Organizations have a greater use for data than ever before. Part of the growth of data is the fact that businesses can now get information from a wide variety of different sources. Taking all that data and merging them into one cohesive whole, however, is far from a simple process. A popular solution for organizations trying to access web data programmatically, is to use a technique called web scraping. Unfortunately, web scraping tools are incomplete and insufficient to deliver on maximizing the true potential of Web data. After extracting the data, it also needs to be cleaned and prepared, in order to integrate with other tools to deliver real value.
This leaves organizations either missing the opportunity to leverage web data or with incomplete data access, poor data quality, unreliable and out of date data, high costs and uncertain business risks.
The good news? There is a solution.
What is Web Data Integration
Web data integration comprises the practices, architectural techniques and tools that identify, extract, prepare, integrate and consume data from any web site or sites to meet the consumption needs for business applications, analytics and processes.
It’s helpful to start out with understanding what web data integration is first before looking further at the different forms of web data integration. Web Data Integration is defined by high-quality data that is rapidly delivered and integrated directly into business processes with low resource requirements and little to no business risk for the use. This is accomplished by treating the entire web data lifecycle as a single, integrated journey from the initial identification of data requirements and the actual process of web data extraction through the intermediary stages of data preparation, cleaning, analysis and visualization and then finally into data integration and consumption by downstream applications and business processes. The result is data that is more valuable and meaningful than ever before. Web data integration is designed to allow users to make decisions and build on web data with great confidence. It’s about creating a new field of data that organizations can then use to derive further insights and strategies. Web data integration and the various web data integration use cases out there make data analysis easier and more effective.
Web Data Integration Use Cases
With that definition in mind, it’s time to look at the various types of web data integration use cases. It’s important to know the use cases of web data integration, hopefully these will spark some ideas for how you can use web data integration in your industry.
- Retail and Manufacturing
Leveraging a proper web data integration solution in the retail and manufacturing industry is key. Through web data integration you are able to gain a competitive advantage for your business. Import.io’s web data integration will give you insights into the following:
- Track and Automate Competitive Price Monitoring
- Ensure MAP Compliance monitoring
- Get Intelligent Product Matching
- Capture Images and Descriptions for Online Marketplaces
- Monitor Customer Sentiment
- Financial, Insurance, and Equity Research
If you are in the financial, insurance, and/or equity industry you know how spread out market data is for your industry. You also understand how important that market data is for the success of your business within the industry. Through Import.io’s web data integration solution, you will be enable to make data driven decisions that will elevate your business. Below are few examples of the benefits of Import.io’s web data integration:
- Access Alternative Data
- Aggregate News Articles
- Harness Dispersed Market Data
- Extract Data from Financial Statements
- Optimize Insurance Models
- Product, Marketing, and Sales
The importance of web data is exponentially growing. Web data can give sales and marketing teams the extra intelligence they need to effectively plan and optimize their results. Import.io is assisting in the success and growth of marketing and sales by providing critical web data insights. Web data integration can be used to:
- Expand and Enhance Content marketing
- Boost Lead Generation
- Optimize Competitive Analysis
- Monitor Search Engine Rankings
- Capture Intelligence from Customer Reviews
Getting Started on Web Data Integration
Data can be a powerful tool in a company’s arsenal, but it’s only useful when it can be properly analyzed. Web data integration makes that possible, so plan today for how your organization will make that happen.
Import.io is the world’s only Web Data Integration solution. Import.io takes data from the world’s biggest repository and reliably turns it from human readable to machine-ready, allowing enterprises to drive positive business outcomes by gaining deeper insights from robust alternative data sets. Import.io’s quality dashboard feature allows you to get an accurate view of your web data pipeline. This allows you to analyze the health of your pipeline and easily resolve any issues.
Import.io is the world’s leader in interacting with web data, providing a flexible, extensible platform with deep capabilities. Start your free trial today!