Recently I received a link in my email to a blog discussing the photography article that I wrote for Creative
Jewelry. Often when I write an article, it feels like it goes into a void and I have no idea whether anyone besides the editor read it, let alone if it helped anyone. So it was nice to read the varied comments on whether or not readers agreed with my advice.
It's easy and quick to set up a Google Alert that will send you an email anytime your name or other words are mentioned online. I've used alerts for years, tracking what customers say about products I've worked on or companies that I've worked for.
How to Set Up an Alert
Go to Google Alerts and fill out the form. You can choose how often to receive the emails and how many items they should include.
How many alerts should you set up? At minimum, I'd suggest you set up an alert for your name. You could also
set up one for your business name, your book title, your main character's name, your website, or
anything else you want to track. Set up one alert per item. Some tips:
- Think about variations. Do you only want to hear about mentions of "Chevrolet" or do you want
to include "Chevy"? "John Hickenlooper," "Mayor Hickenlooper," or "John Wright Hickenlooper?" "Art Bead Scene" or "artbeadscene"?
- Be as specific as possible. "Cats" will pull up many, many results. If you're only interested in the musical, try "cats musical" to get a more focused search.
- Use the preview. Below the "search terms" box is a "preview results" link. If you're not sure whether you've used the best search words, click on the link and see the current results.
- Don't rely on the type limit. I've found the "blogs" limit not very accurate. I've never received an alert that my blog has been updated from my alert using the blog limit. My blog updates only show up in the alert set as an "everything" search. Feel free to use the type limit, but also set up an entry with "everything" and compare the results.
Once you receive your first alert emails, you can go back and tweak the alert if needed. Sometimes it's hard to remember all the uses of a word, especially if you only talk with others in your niche. I once had an alert set for the jewelry magazine, Stringing. When I opened my email, I was surprised to find so many discussions on guitar stringing, not bead stringing. Who knew?