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Tuesday, March 3, 2009

Handy Tool: Google Alerts

Did you already know about this handy Google tool? I’ve been using Google Alerts for some time to stay on top of a few important search terms. My up-to-the-minute results show up in my email inbox!

Google Alerts are email updates of the latest relevant Google results (web, news, etc.) based on your choice of query or topic.

Some handy uses of Google Alerts include:

- monitoring a developing news story
- keeping current on a competitor or industry
- getting the latest on a celebrity or event
- keeping tabs on your favorite sports teams”

I use a Google Alert to receive notifications any time someone posts something about my shop, In My Head Studios. My search terms are “In My Head Studios” (and the quotes are included in the search term so that all the words return results) and “inmyheadstudios”. If someone blogs about me or features my products, I get an email from Google. I would not have known about some articles about me any other way. So this is a super handy tool to use.

Each week I also set up an alert for the Shop of the Week. This week I have an alert for “Angel Kisses Jewelry”. I know about the blog posts the team is doing and can go comment on them and thank them for blogging the Shop of the Week. This is especially useful if you are Shop of the Week so you know about who is blogging and sometimes tweeting about your shop.

You can choose how often you would like to receive updates: daily, weekly, or as-it-happens. You can also choose the types of results it returns as well, like News, Blogs, Video, or a Comprehensive search. I leave mine set at Comprehensive so I don’t miss anything.

Let Google Alerts do all the work for you! It’s like having a personal shopper finding goodies on the web just for you!

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Great post! I just started using Google Alerts last week. It has been very helpful in keeping me up-to-date. Before I started using it, I would find great posts on my company that were already several weeks old!

angelkissesjewelry said...

Wow! I really do learn something new everyday. Great post! I'm off to setup some Google Alerts...

Kelly | Purple Lemon Designs said...

I started using Google Alerts a few months ago...They have been invaluable for finding my shop on the web!

Betty Refour said...

great article! thanks

Linda B said...

I've been using it just for my name. I might add some for my shop name and Website.

Thanks for the top.

Kristin said...

I have been using it for my name and my shop name, I have loved it! But, what a great idea about changing the alerts to include the shop of the week every week! That way, we can comment on every blog post, show support for one another that way!!

kuartzo said...

I didn´t know that... it's a very useful tool! Thank you for the tip :)

[] said...

Love Google Alerts!

NikkyLee Designs said...

Great tip! I just added some new alerts.

Lolley said...

Great tip! It's great to know if someone has blogged about you!

Jillianmackowiak said...

Excellent tip!! Thank you for sharing!!

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