What Are Web Snapshots and How Do They Work?

How do you make a web snapshot?

Capturing web pages can be a cumbersome task, especially for larger websites with vast amounts of data and links. As such, automated tools are commonly employed to generate web snapshots.

More often than not, web crawlers undertake this job. Typically, a crawler will simulate real user interaction. Starting from a seed page, the crawler systematically follows links throughout the website, retrieving related information and media along the way. 

What format are web snapshots saved in?

Various file formats are available for capturing web snapshots, but the most prevalent and widely-used one is the Web ARChive (WARC) file format. Developed as an open standard, WARC files offer a reliable and standardized method for linking multiple data objects.

As such, WARC files contain not only the HTML content of web pages but also any associated files such as image data, videos, or scripts. This means that a complete and accurate web page copy can be stored in a single WARC file, making it easier to preserve and access web content in the long term.

Why make web page snapshots?

By and large, the most common reason to make web snapshots is for archival reasons. The web has been accessible to the broader public for over 30 years, allowing people worldwide to acquire up-to-date information on virtually any topic. 

However, with websites being updated so fast, much of the web information has perished. Trying to prevent this, an initiative was launched by internet entrepreneur Brewster Kahle in 1996 with the goal of preserving the knowledge of the web. 

There are also commercial incentives to make web snapshots ranging from brand heritage to analytics and legal purposes, a topic we’ll cover in subsequent sections. Most notably, when Google crawls and indexes websites, it makes snapshots of them as backups for cases when the most recent page doesn’t work.

How to find old web page snapshots?

Finding an old website may be a hit or miss depending on whether someone had made a record of it when it was online. If you find yourself looking for an older version of a website, you can try the following methods:

1. Use web archives: There are quite a few web archives out there, one of the most popular ones being the Wayback Machine. You can try your luck by sifting through their records in case they’ve made snapshots of your desired web pages. 
   

2. Google Cache: For recent web snapshots, you can try Google as it caches web pages it indexes. To view cached versions of web pages, search for them on Google and click on the three-dot menu next to the URL. Then select "Cached".
   

3. Contact the website owner: If you need a specific version of a web page that's not available in any archive, you can try contacting the website owner. They may have a copy of the page or be able to provide you with information on how to access an older version.

You should also remember that only some web pages are archived; even if they are, some elements like images or videos may load incorrectly in the archived version.

Use cases of web page snapshots

Web snapshots can have a multitude of applications from the commercial sector to national policies:

Compliance 

Some industries might be legally obligated to retain their electronic communications. What’s more, regulations differ according to the region – ​​MiFID II (EU), FCA (UK), SEC (US), ASIC (AU), and FINRA (US). This generally applies but is not limited to public institutions, financial services, and legal industries.

Monitoring website changes

Web snapshots may be used by website monitoring services to keep track of trends and patterns, which can then be used for market research and strategic planning.

Intellectual property protection

Some businesses may use web snapshots to document the existence and ownership of online content and thus prevent others from copying it and breaching intellectual property regulations.

Brand management

Web snapshots may also be used to track and manage brands online by keeping an eye on online brand mentions and references over time.

Digital preservation

Web snapshots may be kept in web archives for digital preservation. This is particularly relevant for websites and online content that are historically or culturally significant.

Conclusion

As mentioned in the beginning, the internet is vast but not infinite. Much of what we see on our screens today may be gone in less than three years. While we might not miss many things, we may wish to store some for later use, and web snapshots are an excellent place to start.

If you found this blog post useful, you may also be interested in reading more about the aforementioned web crawlers.