Wouldn’t it be nice to see what people are saying about you or your business online but don’t have time to search the entire web? Google Alerts is your answer.
This simple, easy service allows you to set up alerts for keywords, and will send you an e-mail when something is written about your business on the web. This is great for monitoring your online reputation for you and your business.
Currently Google Alerts does not seem to catch things posted on social media sites such as Facebook. For that, I would suggest using www.socialmention.com.
To start getting Alerts, visit http://www.google.com/alerts, type in your keywords, frequency of e-mails, and what e-mail address to send the alerts to and you are done!
I think it would be best to set up Google Alerts for the following categories.
1) You Business Name: Setting up Google Alerts for your business will help you keep tabs on what others are posting on the web. Use your full name, or any acronym your customers may use. When I did this, I set up alerts for both “Midwest Insurance Brokerage Service” and “MIBS”, I found out that “MIBS” is a programming technique and also stood for the “Mumbai International Boat Show” and the “Miami International Boat Show”.
2) Your Domain Name: Setting up an alert for your domain name will show you when people are linking to your site.
3) Yourself: Many might believe this to be vein, but in 2012, we need to defend our reputation online. Knowing what someone is writing about you or your business partners is very important. That new client who Google searches the owner of your company to find less than desirable information most likely will turn somewhere else.
4) Your Competition: Not only is it great to find out about your own business, but also to know about your competition. Are they moving in a new direction that would jeopardize your company’s competitive advantage? Is there a major flaw with their model that you could take advantage of? Keep tabs on it so you can make the most of these opportunities.
5) Industry Terms: For MIBS, I have set up some Alerts for “General Agency + Illinois”, “Insurance Brokerage”, and terms that apply to our business model. That way, if someone is on a message board asking if anyone knows a good General Agency in Illinois, I know where and when it was posted and can respond.
Google Alerts are very easy to set up, and will help you keep track of your name and reputation online.
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