Google Alerts – tips and tricks

Google Alerts is a useful free tool that helps monitor what is happening on the web. It is also a tool many marketers underuse. Part of the problem is that many people do not realise all the things Google Alerts can be used for. Which is precisely why we will go through a few tips and tricks for using it and making it more effective.

Do not use general or common keywords

Having too many mentions is about as useful as having none at all. So avoid general terms such as "dresses" or "marketing". Stick instead to specific, precise keywords you know will always be relevant to you.

Create more than one alert

There is a limit of 1,000 alerts per person (if you use a Gmail address). It is more than likely you will not come close to that ceiling, so do not be afraid to create more of them. Creating several alerts gains you great precision.

Use operators

If your alerts bring a lot of irrelevant results, or you are looking for something specific, you can refine the search with Google search operators. A minus sign (-) directly before a word, for instance, excludes results containing that term, while a tilde (~) used the same way returns synonyms and other similar terms. A plus sign (+) before a word excludes synonyms and other similar terms. Putting a phrase in quotation marks ("your phrase") alerts you whenever the words appear together.

Search within one site

You can search particular sites you want to target phrases at. For instance:
site:mielecenterpresov.sk "steam ovens"
The results you get will cover any mention of steam ovens on the Miele Center Prešov site.

Exclude a site from the search

Just as you can search for a phrase on one site only, you can also exclude it from a particular site. For instance:
"online marketing" -site:invelity.com
That gives you results for online marketing across the whole web, invelity.com aside.

Guard against plagiarism

Google Alerts can also serve as a round-the-clock guard against plagiarism and copyright infringement, particularly if you have specific content that tends to get copied. Set an alert on a unique passage of text from the page. If that text is published on other websites, you will be notified.

Identify opportunities

Google Alerts can help you find new customers. At the start of the buying process it is not unusual for people to do research and post questions about a product online. Q&A sites, for instance, often carry questions along the lines of "Where can I find good tractor tyres?" If you happen to sell tractor tyres, that is the type of question you would be glad to answer. Set alerts on such phrases or keywords.

Watch the competition

You can also set alerts on your competitors. If you have only one or two main competitors, you can set up more of the alerts above for your own brand and for theirs. That way you will find out which sites link to the competition or what people say about them. You can also identify new opportunities and learn from their best (or worst) practice.