Google Alerts | What is Google Alert and how does it work?

What is Google Alerts?
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Google Alerts is a free tool from Google, which was introduced in 2004. As the name of the tool suggests, this is a type of “alarm” or “notification.

But what should Google Alerts notify me about?

With Google Alerts, you have the option to be informed about the use of specific search terms. Google crawls millions of websites every day. If the search engine finds the term you have defined, you will receive an email notification.

And why all this?

One of the most important uses is certainly to mention your brand or company. If your company is mentioned somewhere on the web, you will be informed. This is particularly interesting if, for example, your company is mentioned negatively and you would otherwise not notice anything about it. This allows you to quickly initiate and react to PR measures. However, you can also use Google Alerts to stay up to date on specific topics or to keep an eye on the competition.

It is important that Google Alerts only searches for your terms within the Google network. Social media, the dark web or certain forums are excluded.

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How does it work - The setup?
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First of all, if you don't already have one, you need to create a Google account. Once you've done that, start via the official website of the Google Alerts.

There you have the option to enter the search term that is relevant to you. In our case, that is our company name Growably. You will now be shown the first results directly in the alerts preview. You can now either generate alerts without any further settings or make further in-depth settings.

By clicking on “Show Options”, you now have various options for setting the alert:

• frequency the notification from the alert

• With every news
• no more than once a day
• no more than once a week

• Type of sources (news, blog, websites, etc.)

• News: You will be notified if you are mentioned in news portals such as FAZ or Focus
• Blog: All mentions in blogs are shown to you
• Web: The entire web is searched for your search term
• Video: Mentions in videos, mainly on Youtube
• Books: Mention in books. But be careful! Many books aren't available online, so you won't receive notifications there
• Discussions: Mention in forums
• Finances: financial portals

• lingua In which to search
• The region In which to search
• The number of results
• and email address To whom the alerts should go

After selecting the options, simply click on “Create alert” again and your first alert is set up.

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Edit and delete alerts
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If you are logged into the Google Alerts page with your Google account, you will now see all your alerts there. In our case, the alert for Growably.

By clicking on the trash can icon, you can delete your existing alerts. You can edit your alerts by clicking on the pencil icon. Here you have the same options that we already discussed when setting up the alert.

By clicking on the cog icon, you can set when you want to receive your notifications collectively. For example, at 6 p.m.

Tips to refine your Google Alerts search
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Just like the normal Google search engine, the Google Alerts tool offers you a lot of search operators to refine your search.

By including one or more search terms with quotation mark Google searches for exactly your search term. This is particularly helpful for keywords that consist of several words. For example, we could search for “Growably Web Design.” As a result, Google Alert only reports search results that are found exactly in the combination and order.

About the Minus Operator You can exclude keywords that are not relevant to you. It is also possible via a Plus Operator Add keywords to the alert.

Do you combine the minus operator with the “site:” operator Is it possible to exclude entire pages from the search. This is particularly recommended if you're looking for keywords related to your business. As a result, you are not constantly being played Alers from your own website.

This can then look like this, for example: “Growably” site:www.growably.de

As already mentioned, it is possible to protect your website from negative SEO effects through Google Alerts. To do this, it is possible to become aware of SPAM links using the search operators. To do this, simply proceed as follows:

Site:www.growably.de Viagra OR online Casiona OR diet pills OR other SPAM sites

Here you can then enter all other keywords that are often associated with SPAM pages.

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What alternatives are there for Google Alerts?

Google Alerts is a very helpful tool and certainly one of the best on the market.

But what if you don't get all the messages from Google, or don't consider Google messages important?

Then it makes sense to use another alternative alerts tool.

We'll introduce you to the three best Google Alerts alternatives here!

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Kürzr.com also monitors social media

Kürzr.com is a German company based in Brandenburg. The tool differs from Google Alerts primarily in its social media and rating crawling. The company describes itself as an “ORM Center.” In other words, an online reputation manager.

It is precisely by reading out reviews and categorizing them that Kürzr.com can offer additional added value compared to Google Alerts. A little treat on top is the 1-click deletion request for reviews.

The company offers both a free and a paid version. The free version includes 1 keyword monitoring and 1 rating portal. The paid plan for €19 per month includes three keyword monitoring and 10 rating portals.

This tool is particularly recommended in combination with Google Alerts and you can significantly increase your alert coverage on the web.

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Talkwalker Alerts

Talkwalker describes itself as “The best alternative to Google Alerts.”

But is this just empty talk or can the tool really do that much?

Based on our experience, Talkwalker can say that with a very clear conscience. Not only is the tool free of charge, but it also covers the entire social media area - and that's really good!

Talkwalker is not really different from Google in terms of operation. Simply enter your relevant keyword and then you can make further settings.

These are:

• Email address to receive alerts
• Outcome type - i.e. news, Twitter, blogs or forum discussions
• The lingua In which to search
• Frequency — immediately, daily, or weekly
• Count - Only the most relevant or All results