Have you set up a Google Alert?

Have you got a Google alert set up?

Google alerts are a great way of sourcing news, content and ideas for your niche market. Whatever business you are in or whoever your target market is, who can be assured someone somewhere is publishing content on it. It is a great way for a small business to stay on top of trends, competition and establishing themselves as a “Go To” person/business by engaging with their target market by publishing relevant content across Social Media platforms.

How to set up a Google Alert

You don’t have to be a technical whiz kid to set one up, it is really easy. You will need to open your browser, I am using Google Chrome, type “Google Alerts” into the search, or type www.google.co.uk/alerts into your URL bar.

The “Create Alert” Window

The new window is where you enter the required information. Just for fun I am going to search for something I know nothing about. Lets say you are a small business supplying utensils and accessories for cake making/baking. You are looking for content to share on your Social Media platforms, website or blog, maybe send out the info to your subscribed email database. Lets say you have a promotion for example on Muffin holders (no idea what the technical name is) , this could be a good time to include links or other calls to action.

You have the option to set the “Result type” to include where you would like to source the updates from. Personally I like having Google search “Everything” to find relevant content. You will be surprised what is being published across the internet and you may find a real gem of an opportunity.

You can set how often you would like to get updates, I normally advise that depends on you, but I prefer to have information as it happens, this way I can deal with relevant content and dismiss the stuff that isn’t as it lands in my inbox. Relevant content should be saved to your Content Folder (My folder is called “Thats Interesting”, although the name isn’t and is not very imaginative), so you have access to it when you wish to publish.

Finally add your email address and click “CREATE ALERT”. You will be taken to a screen confirming your alert has been set up and shortly after you will receive an email.

The email allows you to verify that you set up the alert and allows you to confirm you want to receive emails from Google.

Some additional tips

• The more specific your search criteria the more relevant the returned results will be but does result in receiving less results. There is a possibility you may miss some information which could be relevant because it doesn’t contain all of your search keywords.
• If you are using content authored by someone else, show your appreciation and credit them in your post. This is also a great way to start new conversations and relationships with people in your industry.
• Keep the content you publish relevant and interesting to your target market and they will begin to trust and rely on you as a source of good information, which in turn keeps you in their mind. Clients who have you in their mind are more likely to buy from you.
• Once you have an “Alert” set up you can “manage your alerts”, change frequency, delete those which are no longer relevant, etc. etc.

I appreciate that this is pretty basic but I hope this article was of use to you and you enjoyed reading it. If you found it of some value why not share it with others you may know who could benefit.

If you have a question on how to generate more leads, increase sales and build great relationships with key decision makers in your market, through the use of Social Media, you can book a complimentary assessment of your LinkedIn profile, or post it in comments or drop me a line through my Contact Page.

Have a great day! – Stuart Carpenter