Tip of the Week: Use Google Alerts to Research Your Business and More

Google Alerts can help you keep track of all kinds of topics you might be interested in. Basically, the tool offers you a way to stay up-to-date on content related to specific keywords that you set. Today, we want to discuss how you can use Google Alerts and set it up.

The first step is to go to the Google Alerts website. You can then sign in with your Google account. You can use the search bar from the homepage to enter keywords or phrases you want to keep your eyes on. These terms will be important, so select specific keywords that will give you the most relevant results for your intended purpose. Broader terms will generally lead to more vague and unuseful results.

For example, you can set up terms for your competitors, or for your industry, and anytime Google finds new content and news about those terms, you’ll get notified.

Once you have entered your keywords, you can customize the alert setting. For a list of options, click on Show options. You can select an alert frequency (how often every day or week it plays), the sources (where it pulls info from, like blogs, news sites, the web, videos, books, discussions, and finance), the language, the region, and how many results you see (only the best results or all results).

You can set an email address for where these alerts will get sent. With the right customization options set, you’ll be able to get the most valuable alerts for your chosen keywords.

Once you’re ready, click the Create Alert button to save your settings. Google will then monitor the web for any new content that matches what you’ve set. You’ll get emails about new articles, blog posts, or content mentioning your chosen keywords. It’s incredibly helpful to get updates on news stories, competitors, your business, and personal interests.

You can manage it all through the Google Alerts homepage. From this page, you’ll find a list of all your alerts. You can edit or delete them using the pencil and trash can icons. You can make changes over time so your alerts can change along with your interests and needs.

With these steps, you can use Google Alerts to keep up-to-date on anything you want to know more about. It could be a personal interest, or it could be a business one—or even an academic research tool. The sky’s the limit!

Learn more by keeping an eye on our blog.