Web scraping can be an effective method to gather various SEO metrics from web pages, such as keyword density, on-page SEO elements (title tags, meta descriptions, headings), page performance data, and more. However, certain SEO metrics cannot be directly obtained through web scraping because they require access to proprietary data, third-party services, or server-side information that is not exposed to the client. Here is a list of some SEO metrics that are typically not accessible through standard web scraping techniques:
Search Engine Rankings: The exact position of a website or page in search engine result pages (SERPs) for specific keywords can vary based on many factors including the searcher's location, personalization, and search history. Scraping your own rank across different user scenarios is infeasible and against the terms of service of most search engines.
Backlink Profile: While you can detect some backlinks by scraping referrals in your server logs or by identifying links on other webpages, a comprehensive list of backlinks typically requires access to search engine data or tools like Ahrefs, SEMrush, or Majestic SEO.
Traffic Data: Information such as the number of visitors, session duration, and bounce rate is not publicly available and is typically collected using analytics tools like Google Analytics or server logs. You can't scrape this data from a third-party site.
Click-Through Rate (CTR): This data is specific to the search engine and the site in question. It cannot be scraped but can be obtained through search engine webmaster tools like Google Search Console.
Indexed Pages: While you can attempt to find out the number of pages indexed by performing searches with site-specific queries (e.g.,
site:example.com), this is an estimate and might not reflect the true number of indexed pages. The most accurate count comes from search engine webmaster tools.Algorithmic Penalties: If a site is penalized by an algorithmic change, this information isn't something you can scrape. You'd need access to webmaster notifications or have to infer it from significant traffic changes.
PageRank: The original PageRank score as a public metric has been discontinued by Google. Any current metrics that attempt to estimate a page's authority, like Moz's Domain Authority or Ahrefs' Domain Rating, are proprietary and cannot be scraped from the web.
Geolocation and Personalization Effects: Since search results are personalized based on user data, scraping from a single location cannot capture the personalized experience of users from different regions or with different search histories.
AdWords Performance: Metrics related to Google Ads campaigns, such as impressions, clicks, and conversions, are not available for scraping and require access to Google Ads account data.
Social Signals: While it's possible to scrape some social signal data like shares or likes from web pages, it's often against social media platforms' terms of service. Additionally, it doesn't provide a complete picture since much of the engagement data is private.
Mobile Metrics: Mobile rankings and performance metrics can differ significantly from desktop and rely on factors such as mobile-friendliness and site speed on mobile devices, which are not always possible to accurately scrape.
It's important to note that web scraping for SEO purposes should be done ethically and in compliance with the website's terms of service and robots.txt file. Moreover, web scraping search engines or using automated tools to query them is against their terms of service and could result in your IP being blocked.
For SEO practitioners, using legitimate SEO tools and platforms that provide API access to these metrics is the recommended approach. These tools have agreements with data providers and comply with legal and ethical standards for data collection and usage.
