Adam DesAutels

Ego Surfing – What are people saying about you?

Adam DesAutels on 08 6, 2009

What if I want to get content on a term of phrase instead of all the content from one particular website via an RSS Feed? How can I track what people are saying about me or my company without having to subscribe to every website on the World Wide Web? Google Alerts allows its users to obtain information form the internet, based on terms and phrases they choose.

Once you set up Alerts and decide what key words you would like to track, you can choose to receive notifications “once a day”, “once a week”, or “as it happens”. For example, I have a Google Alert set up for “Adam DesAutels” to find out what people on the internet are saying about me. As soon as someone places content on the web with “Adam DesAutels” written in it, I receive an email. The knowledge possibilities of Google Alerts extend past your own name or company name. What about your competitors? Determine what people are saying about them online by setting up an Alert for their business name. What is the latest news within your industry? Anything you wish to track online is now possible with Google Alerts.

How can Alerts be used for business?

There are a number of reasons for which companies use Alerts. A major motive for companies to use Google Alerts is reputation management (customer service, damage control, whatever one wishes to call it). What if I don’t have an online reputation? Andy Beal is the co-author of Radically Transparent, a book describing how to monitor and manage your online reputation. During seminars he will often ask the audience, “Who in this room thinks that they don’t have an online reputation?” When someone raises their hand, he asks, “What would happen if I posted something negative about you online tomorrow?” He continues by saying, if he posted a damaging comment about them, they would instantly have an online reputation, a bad one. The message that Andy seams to be getting across is whether you choose to brand your company on the web or not, doesn’t prohibit others from doing it for you. And if you are not tracking and reacting to information others post about you or your business, you are left unprotected.

Getting Started With Alerts

The process of setting up Google Alerts is similar to setting up Google Reader. From the moment you login to your Google account to the point you add your first term should take less than 10 minutes. To set up Alerts, simply follow the steps provided below:

• Go to the website Google.com

• Login to your Google account by clicking on the “Sign in” link located on the top right of the web page

• Click the “My Account” link located on the top right of the web page

• Below the “Try something new” section click the “More” link located towards the bottom of the page

• In the left column under “Search” click on “Alerts”

   

Managing your Alerts

After following the instructions above, you should be on a web page asking you to “Enter the topic you wish to monitor” as a search term. Feel free to enter any word or phrase you desire. If you are new to Google Alerts, you can start by entering in your company name in the “Search terms” text box. The next section is asking you what “Type” of Alert you would like to receive and shows you a dropdown box with six choices in it. Here are the definitions of each choice:

• News – A list of the latest news content that contains the term or phrase you have chosen that show up within the top ten “Google News” search results for that term or phrase.

• Blogs – A list of the latest blog posts that contains the term or phrase you have chosen that show up within the top ten “Google Blog” search results for that term or phrase.

• Web – A list of the latest web content that contains the term or phrase you have chosen that show up within the top twenty “Google Web” search results for that term or phrase.

• Comprehensive – A combination of the Alert Types “News”, “Blogs”, and “Web” sent to you in one email.

• Video – A list of the latest video content that contains the term or phrase you have chosen that show up within the top ten “Google Video” search results for that term or phrase.

• Groups – A list of the latest group content that contains the term or phrase you have chosen that show up within the top fifty “Google Group” search results for that term or phrase.

   

For demonstration purposes let’s use the “Comprehensive” Alert type. Next Google asks you to determine “How often” you would like to receive alerts for this particular term of phrase. The choices provided are self explanatory. We could assume that most businesses would choose to get notifications anytime anyone mentions their company’s name “as-it-happens” or the moment it gets placed online. Feel free to select any of the three options for this example. In the final step (“Deliver to”) the email address you used to set up your Google account has been already pre-selected. Notice, there is a second option. In October 2008 Google made their Alerts available as RSS Feeds. If you choose the “Feed” option your Alert will automatically go to your Google Reader account. This is the first of many instances you will notice of how Google products are made to work with one another. After you decide whether you want your Alert going to your email or Google Reader, click the “Create Alert” button.

You have just set up your first Google Alert. Feel free to take some time and submit as many Alerts as you desire.

Note: Use the “How often” options based on urgency or priority. If you decide to have your Alerts sent to your Google Reader account, it will automatically default to “as-it-happens”.

Tip: Set up an alert like this “link:yourwebsite.com”. That will notify you anytime another site or blog links directly to your site.

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