Once upon a time, there was a business working hard to provide the people of the land with the best service possible. They offered clients products and services at reasonable prices when they assumed they wanted them and their services were exactly what the people needed. Or so they thought… One dark day in the local tavern where one of the employees was drinking a flagon of ale there came a whisper through the bar of the most terrible sort. The business wasn’t doing as well as they thought, the products weren’t there when people wanted them and it was making inhabitants angry. The employee thought to himself, what could possibly be done to know what the villagers desired from them? How could he ever know what they were thinking? Would he have to go to Merlin to study sorcery and mind reading?

In this case, there was a much easier option for the business, and for yours too, in order to keep check of what your audience is saying about you, use Google Alerts.

With the ever popular and increasingly influential social networking sites creating a forum, like never before to discuss freely anything and everything, your business needs to keep an eye at all times on what is being said. A scathing review, whether accurate or not, is no longer a chat amongst locals at a pub, but is now 140 characters scorched into history forever more when posted on Twitter or Facebook.

This is where Google Alerts comes riding in on horse back, your knight in shining armour declaring to you who has said what about your business, and when. This means that you can begin to address the issues of your audience and solve problems as soon as they are born and before they develop into a fire-breathing, business-eating dragon foe, destroying your reputation and profits.

So when setting up your Google Alerts, create one with your business name and set it to your desired frequency (as it happens, daily or weekly) and Sir Google Alert will gallop through the internet discovering articles and sites that have mentioned your business and will compile them into an email that will come straight to you, so that you can deal with the results. You can now climb down from your ivory tower of insecurity and isolation and ride into the sunset of knowledge and power on Google’s trusty steed.

As well as using your Alerts in this fashion, your saviour can also be used as your spy. By setting up Alerts with the names of your scariest and most intimidating enemies, your knight can gather information about what is being said about them and you can use this to assist in their demise and your triumph. If you know what is liked or disliked about them, then you can address these wishes as if a genie in a lamp and gain more happy customers through a thorough understanding of their needs.

And as if by magic, all the businesses lived happily ever after. Well, almost…

Now you know how Google Alerts can be used, here are Xposure’s top 10 tips for using Alerts like a professional.

1. Use it to discover new trends and topics. Take a topic that you have a specific interest in, and create and Alert for it using the discussion feature. This way you can track new developments and trends within the industry and be at the forefront of knowledge in your area.
2. Use it to generate leads- For some businesses, breaking news can often produce leads for the business. If you are a marketing firm based in London, focusing on new businesses, you could set up an alert that sends you information on new businesses in London so that you know who could need your help.
3. Use it to monitor blog use- If you have a blog, you can set up an alert, using its domain name, so that you can monitor discussion around your blog and if it has been shared with others, and linked to other sites.
4. Use it to check reviews of products- If you sell a specific product, then make an alert for its name so that you can know what the reviews are like and how it is being promoted through word of mouth.
5. Use it to keep an eye on your clients- Having an alert set for your top clients, can give you an insight as to what they are doing, and often gives you reasons to contact them.
6. Use it to track where your website is being mentioned- Create an alert for your website, which will give you insights into where your are being linked to and who is mentioning your site.
7. Use it hire new staff members- Set up your alert with the attributes that you wish to have in staff members, such as PR graduate and search the results (usually lots of LinkedIn profiles) to find the perfect employee.
8. Use it to see what people are saying about you- Out of pure curiosity, create an alert for your own name and see what is being said about you, often this can link back to your business too!
9. Use it to help with blogging- If there is a specific author who writes articles that inspire your, alert their name and get reading and consequently writing!

10. Narrow your catching using the advanced search options- You can create geographically specific alerts to see affects of your industry in an any given area.

Have a go with Google Alerts for your business, and let us know how you get on!