16 - Set up Google Alerts

Welcome to our 2016 Advent Calendar! We are sharing a marketing tip or trick every day until Christmas. To make sure you receive these updates, don't forget to register here. Happy Christmas!

Google Alerts is a fantastic free service which sends an email out to you when it detects change in content online. New results such as web pages, blogs, articles and research (that match a specific search term you previously set) are notified to you via email, helping you keep on top of latest news or updates.

To set up Google Alerts, type in keywords you would like to track, save them and set up your alert preferences. It's a real time saver as well as an improvement to your processes if you're not already using it. Add any terms you'd like to regularly scan the web for, be it your own business, products or services or that of competitors, customers or clients. If there is a new technology or trend you'd like to keep an eye on, set up a Google Alert!

Top tip: Monitor your brand carefully

To ensure your brand or name isn't being used elsewhere without your permission, or worse, being slandered online, set up a Google Alert to let you know exactly when and where you're being mentioned - that way you can be swift in response! Ideal for managing your brand reputation online, as well as giving you the heads up for when your brand is mentioned or promoted. Just bear in mind that you'll still need to track this where possible on social media as not all comments and pages show up in public searches.

That's all for today. Stay tuned for more tips and tricks from our free advent calendar.