Ok, so for the longest of time I had no idea what google alerts were or how the heck I even began to use one. I figured that since I had no clue what it was, there must be many others who are not sure what or how to use it. Hopefully by the time you finish reading this article, you will have a better grasp.
First, what are google alerts?
Well, this is a rather simple thing to answer. Google Alerts is a service offered by Google that will email you whenever their search engine recognizes their keyword phrases. You enter in any type of term. One I suggest adding is your name. Everytime someone uses my name on a website, I get an email from google alerts showing me where my name is used. The other day, Marti Garaughty used a post of mine in his Art of Marketing piece and I was notified. If that had not been set up, I would have never had a clue he gave me a prop.
Let look at it from another standpoint. Maybe you are wanting to keep current on all this info taking place in the finance market with the big companies like Merrill or AIG for your clients. You can set up an alert for those keywords and receive links for thos articles straight into your inbox.
Below is an excellent demo video from Bonnie Boots on how to set up and use google alerts.
Some of the things I love about these alerts is that they are free & the frequency of the alert can be set. For example if my name, Jeremy Blanton is used, I want to be notified immediately. Also, if my website, www.dennisgblanton.com or www.myrtlebeachhomesblog.com is used I want to know right away. Other things like local keywords I don't need every time something pops in, or my email box will be on overload. So for keywords like Myrtle Beach Real Estate and Myrtle Beach Real Estate Expert, those terms are set to be delivered to my inbox on a daily basis.
Time to set up an alert takes about 30 seconds, so I highly recommend if you are not using them, start today!
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