How to Use Google Alerts

Google alert enables you to get email notification for the relevant Google search results for your keyword. When Google finds something new related to your keyword, it’ll send email with URL for that keyword match. You’ll not get accurate results all the time but you'll get closer matches at least. Google Alert service also started sending notification in RSS feed format so you can enable that service in feed settings.

How to setup Google alert ?


When you go to Google alert website you’ll see the alert box in the right hand side.



Follow the steps mentioned here to set your own Google alert:

  • Enter the keyword which you want track in “search terms” textbox
  • In the drop-down box called type, you’ve to select the type of your keyword. Like comprehensive, News, Blogs or Video etc.
  • Third textbox asks you when you want to get google alerts, set it to once a day or week as per your convenience.
  • In fourth textbox you need to setup email length, set it to maximum 50 searches to get more results for your keyword.
  • In fifth and last textbox, you’ve to add email id, enter either gmail or any other email that you want alerts to be delivered.
  • You’re done, now google will send you whenever the relevant search to your keyword appears in results.
When you setup Google alert make sure you’re specific with your search term. This will ensure that you don’t get much irrelevant results notification. For example, if you’re following some profile on hubpages then include profile name in quotes with hubpages as another keyword. Adding keyword in quotes ensure that you don’t get any other irrelevant result for the keyword. More keyword with it better for search engine to be relevant with results.

To search in page titles you can make query like this :

keyword1 intitle: keyword2
hubpages intitle:social

allintitle: keyword
allintitle: “title of post”

To search in URL you can make query like this :

inurl:keyword

allinurl:keyword

To check inbound links:

link: url
link: blogger.com

using link it’ll show the links within site as well, so you can block it with - operator for excluding links within site.

link:url -site:url
link:blogspot.com -site: blogspot.com

What you can do with Google alerts ?


  • You can keep track of “book” titles.
  • Keep eye on your competitor brand’s result
  • Find new business tools and services related to keyword
  • Keep track of trends
  • Sport team or celebrity keyword updates
  • Keeping tab on news and events

For professionals & business owners , you can set Google alert for your brand, industry trend, competitor and for your own products. Using alert tool you’ll get email on regular intervals whenever there is an update. You can set the alert for once in a day so that you’ll get summary of all the relevant searches at the end of the day.

Now that you know how to setup Google alerts so go ahead and set alerts for your profile name or website or blogs,news etc. If you don’t know what to do with alerts, then set your blog profile name on alert and get email weekly from Google alert. 
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