Google Alerts

What Is Google Alerts?

Google Alerts is a free online monitoring tool that sends you an email notification when Google finds new content matching your search terms.

Think of it as your own personal assistant that is constantly monitoring the web for you. You immediately receive a notification when Google finds content matching your search term.

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How Does Google Alerts Work?

Google Alerts works by sending you an email alert anytime Google’s algorithm finds your set keyword or search phrase somewhere online.

You can change the filters and settings within Google Alerts to refine the results that you get.

Here’s what happens:

  • You create an alert for specific words or phrases
  • Google scans the internet for new content with those keywords
  • When Google finds matching content, it sends you an email

Cool, right?

Google’s web crawler, Googlebot, crawls millions of new pages, news articles, blog posts, videos and other content every single day.

That’s why Google has a massive index of billions of web pages.

When Google finds content with the words and phrases you are tracking, you get an alert with a link to the content.

You can set the frequency of alerts for-

  • As soon as it appears (real-time)
  • Daily
  • Weekly

The best part is this is a completely free tool.

All you need is a Gmail account and you can start using Google Alerts today.

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Why Is Google Alerts Important?

Google Alerts is important because it is a powerful tool with a lot of practical applications for businesses and normal users.

For everyday users, Google Alerts is great for tracking updates in industries or topics you’re interested in.

For example, if you want to keep up with the latest developments in AI technology, you can set up a Google Alert.

The tool will notify you whenever Google finds new content (articles, blogs, videos, etc) on AI technology.

You can even take this up a level by refining the alerts for specific types of content.

What about business?

Google Alerts is one of the most important monitoring tools you’ll find.

You can set alerts for brand mentions, reviews, link building, or even tracking competitors. The possibilities are endless.

It just depends on your goals and creativity!

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What Can You Use Google Alerts For?

These are the top 5 things you can use Google Alerts for:

1. Monitor Your Brand

Google Alerts helps you find new mentions of your brand across the web.

You’ll get an email immediately when someone talks about your business on a website, forum, or blog post.

This helps you spot opportunities for:

  • Link building
  • Networking
  • Getting customer feedback

All you have to do is set up alerts for your brand name, website URL, and any important product names.

brand monitoring google alerts

Google Alerts will take care of the rest!

2. Monitor Your Competitors Online

Monitoring your brand is just the beginning. You should also be keeping an eye on what your competitors are doing.

Google Alerts makes tracking your competitors a breeze.

Simply, set up alerts for their brand name and website to see new content, backlinks, customer feedback and more.

You’ll discover where they guest post, what people say about them, and how they engage with their audience.

These are some of the alerts you should be setting up:

  • Site:[competitors url]
  • [competitor name]
  • “I think” [competitor name]
  • “Has anyone tried” [competitor name]
  • “This guest post by” [competitor name]

These types of insights help you stay ahead and spot gaps in their strategy, which you can then use to your advantage.

3. Track Local Content

Run a local business?

You can use Google alerts to supercharge your local SEO strategy.

Here’s how to do it:

Set alerts for local news or specific topics in your area to discover new opportunities or connections.

The types of alerts I use for this is are-

  • location:Manchester, UK
  • “[your topic]” location:New York City, NY
  • “News” location:Rome, Italy
  • “[brand name]” location:yourhometown

Have some fun and unlock your creativity!

You’ll be the first to know when relevant information appears in your area.

This can help you engage with local audiences and find potential partnerships or community events relevant to your business.

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4. Find New Guest Post Opportunities

Guest posts are one of the best ways to build links and gain exposure for your business.

There are tons of websites that are actively looking for contributors from knowledgeable and expert business owners.

This is where you can use Google Alerts to get endless opportunities on auto-pilot.

Set up alerts for phrases like “write for us” or “submit guest post” combined with your main industry keywords.

These are some of the alerts I use:

  • “write for us” SEO
  • “submit guest post” SEO
  • “bloggers wanted” SEO
  • “become a contributor” SEO
  • “this guest post” SEO
  • “become an author” SEO

Just change out “SEO” for your own industry or niche keyword and let the guest post opportunities come to you!

5. Get Trending Content Ideas

Writing about current trends in your industry is one of the best ways to build your brand authority and become part of the conversation.

It can even help you attract natural backlinks!

Use Google alerts to help you discover new content ideas and trending topics in your industry.

Set up alerts with phrases like-

  • New study [your industry]
  • Latest trends [topic]
  • How to [industry problem]
  • [industry] experts react to
  • New [industry]

These alerts will give a consistent flow of content ideas about topics people actually want to read. You can even use them to create videos, social media posts and emails.

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How To Set Up Google Alerts

Go to Google Alerts, log in to your Google account, and add the search term or words you want to track.

setting up a Google Alert

Now, Click “Show Options” and customise your alert for-

  • How often you want alerts
  • Sources you want to monitor
  • Language and region
  • How many results to see
  • Email to receive alerts

customising google alert options

Click “Create Alert”, and you’re done! You’ll now start to receive relevant Google alerts straight to your inbox.

Want to turn Google Alerts into the ultimate tool for your business?

Check out my complete how to set up Google Alerts guide, which shows 16 practical ways to use the tool to grow your business.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Yes, Google Alerts is completely free to use. You only need a Google account to create and receive alerts.
Google Alerts tracks new content across web pages, news articles, blog posts, videos, forums, books and more. It monitors any content that contains your specified keywords and sends you email notifications when new matches are found.

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