“MarCom Jones”

Back when I was working almost exclusively in search engine optimization and creating copy for websites, I used to always urge clients to use Google Alerts.

So what is Google Alerts?

As Google itself puts it:

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

Why use it?

Well, because by using it you can:

• keep current on a specific competitor or industry
• monitoring a specific keyword or keyword phrase, e.g., your company name
• follow a developing news story
• monitor the Internet for negative information about your company
• get the latest on that celebrity you’re in love with

How’s it work?

You create an account in Google Alerts and enter the word or words you want monitored.

As Google spiders the web, each time it finds a reference to the query or topic you request you will be sent an email with the details.

In essence, Google becomes a sort of spy for you. You can make certain no one, particularly competitors, are using your protected trademarks or copyrighted materials.

Even better, it allows you almost instantly know when your company, web or products and services are mentioned in a news story or anywhere on the Web.

Particularly when you’re battling a reputation problem or have concerns that competitor is up to dirty tricks on the Web, it’s a great way to identify the source of the problem information and address it. In fact, if you’ve got a public relations department or use an outside PR agency, make sure they are using it and responding to negative information on the Web.

Check it out at Google Alerts  and save yourself a lot of time and effort monitoring information that might be vital to your success.