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Can Google Alerts be useful to the Agent?

By Mark Menzella

Services for Real Estate Pros with RE/Advantage

January 18, 2009 01:42 AM

I had a client ask me; "I heard about Google Alerts, they sound interesting, how can I use them in my real estate business?".

I guess before I talk about Google Alerts let me first explain what they are. Google Alerts are emails that are automatically sent to you when there are new Google results for your search terms. So in essence you can have google send you an email based on a set of keywords you deem important. You setup an alert with a keyword term such as "Short Sales New Jersey" and Google will search the Internet based on the following ways:

A 'News' alert is an email aggregate of the latest news articles that contain the search terms of your choice and appear in the top ten results of your Google News search.
A 'Web' alert is an email aggregate of the latest web pages that contain the search terms of your choice and appear in the top twenty results of your Google Web search.
A 'Blogs' alert is an email aggregate of the latest blog posts that contain the search terms of your choice and appear in the top ten results of your Google Blog search.
A 'Comprehensive' alert is an aggregate of the latest results from multiple sources (News, Web and Blogs) into a single email to provide maximum coverage on the topic of your choice.
A 'Video' alert is an email aggregate of the latest videos that contain the search terms of your choice and appear in the top ten results of your Google Video search.
A 'Groups' alert is an email aggregate of new posts that contain the search terms of your choice and appear in the top fifty results of your Google Groups search. 3. How do I sign up?

So how can these alerts help yo? Well first off you can stay in touch with local news or stay on top of the competition. Know what your competitors are doing. Also most home buyers prefer a REALTOR that is in touch with the local community. Now with so much going on setting up alerts for community keyword terms could certainly help you. What about Real Estate related topics you think are important to you? The power of Google Alerts is they are a push technology so you just sit back and when a match is found you get emailed. While it does not pick up all the matches it does find a lot.

You get to determine the frequency of the alerts when you set up your alert. The frequency is not necessarily how often you'll receive alerts, it is how often they are checked. If you select "once a day," Google will check for new results once a day, which means you'll get a maximum of one email per day. If you choose the "as it happens," Google will check for new results continuously and send you an alert whenever we find a new result.

I use them all the time to monitor my own websites, blogs, and also I monitor my competition. They work great and I get all types of interesting information back.

To give them a try go to http://www.google.com/alerts.

In my next post I will explain step by step setting up alerts. Good luck.

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Mark MacKenzie

Phoenix, AZ

I am hearing more and more about google alerts and I think it is one of the most time efficient ways of staying on top of information.

Jan 18, 2009 01:47 AM

Carol Smith

Casmi Photography - Mebane, NC

I have used Google Alerts for some time now and it's a great tool. As my information needs change I can go back and alter the search terms or delete that search altogether.

Jan 18, 2009 01:48 AM

David M. Childress

Howard Hanna Real Estate Services - Akron, OH

I would love to be your Realtor® in Akron Ohio!

I get several alerts each day for the reasons you state. Mostly to stay on top of the news and look for ideas. It's also a good idea to set one up for your name to see if "you" are in in some ones news!! ( All I get is news of the Minnesota Vikings or car racing)

Jan 18, 2009 01:54 AM

Pat Champion

John Roberts Realty - Eustis, FL

Call the "CHAMPION" for all your real estate needs

What a valuable tool to have thanks for sharing.

Jan 18, 2009 02:03 AM

Patricia Aulson

BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY HOME SERVICES Verani Realty NH Real Estate - Exeter, NH

Realtor - Portsmouth NH Homes-Hampton NH Homes

Yes....good post with info about Google Alerts...With that said, how do I get them. ALSO, how can my blog get out to Google Alerts so people see them? How does it get started and then put out to the SE's to get the blog/alert and then where does it get distributed?

Patricia Aulson Portsmouth NH Real Estate

Jan 18, 2009 02:04 AM

Jim Crawford

Long & Foster - Fredericksburg, VA

Jim Crawford Broker Associate Fredericksburg VA

I have used them as a tool, but then thre comes the point when enough is enough. The alerts become more like spam and the information becomes trite.

Jan 18, 2009 02:21 AM

Steve Loynd

Alpine Lakes Real Estate Inc., - Lincoln, NH

800-926-5653, White Mountains NH

Mark..here is my read on Google alerts overall positive for the data that is important to me, but set up as a comprehensive notification I get a bunch of notices from South America, and Europe about "ski resorts" that I have to filter through before I can get to things important to my neck of the woods (NH Ski Resorts) so overall I'm glad I signed up for a few key words..but filtering is a side issue.

Jan 18, 2009 02:25 AM

Mark Menzella

RE/Advantage - Fairfield, NJ

We build websites for REALTORS®

Paula;

Go to http://www.google.com/alerts. If you do not have a Google Account alsready you need to make one first. I will be posting a complete how to in a few days as well. Good luck.

Jim;

The secret is to play with the alerts and keywords. When you find the right combination they become very useful.

Steve;

I agree some keywords on the comprehensive setting will yield too many results. Some keywords work better that others. Since the platform is so open, you need to become the filter and make tweaks to them a few times.

Jan 18, 2009 02:34 AM

Li Read

Sea to Sky Premier Properties (Salt Spring) - Salt Spring Island, BC

Caring expertise...knowledge for you!

Thanks for sharing all of this very worthy information...I'm still in the hybrid phase of this, and welcome posts such as yours. Appreciated!

Jan 18, 2009 04:11 AM

Linda Breeding

Keller Williams Realty - Pinehurst, NC

Great tips! I wanted to understand google alerts better. I have bookmarked your blog.

Jan 31, 2009 12:21 AM

Patricia;

Go to http://www.google.com/alerts. If you do not have a Google Account alsready you need to make one first. I will be posting a complete how to in a few days as well.

You can place your Bog in Google by going here.

http://blogsearch.google.com/ping?hl=en

Feb 01, 2009 02:43 AM

Can Google Alerts be useful to the Agent?

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