Browser automation as a business development tool
Stable and effective business development largely depends on how much time and effort the owner spends on promoting and promoting it. This statement is also relevant for classic offline business. But still, to the maximum extent, this applies to those who promote their product in online spaces. The modern market offers many platforms and opportunities for the effective and rapid launch of goods, services, new brands, the development of existing online stores, and more. But, along with this, it also provides many tools that allow you to speed up these processes, partially automate them. As an example – auto-posting, multi-accounting, data parsing, etc. As a result, high promotion results are achieved with minimal costs time and effort on the part of the business owner.
Now we will talk in detail about a tool that will simplify and intensify performance testing, Internet data collection, link checking. It's about browser automation. Let's get acquainted with what it is, what scenarios a business owner can use in practice. We will also talk about what tools to use to ensure effective browser automation. We will select the best mobile proxies to achieve the task.
What is browser automation?
Browser automation – This is a set of measures aimed at optimizing the tasks that the user performs manually on a daily basis in the search engine. Thanks to the implementation of this idea, you get:
- minimizing human error;
- involvement for automation of monotonous and the same type of hardware tasks;
- the ability to simultaneously generate a huge number of requests to scale processing capabilities;
- Improve the speed of solving operational-level tasks directly in the browser.
Search engine automation covers many of the day-to-day user tasks, from code reviews, implementation of site processes, to dynamic testing. It is also able to provide data parsing, provide Quality Assurance (QA). Thanks to this, online business provides an increase in labor efficiency and time spent, a competent distribution of software and hardware resources.
Possible use cases for business automation
Let's take a closer look at three examples of how a modern business can use browser automation as an example:
- Parallel testing combined with higher performance.
- Checking the relevance of links, testing.
- Internet data collection.
Parallel testing combined with higher performance
Browser automation – effective and convenient solution for "stress testing" business. It allows you to artificially generate large volumes of Internet traffic in one specific domain and monitor how it will cope with this mode of operation. Also using search engine automation, you will be able to:
- Conduct the so-called "load" testing". Allows you to set the optimal load time in order to minimize the number of bounces.
- Perform regression testing (regression – identified bug). It is aimed at checking the correctness of actions and the operability of the software as a whole, which is especially important after updates have been performed. It involves a series of non-functional and functional tests.
- Implement grid (parallel) testing. We are also talking about cross-testing, about comparing different types of browser (we choose a safe browser ) and the operating system in order to determine the stability of the software in it. There are a lot of combinations here and it is not possible to work them all out on your own.
Checking the relevance of links, testing
Link – one of the most effective elements of an advertisement, video content, blog post, etc. But if it lacks the tracking module parameters for the multi-touch model, if it is erroneous or damaged, then the CTA button responsible for the call to action will not work , that is, useless.
Performing a manual check is not always easy and straightforward. This is especially true for companies that have a fairly impressive digital asset, including those with dynamically generated links. Browser automation will allow you to easily and quickly test the relevance of the link mass.
Internet data collection
Web scraping – Another task, the solution of which is easily provided by browser automation. The amount of content, business activity, interactions with consumers is constantly growing every day. Trends in search promotion, activities in the field of digital commerce are constantly being improved. To stand out from the competition, businesses need to keep abreast of new solutions, pricing and advertising campaigns they run, pricing dynamics strategy, product inventory, user reviews, testimonials, and more. With browser automation, all of this work will be done quickly and easily. . You will simply receive a visual report and, based on it, make adjustments to the workflow.
Tools to use when automating your browser
Two of the most popular tools will become your faithful assistants in browser automation:
- Selenium. It is a tool for professionals requiring knowledge of scripting languages. Provides partial automation. Suitable for cases where you want to perform the most detailed study. Suitable for occasional rather than daily use. But it provides visual information about the work of the business, allows you to make strategically important decisions.
- Web Scraper IDE. This solution is focused on everyday use. So, with its help it will be possible to check the link mass, test the performance of your resource, collect data for further analysis. Here you don't need to know any testing scripting languages. That is, it is a codeless alternative for cleaning, analyzing and structuring target information. Independently generates a report in the most convenient format for you: HTML, JSON, Microsoft Excel, CSV.
Mobile proxies and browser automation
We want to note right away that browser automation involves the use of a proxy. Like any other multi-threaded action on the network, it must be carried out through proxy servers. This will hide real user data, and instead display the parameters of the server itself. That is, such traffic is generated that is perceived by the network as quite real, including from the point of view of geolocation. But to solve the task, it is not recommended to use free proxies. They will not provide you with the proper level of security and anonymity in the network, they will be characterized by low stability and efficiency. In addition, most of the IP addresses that such servers use are already blacklisted; search engines. And this greatly increases the likelihood of blocking. What kind of work stability can we talk about then?
One of the best solutions for today for those who use browser automation in practice – mobile proxies. They operate on the IP addresses of cellular network operators and use their high-speed communication channels. As a result, a real user profile is formed, but it will not be tied to you personally. And here you should pay attention to mobile proxies from the MobileProxy.Space server. In this case, each user is allocated a separate channel with unlimited traffic and access to almost a million pool of IP addresses (their number is constantly growing). Among other features of this product, it is worth highlighting the possibility of automatic or forced address change, rotation by geolocation and mobile network operators, simultaneous operation on HTTP (S) and Socks5 protocols.
Here you can learn more about the features, functionality and tariffs of mobile proxies from the MobileProxy.Space server and connect them to work together with an automated browser.