Many people have heard of the internet monitoring tool called Google alerts. Google alerts is a free tool that allows the user to monitor mentions of keywords across a wide range of sites. As with any tool finding the best ways to use the tool can make a neat tool really cool. Anybody can leverage Google alerts, there are a wide range of applications that can make your life easier and help you stay informed about information that you need. In today’s environment sometimes information is the only differentiation that you may have.
Where Does Google Alerts Find The Information?
Google Alerts searches Google news, web, blogs, video’s, and groups. You can specify where you want to search or choose a “comprehensive search”. This allows you to fine tune your search parameters and find the data that is from the sources that you are interested in. Note that Google Alerts searches Google…not necessarily every site on the web. There are other tools that you can use to monitor the other few billion pages.
How often Do You Get Alerted?
Let’s face it, the email in box is already out of control. You can have your searches delivered daily, weekly, or when the content is found. I usually set my searches for weekly for low priority terms, Daily for news, and as it happens for high priority terms that really matter to me. You have the option to set up and change your preferences any way that you want. If you want your super high priority alerts delivered to you through text wherever you are, consider using one of the tools found in this blog about receiving text alerts.
What Kinds of Things Should You Monitor?
You should monitor keywords and phrases surrounding topics that are of interest to you, pretty broad I know. Here are some examples of things that you may consider monitoring:
Your brand - You can monitor what is being said about your website, company name, or unique branding. This will allow you to see what is being said around the internet and by whom. If you know what is being said you have a great inside look at how you appear to other people. This “feedback” is useful for your marketing efforts. Try framing your search queries in different ways to see the difference in the results. i.e.:
- TodaysBestTools.com
- Todays Best Tools
- “Today’s Best Tools”
Your competitors brand - Knowing what is being said by or about your competitors can give you some really great insight into how you position yourself in the future. By listening in on the conversation about your competitor you can find weaknesses that may represent an opportunity for you to strengthen your position.
Monitoring who is linking to you - By creating a Google alert like link:http://todaysbesttools.com you can monitor the areas of the internet that are linking to your post. A young site like mine may not be receiving a whole lot of links. When a site does link to my site I like to know about it. It may be an opportunity to engage in a conversation that can be mutually beneficial in the future.
Finding Relevant Information - Set up a Google alert for anything of interest and get keyed into relevant content. Why waste time searching when you can leverage Google alerts to search for you? If you search for the same kinds of information regularly you may want to use RSS to gather the content for you.
By Using Google alerts you may be taking your first step into the world of reputation management and competitive intellegence. In the age of information your company may have no other competitive advantage than accessing information faster than competitors. If you stay informed about what is happening in your industry you will be able set yourself apart from your competitors through strategic actions in the future.
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