventory level if you want to conduct a sale. 

2. Support Common Documents Formats

Organizations collect data from multiple sources that are in structured, semi-structured, or unstructured formats. 

Structured formats are easy to process and analyze. However, the main problems lie with the unstructured data. An ideal tool should be able to extract data from various common unstructured formats, including pdf, txt, Docx, doc, rtf, and more so that businesses can gather as much data as possible. 

3. Export Data to Different Platforms

Another important feature of a data extraction solution is that it should enable users to export the converted data to different destinations. Some of these include Oracle, SQL Server, PostgreSQL, and more. 

4. Create Reusable Extraction Templates

A useful data extraction tool should allow users to build an extraction template for documents with the same layout type. 

Benefits of Having Data Extraction Software

For all we know, data extraction software helps with automating the process of data mining. Some of its benefits include: 

1. Better Analysis and Fast Decision Making

The role of effective data extraction software is not limited to only collecting data. But it can also extract meaningful insights from the unstructured data and help businesses make informed decisions. 

2. Increases Productivity

Data extraction software streamlines and automates the process of collecting and storing data, which eliminates the need to manually process it. This directly impacts the productivity level of your employees. 

It removes repetitive data collection tasks, and they get more time to focus on core activities. Thus, it increases the company’s chances of success. 

3. Helps Extract Search Result Data for Competitor Analysis

To rank on top of the search result page, you need to keep an eye on your competitors’ activities. 

Data extraction software pulls out data such as metadata, keyword tags, backlinks, and more from your competitors’ websites. 

You can then use this data to run competitors’ analysis to know which keyword drives the traffic towards them and what kind of content is giving them engagement. 

4. Increases Data Accessibility

Gaining full visibility into your incoming data is very crucial, and that is possible only with a data extraction system. 

Any company under Fortune 1000 can increase its net income by $65 million if it has a 10 percent increase in data accessibility. That’s huge. 

5. Enhances Accuracy

When employees extract data from documents or other sources manually, it is prone to error. It can result in incomplete records, duplication, or missing information. 

Such mistakes can be easily avoided by automating the whole process of data mining. Data mining is important because it not only saves time and effort but also ensures data accuracy. 

Factors to Consider While Choosing Data Extraction Software

There are hundreds of data extraction tools available in the market. Which one is best suited for your business? 

Consider the following factors to narrow down your choices and select the best option for your organization. 

1. User Interface

The tool must have an intuitive interface so that businesses can easily view the processed content. 

Graphical user interface (GUI) lets you separate editing from viewing, and it helps you handle data with little to no knowledge of coding. 

2. Scalability

Whether you are a small or a big corporation, eventually, your data requirement is going to increase. That’s why it is ideal for deploying your software on a cloud service so that you can scale up without having to invest in a lot of hardware. 

Besides, software-as-a-service is easy and quick to make updates at a relatively low cost as compared to the traditional legacy systems.

3. Robust Functionalities

When you choose a system, make sure that it is capable enough to handle the entire process, including data extraction, filtering, sorting, and analyzing. The system should offer robust functionalities to help build a proper workflow and adopt HTML structure changes. 

4. Support Team

Once you have implemented the system, there are chances that you might face some technical issues, or the system might crash anytime. In such situations, you need immediate assistance from your vendors. That’s why always stop to check if they have a reliable and active customer support team in place. Otherwise, any disruption in the system that is not fixed quickly can hamper your business operation. 

The Industry of Data Extraction Software

In today’s time, organizations from every industry rely on data to formulate strategies and make informed decisions. 

However, the data extraction industry can be primarily segregated into three categories. 

1. Service Industry

The service industry needs tools that can help them improve their service offerings. For instance, the customer service industry extracts data to identify the reason for the churn rate. Similarly, the cable industry needs data to analyze their customer’s interests. 

2. Ecommerce Industry

Ecommerce companies use data of their existing as well as potential customers to study the target audience behavior. This helps them formulate a well-defined strategy and offer personalized experiences to the consumers, thereby increasing their revenue. 

3. Government Agencies

Government agencies need data extraction software to collect data on infrastructure and economic changes. For example, analyzing traffic data enables them to build better road models and ease the situation of heavy traffic in certain areas. 

Major Issues While Using Data Extraction Software

Even though technology is advancing, there are still many challenges faced during data extraction. 

1. Captchas

Captchas help separate humans from bots by displaying logical problems that humans can solve easily. It is generally deployed to avoid spam. 

Bots find it difficult to do basic scraping in the presence of captcha. However, new advancements are being made that will help get by these captchas ethically. 

2. Frequent structural changes

Data scrapers are designed concerning the web page’s code elements at the time of the setup. But when the scrapers see frequent structural changes on the website, it brings a lot of complications. 

Not every type of structural change affects the extraction process, but any changes can result in data loss. That’s why it is crucial to keep a tab on the latest changes made. 

3. Bots

Many websites do not allow automated web scraping. There are options that enable websites to choose whether they will allow data scraper bots on their site or not. 

Some of them prefer to turn it off because they don’t want their competitor to gain an advantage. Besides, it drains down the server resources of the website when they are being scrapped. This affects the site’s performance.