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Showing posts with label Google Alerts. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Google Alerts. Show all posts

Saturday, February 25, 2012

The Beneficial Uses of Google Alerts

Using Google Alerts, you can set up a monitoring system to track anything you want, such as finding out what’s being said about you or your company; keeping track of articles you write under your name; monitoring the competition or simply to keep up to date on any given topic. Google Alerts has many beneficial uses, and many of those can help you blog. Keep reading to find out how this internet monitoring program can help you become a better blog. 
1. Find Content Ideas 
Using Google Alerts, you keep up with your niche and find the latest news, trends, etc. regarding the subject you blog about. This can be a handy tool for bloggers who are strapped for content ideas, as monitoring what’s going on in your niche can help you find topics to write about. You can even use Google Alerts to follow other bloggers in your niche to see what they’re writing about, which may inspire you to come up with your own unique perspective on a given topic. 
2. Brand Monitoring 
Google Alerts can help you monitor what’s being said about, your blog and/or your business. Why is this useful? You can set up Google Alerts to monitor certain keywords, such as your blog name, your business name and your personal name, and they will e-mail you anytime they find those keywords in their search. This can be a great way to keep track of your company and any bad publicity you may be getting, because let’s face it – it’s impossible to create a brand that EVERYONE loves. With Google Alerts, you can be instantly notified when and where the bad content was placed, and be able to respond accordingly. 
3. Keep Track of the Competition 
Keeping track of the competition in your niche can help you be a better blogger, and ensure you’re staying as up to date in your niche as your competitors are. You can set up Google Alerts to include specific keywords, like your biggest competitors’ names, company names and blogs so you can see what they are doing and when they are doing it. This might sound a bit stalker-like, but in all reality, keeping informed of what your competitors are doing can only help you be a better blogger in the long run. 
4. Know when Others Link to your Blog 
Set up a Google Alert with your blog address. When people link to your blog via that address, Google Alerts will send you an e-mail. This is an easy way to keep track of how many people are linking to you. The more people linking to you, the more likely it is they’re interested in what you are offering. This can help you forge new business relationships, acquire new customers or increase your following. As you can see, using Google Alerts can be very useful and help you when it comes time to blog. From finding new content ideas to keeping track of whose linking to you, as well as monitoring your competition, Google Alerts can help you be a better blogger – plus, it’s free, so what do you have to lose? 
Discussion Time 
Do you currently use Google Alerts? What kinds of things are you using it for? Personally, I use Google Alerts for terms such as StudioPress, Genesis Framework and a few others. It’s always good to know I’ve got Google watching my back when it comes to folks talking (hopefully positively) about us. 
Happy Blogging ! 


Source : http://briangardner.com

Thursday, February 17, 2011

Useful Tips From Senior Blogger

For a new blogger like me, the tips sent by my senior blogger friend Brian Gardner as I quoted below, is very useful.

If you’re anything like me, you periodically find yourself in front of your computer, with your WordPress dashboard open, staring at your monitor like a deer in headlights.
You’re having content brainfarts.
There you sit, experiencing content emaciation, with little direction on which way to go. You had all of these great ideas, and now that you’re on the main stage of starting a blog post… you freeze.

You Are Not Alone – No, Really I Mean It

Trust me, this is normal. Absolutely normal. At least I’m hoping it is, because this is the kind of thing I deal with every time I sit down to write a blog post. So if it’s not normal, and you struggle with the same thing, at least we can cope together.
I’m here to tell you that there’s hope. There’s a way for us to come together and produce quality content – you know, the kind of content that draws linkbacks, retweets, and comments from your users. I’ve cobbled together a list of places to find what you’re looking for – the holy grail.

Places to Find Inspiration for Blog Content

Similar Blogs in Your Niche

Yes, this one is pretty obvious. If you write about underwater basket weaving, why not visit other blogs that cover the topic. Reading content that is written by others, and is drawing attention and conversation is proof in itself, that you can have an audience. Now, please hear me when I say this – I’m NOT saying that you should copy their content. I’m saying that you should be inspired by it. Huge difference.

Do a Twitter Search

There are literally millions of people who babble online (in 140 characters or less) about everything from the Grammy’s to yes, underwater basket weaving. ( here’s proof ) What better way to write content about a subject that you know people are already talking about. Scan through the results of a Twitter search, and see if there’s commonality in what they are saying. See if people are asking questions, and if so – write about it.

Subscribe to Google Alerts

This is something that I’ve been doing more and more lately. It’s pretty genius, as a matter of fact, that though Google Alerts we have the capability of having targeted inspiration delivered to our inbox literally minutes after it’s posted. If you want to cover that latest breaking news in underwater basket weaving, setup an alert to have Google send you links to blog posts and news articles as they happen. This is also a great chance to link to the source that you reference in your post, which might probe the source author to check out your own site.

“For Dummies” Books

Yesterday I went to Barnes and Noble for this very reason – I want to write more about my experiences with blogging and the internet, but I freeze every time I’m in front of the blog writing camera. So I did exactly what I’m telling you now. I purchased 4 “For Dummies” books, with the intent on reading them to provide inspiration for new content. All you really need to do is rip out the table of contents of each one, as that should give you all the inspiration you require to kickstart your content producing endeavors

Thank you so much, Brian !
(DS. Utomo)