Google Alerts

Google Alerts is a very useful online tool which can be used to manage Social Media content. The great thing about Google Alerts is that it is simple to use, is available free of charge, and doesn’t require constant monitoring.

Google Alerts can be used to find websites or articles to link to and it also serves to inspire fresh ideas for your Social Media content. Simply select keywords that best describe what you want like to see information about and activate the Alert.

Once the Google Alert is active it will constantly search the internet for items that include your keywords and forward these through to you via email. The settings allow you to decide if you receive these updates in real time or at selected intervals. There is also the flexibility to select all items or only what you deem important.

When looking at Google Alerts, you realise that this simple process is not only useful for finding new content, it can also be customised to let you know when someone mentions your company online or republishes your content. It can alert you to what your competitors are doing in the marketplace, help you stay in touch with new innovations in your industry, and to keep track of when your products are mentioned online.

While you are able to create as many Google Alerts as you would like, it’s important to be mindful of how many emails this will generate so you don’t overtax your inbox.

How to Create Google Alerts

1. The first thing you will need is a gmail account to send the emails to.
2. Type www.google.com/alerts into your browser
3. Enter the keywords you would like to be notified about
4. Click on ‘Show Options’
5. Select when you would like to be notified
6. Select ‘Automatic’ as the source
7. Select the language required
8. Select ‘Any Region’ for worldwide coverage
9. Select ‘Only the Best Results’
10. Enter email address
11. Before hitting the big blue button marked ‘Create Alert’, scroll down to check the preview generated by Google. This will assist with ultimate keyword selection.
12. When you are happy with your keywords, click ‘Create Alert’.