What is Google Alerts?
Google Alerts sends you notifications whenever something related to a topic you've specified appears online. It's a free service from Google.
Why should I use Google Alerts for my business?
1. You keep track of what’s being written about your company
This way, you’ll know exactly what’s being said online about you or your business. You’ll also know which new backlinks are pointing to your site. After all, whenever your company is mentioned, there’s often a link to your website included. If that’s not the case, you can ask the website owner to add a link to your site. This is important for your website’s backlink profile.
2. You read what’s being written about the competition or what the competition is writing
To stay well-informed about what’s happening in your industry, it’s helpful to know what your competitors are up to. For example, you can find out when a competitor posts a guest blog on a website. Chances are that site is also relevant to your business and target audience.
3. You’ll stay up to date on the latest developments, allowing you to write relevant SEO content
As soon as you learn about a brand-new development in your industry, you can capitalize on it with a compelling blog post. This will attract others searching for the latest news to your website, which in turn boosts your site’s search visibility. You’ll enhance your reputation as an expert while simultaneously improving your SEO. People will follow you to stay up to date on the latest news.
The endless search for new blog topics is also a thing of the past: Google Alerts sends you the most important topics of the moment. This way, you no longer have to scour the internet for relevant blog topics while you already have plenty of other tasks waiting for you. Since Google Alerts keeps you up to date on the latest news, you can turn that news into a blog post for your target audience. That makes Google Alerts a great tool for creating new content, such as writing articles.
Is writing relevant blog posts not your thing? Or do you simply not have the time for it? We’d be happy to take care of it for you.
4. You can respond quickly to messages
If you know your company has been mentioned somewhere, you can respond quickly. Whether the comments are positive or negative, you can get to them in a flash. You can thank people or offer a solution. This way, you can capitalize on the fact that your company has been in the news.
How do I set up Google Alerts?
Now that you know the benefits of setting up Google Alerts, we’ll explain exactly how to do it.
- Step 1: Go to Google Alerts
- Step 2: Enter a relevant term Enter a termyou want to stay informed about, such as your own company. Examples include your company name, your first and last name, the name of your product or service, the names of competitors, or other relevant terms within your industry.
- Step 3: Enter your email address If you're already signed in with a Gmail account, you should see your account listed there. So you do need a Google account to use Google Alerts.
- Step 4: Check if you’re getting the right results You’ll now see examples of results related to your search term. Make sure the results actually match what you were looking for. Your company name or product (or part of it) might also appear in a different context—for example, in a movie or book with the same or partially identical title.
- Step 5: Set filters if necessary Are there any results you don’t want to include? You can use certain filters when setting upGoogle Alerts. For example, use double quotation marks if you want a specific search term consisting of multiple words.
- Step 6: Adjust the notification settings if necessary Use the "Show options" button toadjust certain settings. For example, you can choose how often you want to receive notifications, which sources should be included, and how many results you want to see.
Don’t want your inbox to be flooded with nothing but Google notifications? Go to Settings and create a new filter named “Google Notifications.” Check the boxes for “Skip Inbox” and “Apply label,” then create a new label named “Google Alerts.”
- Step 7: Adjust the final settings Once you’ve created the Google notification, you can make a few final adjustments. Easily delete the notification by clicking the trash can icon, or access other settings by clicking the gear icon. From there, adjust the delivery time and choose whether or not you want to receive a summary.
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Do you have plenty of ideas for interesting blog posts and web content thanks to Google Alerts? But do you find it difficult to write high-quality SEO content for your website? JKC Media is here to help. Contact us today for a no-obligation consultation.
