Use Google Alerts to Find Out What People Are Saying About You on the Web

There’s an easy way to find out anytime somebody writes about you or your business on the Web. Just set up a Google Alert and you’ll be emailed whenever your name turns up. And while you’re at it, you should set up a Google Alert for keywords such as your competitors’ names, trends you’re interested in, and your Web address. Adding all these things together, you can get a full digest of what’s going on in your world without having to visit separate Websites and wade through a lot of extraneous content.

Here’s how to set up a Google Alert:

1. Go to http://google.com/alerts

2. Fill in the relevant information. In the example below, we’ve set up an alert for CMIT Solutions, so we’ll know when our company name is mentioned online.

3. Selecting Comprehensive will let you monitor News, Blogs, Web, Groups, and Video. You can decide how often you want to be notified, and the maximum number of results you want in each notification.

Instead of getting Alerts delivered to email, you can have them go straight into Google Reader if that’s your preferred RSS feed.

Here’s how to do it:

1. Sign in to your Google account.

2. At the top of the left hand of the page, go to the more drop-down menu and then select even more >>.

3. You’ll see a long list of Google Products with Alerts at the top. Select Alerts, and you’ll see that same “Create a Google Alert” form. You’ll be able to select whether you want the alert delivered to your email inbox or Google Reader.