Google Alerts: The Narcissist’s Dream Tool

Narcissists, rejoice!  Those of you who make a habit of Googling yourself to see how often you’re mentioned on the web will find the perfect assistant in Google Alerts - a free service by Google which provides email updates on the latest Google results for your choice of query or topic.

The not-so-narcissistic can benefit as well. Google Alerts are actually extremely handy for everyone from students to corporations — especially in this age of uncensored blogs and review sites.  If you’re in business, you need to keep track of what’s being said about your company, products and/or services, so you can act or react accordingly. (It doesn’t hurt to keep tabs on your competition as well.) 

Here’s how to set up your alerts:

1. Go to Google Alerts:  www.google.com/alerts.
2. In the search term field, write down the specific words you’d like to monitor.  (This can be a name, a brand, a phrase or even a URL, if you’re tyring to find out how many people link to your website. Whatever the case, be as specific as possible, or you’re likely to end up with a lot of alerts you don’t really want.)
3. In the type field, select an option.  You can choose just “Web” or go “Comprehensive” to cover every possible source.
4. Select an option for the “How often” field - you can receive updates as they happen, or on a daily or weekly basis.
5. Provide the email address you’d like the alerts to be sent to.

And that’s it!  You’re good to go!