How to Scrape a List of URLs

7 min read

Short answer

To scrape a list of URLs without code, first collect the links — from a list page or a CSV file. Then open one of the pages, click the fields you want so they are saved as a template, and run the whole list. Easy Scraper AI opens each URL in turn and writes one row per page.

On this page

A list page rarely tells the whole story. A product grid shows a shortened title and a price; the description, stock count and specifications sit on each product's own page. Getting those means opening every page and reading the same few fields.

This guide does that in two passes on Books to Scrape: one to collect the links, one to visit them. On the list page the first book is shown as "A Light in the ..."; by the end you will have its full title from its own page.

What you need

  • Google Chrome on a computer (version 114 or later)
  • The Easy Scraper AI extension
  • Either a list page that links to the pages you want, or a CSV file with the URLs in one column

Steps

  1. Step 1: Scrape the list and keep the link column

    Open the list page, open the side panel and check the detected fields. At least one of them holds the link to each item — on the practice site there are two, "Link" and "Link 2", and both lead to the book's own page. Keep one of them ticked, then press Start. Only ticked fields are collected, so a link column you untick here will not be available later.

    Detected list of 20 books with seven fields, including the Link field
  2. Step 2: Open one detail page and switch to Details

    Click through to any one of the items and choose Details at the bottom of the panel. The first time on a site it says "Nothing chosen yet".

    Details mode on a book page with the message Nothing chosen yet and the button Pick fields on the page
  3. Step 3: Click the fields you want

    Click "Pick fields on the page", then click each value on the page: here the title and the price. Picked fields get a green outline with a name (Title, Price) and the small box on the page counts them: "2 picked". If an outline is not quite right, "Select more" and "Select less" in that box grow or shrink it. Click something again to remove it, and click Done when you have them all.

    Picking fields on a book page: the title and price are outlined as picked, and the box on the page shows 2 picked
  4. Step 4: Check the saved fields

    The panel now lists the fields with the values it read from this page. They are saved as a template for the site, so you only do this once. "Highlight matches" shows on the page what each field points at, and "Pick again" lets you add or remove fields later.

    Details mode listing two saved fields with their values, and the buttons Highlight matches and Scrape this page
  5. Step 5: Switch to Batch and choose the URLs

    Choose Batch. With no list yet it offers two sources: "Upload CSV", or "Use links from the last scrape". Pick the second, select the link column and click Use.

    Batch mode asking Which column has the URLs?, with the columns of the last list scrape to choose from
  6. Step 6: Press Start

    The panel shows how many URLs are queued — "URL list 20 URLs" — and Start runs them. Each page is opened in the same tab in turn and the fields are read from it. The counter shows progress, for example "6 rows · 6/20 · 00:13".

    Batch run in progress: 6 rows · 6/20 · 00:13, with full book titles and prices appearing under Results
  7. Step 7: Export the table

    When it finishes, click "Open results window" and export as CSV or JSON, or copy the table. Each row starts with the URL it came from.

    Results window after a batch run: one row per URL with the page address, the full title and the price

What the result looks like

These are the first rows of the CSV from the run above. The URL column is added for you; the other two are the fields that were clicked.

URLTitlePrice
https://books.toscrape.com/catalogue/a-light-in-the-attic_1000/index.htmlA Light in the Attic£51.77
https://books.toscrape.com/catalogue/tipping-the-velvet_999/index.htmlTipping the Velvet£53.74
https://books.toscrape.com/catalogue/soumission_998/index.htmlSoumission£50.10
First rows of the batch export from the practice site

The title is now complete — "A Light in the Attic" instead of the shortened version from the list. The columns are named after what you clicked (Title, Price), and the first column records which page each row came from.

Starting from a CSV file instead

If you already have the addresses — from a spreadsheet, a sitemap or an earlier export — choose "Upload CSV" in Batch mode. The first row of the file must be column names; you are then asked which column has the URLs.

All pages need the same layout

The template is a set of positions on a page. It works when every URL in the list uses the same layout, as product pages on one site do. If a field comes back empty for some rows, open one of those pages: the value is usually missing there, or that page is built differently. A list that mixes two kinds of pages is best split into two runs.

Long lists

A run is saved as it goes. If you stop it, or close the panel, the next time you open the panel on that site it asks "Resume the last run?" and continues with the remaining URLs. Keep the tab visible while it works, and remember that a thousand URLs is a thousand page loads for the site — and that not every site allows it. See whether web scraping is legal for what to check first.

If the list itself runs over several pages, set Paging in the first pass so that every link is collected before you start the batch. The guide on how to scrape multiple pages covers the options.

Common questions

Give the tool the URLs, show it once which fields to read on one of the pages, and let it open each URL and repeat. In Easy Scraper AI that is Details mode for the fields and Batch mode for the run.

Related guides

Get your first table in a minute

Install the extension, open a page with a list and press Start.