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Google Alerts: The Free Tool Every Digital Marketer Should Know About
In the age of digital marketing, staying updated with brand mentions and online reputation is crucial. Enter Google Alerts – a free tool by Google that acts as your online watchdog, sending you real-time notifications whenever new content matches your search term. Whether you’re a seasoned SEO expert, a novice blogger, or someone just dipping their toes into digital marketing, Google Alerts is a must-use tool.
Accessing Google Alerts: To get started, navigate to https://www.google.com/alerts which is the official Google Alerts page. Ensure you’re logged into your Google account, as this will allow you to manage your alerts seamlessly.
Enter Search Term: Type in the specific term you want to track. This can be a brand name, a company name, or any keyword related to your business or interest. For precise tracking, put your search term in quotation marks.
Show Options: Before you finalize your alert, click show options. This feature lets you specify the frequency of your email alerts, sources (like news or social media), language (such as English), and other important parameters.
Finalizing: After adjusting your preferences, click on ‘Create Alert’. Voila! Google will now monitor the web and send you notifications based on your search term and preferences.
Why Use Google Alerts?
Brand Monitoring: Google Alerts lets you keep tabs on brand mentions. Whenever someone mentions your brand name or company name on the web, be it in an article, a social media post, or a blogger’s content piece, you get notified. This is invaluable for reputation management.
SEO and Backlinks: For those involved in SEO, tracking backlinks is important. Setting an alert for your domain can notify you when someone links to your website.
Digital Marketing Strategy: By monitoring competitors or industry news, you can tailor your marketing strategy effectively, ensuring you’re always a step ahead.
Reputation Management: Mistakes happen, and sometimes they can tarnish a company’s online reputation. By setting alerts for brand or company names, you can act swiftly when negative press surfaces.
It’s Free!: Despite the myriad of benefits it offers, Google Alerts doesn’t come with any pricing. It’s a free tool that provides immense value, especially in the age of real-time digital marketing.
Managing and Updating Alerts
Your My Alerts section on the Google Alerts page will showcase all your active alerts. To update alert preferences, click on the pencil icon next to the alert. From here, you can adjust alert settings, modify the search term, or delete the alert.
Moreover, while email alerts are the default setting, Google Alerts offers RSS feed options for those who prefer it. Link it to apps or use it alongside tools like Google Analytics to get a comprehensive view of your online presence.
In conclusion
Whether you’re safeguarding your online reputation, boosting your SEO game, or refining your marketing strategy, Google Alerts is an indispensable monitoring tool. With the simplicity of the Google Alerts page, the convenience of notifications in your Gmail, and a vast array of options to tailor your alerts, this free tool by Google is a boon to everyone in the digital sphere.
FAQ
Can you create a Google Alert for a non-gmail account?
Yes, you can create a Google Alert for a non-Gmail account. You don’t necessarily have to use a Gmail address to receive Google Alerts. Here’s how you can set it up:
Enter Search Term: Type in the term or keyword you want to track.
Click ‘Show Options’: Before finalizing your alert, click on ‘Show Options’ to specify the frequency of your alerts, sources, language, and other preferences.
Enter Email: Instead of logging in with a Google account, scroll down and you’ll see an option to “Deliver to” with an email input box. Here, you can enter any email address you want, whether it’s Gmail or not.
Create Alert: Once you’ve entered the desired email and adjusted your settings, click ‘Create Alert’.
Once created, Google will send a confirmation link to the specified email address. Make sure to click on that link to confirm and activate your Google Alert. After confirmation, you’ll receive notifications at this non-Gmail email address whenever new content matches your specified search term.
How can I change the email address where Google Alerts sends me email?
If you want to change the email address where Google Alerts sends you email notifications, follow these steps:
Log in to Google Alerts: First, make sure you’re logged in to the Google account associated with the alerts you want to manage. Go to Google Alerts.
Choose the Alert: You’ll see a list of your current alerts on this page. Locate the alert for which you want to change the email address.
Click on the Pencil Icon: Next to each alert, there’s a pencil icon (which represents “Edit”). Click on it.
Change Email Address: In the ‘Edit Alert’ dialog, look for the “Deliver to” section. If your current setup is sending alerts to your Gmail address (associated with the logged-in account), you will have the option to switch to another email by selecting the “Other email” option. Enter the new email address in the provided field.
Save Changes: After specifying the new email address, make sure to click on the “Update Alert” button to save the changes.
Confirm Email Address: Google will send a confirmation link to the new email address. Click on that link to confirm and activate alerts to be sent to the new address. This step ensures that the new email address is valid and that you have access to it.
Note: If you want to change the email delivery address for multiple or all of your alerts, you will need to repeat the above process for each individual alert. There isn’t a bulk edit option for this specific change.
How do I submit a site in Google Alerts?
Google Alerts isn’t specifically used for submitting sites. Instead, it’s a tool that sends email notifications based on specified search terms when new content (web pages, news articles, blog posts, etc.) matches those terms appears on the Google search index.
However, if you want to monitor mentions or updates about a particular website or webpage, you can set up an alert for that URL or related keywords. Here’s how:
Enter the Site or Keyword: Type the website URL or specific keywords related to the site you want to monitor.
Click ‘Show Options’: This allows you to specify the frequency of your alerts, sources, language, and more.
Adjust Settings: You can specify how often you get alerts, which sources Google should monitor (like blogs, news, or the web at large), the language, and more.
Create Alert: After you’ve set your preferences, click ‘Create Alert’.
Now, whenever Google indexes new content related to your specified URL or keyword, you’ll receive an email notification.
If you’re looking to ensure that a particular website or new webpage gets indexed by Google, you’d need to use other tools or methods, such as submitting the site to Google Search Console or creating quality backlinks to it to increase its chances of being crawled and indexed.
Isaac Adams-Hands is the SEO Director at SEO North, a company that provides Search Engine Optimization services. As an SEO Professional, Isaac has considerable expertise in On-page SEO, Off-page SEO, and Technical SEO, which gives him a leg up against the competition.
