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Everyone has “Googled” prospective employees, friends and significant others. But have you Googled your own business? If not, you should! In fact, this should be a task done at least weekly.
As a society, we are overly concerned with protecting our personal identity, but we rarely think about protecting our businesses’ identity or brands’ image. You should know if your name or your business’ name is associated with anything online, positive or negative.
Google has made this easy with Google Alerts.
Google Alerts are exactly what they sound like; they are a way to set up alerts to let you know when new content from news, web, blogs, video and/or discussion groups match a set of search terms that you select. You can receive notifications by email, as a web feed or they can be shown on your iGoogle Portal.
Utilize this valuable tool for yourself, your associates, your business and your competitors. With technology advancing every day, why not get on board with something as simple and easy to use as this?
Using Google Alerts, you can:
- Monitor mentions of your business and associates
- Keep tabs on your competition
- Get the latest news
- Share positive mentions of your business on social media
- Monitor industry trends
- Track marketing efforts
- Find sources for blog posts and presentations
To use Google Alerts, follow these steps:
- Go to http://www.google.com/alerts
- Fill out the search criteria you would like to monitor
- Click “Create Alert”
- An email will be sent to the address you submitted for confirmation
Isn’t it better for you to know before your clients do what is found when your name is “Googled”? It is very important that you protect your business’ image online and know anything your potential clients may find.
Crystal Butler is an entrepreneur, creative marketer and results-driven business consultant with over a decade of experience helping financial advisors. At Crystal Marketing Solutions, LLC she provides marketing services for financial professionals by communicating a cohesive brand and building business relationships to help them grow and thrive. Connect with Crystal on LinkedIn at crystallbutler or learn more at www.crystalmarketingsolutions.com.
