Google Alerts, Quick How-To

February 2nd, 2009

by Amy Stevens Adams

It amazes me every day how many helpful tools are available to webmasters. Google Alerts seems like it should have been obvious, since CCB already uses Google for Analytics, Adsense, Feedburner, and many other applications, however, somehow Alerts slipped by me. It was Tim, at cofebuz, who pointed it out to John and me (thanks Tim!).

Simply put, Google Alerts sends you a notification every time your [search term] is mentioned on the web. It’s like listening in on the gossip about you. Wouldn’t you love to know every time a blog mentions your company or product, and what they’re saying?

Here’s how to do it;

It was simple to setup, and if you already have a Google account, this should only take you a couple minutes.

1. Go to http://www.google.com/alerts or choose ‘Alerts’ from your Google console.

2. Log in with your Google account, or create a new one.

3. Enter your search term (I used CCBbuzz) in the text box.

4. Pick your Type; News, Blogs, Web, Comprehensive, Video or Groups. I chose Comprehensive as it is a combo of News, Blogs and Web rolled into one.

5. Choose how often you want to be notified, daily, weekly or as-it-happens. I chose as-it-happens, b/c I love instant gratification.

6. Finally, choose your delivery method, email or feed.

You’re done! Add as many more alerts as you’d like (well, up to 1000, per Google FAQ), and you’ll always be in-the-know. You can manage your account to add, remove or edit your Alerts.

googlealertsmanage