What are Google Alerts?

Google Alerts are email updates, delivered to your inbox, of the latest and relevant Google results based on a word, phrase or topic of your choice.

They can be used for a variety of purposes including:

  • monitoring current and developing news stories
  • keeping an eye on a competitor or industry sector
  • getting the latest news on a celebrity or an event
  • keeping up-to-date with your favourite sport or team

They are easily set up

All you need is a Google Account (if you have an account for Google Analytics or Gmail already then you are all set to go).

How to use Alerts to build backlinks

All web sites need traffic and a recognised method is getting links from other sites (preferably with a higher pagerank).

After setting up a Google Alert, with one of your business keywords or keyword phrases, you will receive an email when they appear in a page indexed by the Google robot.

They can appear in web pages, blogs, forums and other indexed media. Blogs and forums, almost always, allow comments or answers to be posted in reply.

And, again, they almost always have the facility of adding a web address. Used properly these address links can point back to a relevant topic or web page on your site helping to both build backlinks and attract potential visitors.

The important thing to remember is that the landing page (the page your post/comment links to) is relevant to the topic of the post. And, of course, the comments you make are also relevant and interesting.

A point to keep in mind is not to make the comment a sales pitch but a valuable contribution to the blog or forum topic.

Not only will it help build backlinks but can also position you as a knowledgeable contributor in your area of expertise.

If you need help building backlinks to your web site we can help you!

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