What are Google Alerts?
For those of you who aren't sure, Google Alerts is a free service that sends subscribers email updates of the most recent, relevant Google results based on the selection of their interests. The layout for Google alerts is extremely simple, as you can see below:
Features Of Google Alert's Include:
• Frequency of email notifications- You get to decide how often you want to be updated.
• Managing alerts- You can create up to 1000 alerts which you can manage, edit, or delete at any time.
• Language preference- You have the option to subscribe to alerts in multiple languages.
• Privacy- Google ensures that they will not be selling or sharing your email address with anyone.
My favorite part about Google Alerts is that it helps you track your own brand on the internet, as well as competitor's brands to ensure that you are always up to date with everything that is going on. Whatever it is that you want to know about can be typed into the search box and you will receive instant results without the manual labor of actually searching those keywords every single day. For example, if I wanted to keep track of what's being said about my company's blog, I could just type in "Hudson Horizons blog" and anything relevant to that alert will magically appear in my inbox. Signing up for Google alerts is not only cost-effective (free!) but it also produces great results to help monitor your brand, the latest news, and anything else you'd like to receive information on. Google alerts really is a valuable tool to assist in tracking your brand without much effort on your part.
Ideas and tips to help you get started with Google Alerts:
• Monitoring your company is a great alert to begin with.
The first Google alert I ever made was "Hudson Horizons" to ensure that I knew everything that was being said about our company.
• Monitoring your competitors could be very beneficial to your business.
We all know the saying, "Keep your friends close and your enemies closer". This is especially true in the business world. Setting up alerts with your competitors names guarantees that you will always know the latest information about their company.
• Tracking your products as well as your executives is a smart thing to do.
Creating as many alerts as you can think of helps you stay informed with what is being published about your company, your executives, your products, and anything else that relates to you.
• Use quotes around key phrases.
Another good idea is to use quotation marks when your search includes multiple words. You want to be certain that you are only getting alerts that are relevant to you. For example, instead of just typing in my company's name, Hudson Horizons, I would type in "Hudson Horizons" to lessen the amount of alerts that don't relate.
If you'd like to know more information about managing your brand online, view Hudson Horizons other online marketing services.