When it comes down to anything happening online, Google is certainly ‘king of the castle’ it would seem. As well as stamping its authority for being the internets most powerful search engine utilized by surfers internationally, Google also has additional strings to its bow and provides services for email, more commonly known as gmail, sitemaps, news feeds and is even a provider for hosting it’s latest venture, Google Video where visitors can upload their videos so that others may view them online.

However, one of Google’s trump cards is Google Adsense, which is a multi billion dollar money spinner. The way Google adsense works is very straight forward and so simple that many entrepreneurs are probably wondering why they didn’t think of the service themselves. Google Adsense is essentially a method for merchants to raise additional income by way of displaying advertisements on their site. What makes it so unique though is that the merchant is displaying not his own ads but those of alternative companies.

The ads that are displayed will be determined by the content on the webpage that the ads are to be displayed on, so for example, if you own a plumbing business then it is highly likely that all of the ads being displayed will be to advertise the services of companies involved with plumbing.

That’s Crazy! Why Send Your Visitors & Customers To The Competition?

Well yeah, on the face of it I can see why you’d be thinking that, it does seem a little unorthodox to want to drive your traffic away but get this, every time somebody clicks on one of the ads displayed on your website, guess what? You get paid for it, over and over again. If your website gets lots of traffic to it and your visitors like the ads displayed because the ads offer something of interest to them then it’s highly likely that your CTR or ‘click through ratio’ will be very high, meaning you stand to really make some serious money from Google Adsense.

So How Much Do I Make Per Click?

This is how clever Google Adsense is as it utilizes a system of ’smart pricing’ whereby it will not pay you a set fee per ad but rather will decide your payout depending on the content on your site, the relevancy of the click, where the visitor was referred from, whether the click was valid or invalid, and many other considerations. Google has a very advanced algorithm to substantiate this data and there is no easy way to try and see what makes it tick.

What If I Want To Advertise Myself?

That’s what’s great about Google Adsense because it is a win win situation for both advertiser and publisher alike. Perhaps you run a business and your website is very recent and you have hardly any traffic coming to your site, If this is the case then you can very easily become an advertiser and run your ads on other content related sites, thereby reversing the roles and driving targeted traffic to your site and increasing your exposure and also increasing your chances of making more sales etc. Google has a service known as Google Adwords and it is simply a case of signing up for the program and then creating a campaign to display your ads. For this you will be charged every time a visitor clicks on one of your ads or you may opt to be charged by the amount of impressions your ad receives. There are a number of options available so it makes sense to do a little research before making your campaign live.

Whether you choose to be a publisher or an advertiser, Google Adsense is so easy to implement and can be functional in minutes as in most cases it is simply a task of copying and pasting some very basic html code that is provided by Google Adsense.

If you want to drive much more traffic to your website or you’re a publisher and you want to make easy additional cash for sitting back and waiting for someone to click on one of the ads on your site, then Google Adsense just may be the solution to your current needs.

The object to successful advertising is to find a method of conveying your information to as many people as possible, while keeping the cost on the advertising low to begin with. This is the easiest way to generate traffic, and retain your profits. Google Adwords is a great method of getting both of these objectives done and making your site successful. It is very important to try and maintain a low click through cost when trying to target the appropriate customers.It is no secret that pay per click can really make your business swell with traffic and customers, by placing the highest bid on a keyword, or keywords you can get great page ranking when someone types your keyword into their browser for a search. If you have heard of Google Adwords you will know that it is not really a pay per click search engine, but a very powerful Google tool that can be used as an advertising template. It is said that the largest Internet based network for marketing is indeed Google. It is a global industry and is a very good way to get exposure on the Internet. If you are interested in the Google Adwords you can find it on just about every page that Google showcases, their ad can be found in a little rectangle by the organic search results that are free.The basic premise of the Google Adwords realm is quite simple, the member makes their own advertisement, and then has to bid on a keyword, this key word will then trigger the next step of the process. The next step is where the appearance of the ad can be showcased, to the viewers online. A members site consists of approximately 25 words or characters, this will include spaces so be mindful, it will also allow for a description segment of up to 70 words or characters, again spaces included in the total so you must watch what you are using as description. The great thing about this feature is your site will be posted within just a few minutes of you submitting it to Google. It could even become one of the sites that are sponsored, where they will sit on the right hand column of the search engine pages.Google’s Adwords runs a little differently than the standard pay per click programs, it is not entirely based on the bid you place on the keyword. It has other factors penciled into the equation, such as the click through rate, plus the cost per click. This in turn dictates what your page ranking will be in the end of the ratio. You will need a steady flow of traffic to your site prior to this method to be effective, so it is best to get a good game plan in motion.

Did you know?

That internet advertising revenues reached an estimated new record of $4.2

Billion for the third quarter of 2006 and that the internet advertising market

Has been growing more than 30% for the last 4 consecutive years.

“Google reported revenues of $3.66 billion for the quarter ended March 31, 2007″

Google Adsense is revolutionizing the web, high school kids are making fortunes

per month with Adsense paying their classes and helping their fathers paying

the bills at home.

Lawyers and doctors gaved up their practices to make millions with Google.

Thanks to Google Adsense revenues the internet is growing faster each day, while

Google is paying the bills webmasters create more quality websites with free

Content and utilities for everyone, websites that you look for when your cash

Flow is fading. People create websites just for make money with Adsense and

this reason is reflecting on the web contributing to the fast growth of

Thousands of websites and ideas that born every day. When you use Adwords to

Promote your products you are sponsoring and broughting to life a new star

Rising website that can be a must value to the web.

That’s why Google Adsense/Adwords programs are so great, because everybody wins,

advertisers pay per click and make sales using Adwords, clicks and impressions

are made by the Adsense publishers that receive compensation, it’s a

rollercoster that never stops so therefore it is unbeatable.

It’s called “revenue sharing” and it’s the most powerfull internet marketing

Tool you will ever find!

Thousands of people every day discover Adsense and start making money at home

With their websites, they share the secret with others and when others make

Money everyone makes money, that’s why I had the trouble to write and

Distribute this little article, to spread the good news and off course make my

Own fortune.

If you have a website and are looking for a serious income this is the perfect

Opportunity for you to grab, Adsense is the best money making program

Circulating on the web, one of the most well paid if not the number 1 and best

Of all it is real!

Join Google Adsense free and retire from your job in months, use Google Adwords

to rise up your business and become a millionaire in the next year.

Let me show you the headline 1.000.000 in 6 months:

Besides the Adsense earnings and the Adwords traffic that you can generate you

Can also make big money referring others to the Adwords and Adsense programs,

When they use the programs you get paid, well paid.

This is how the programs work, by own Google words:

“When an advertiser who signed up for Google AdWords through your referral

Spends $5.00 (in addition to the $5.00 sign-up fee) within 90 days of sign-up,

You will be credited with $5.00. When that same advertiser spends $100.00

Within 90 days of sign-up, you will be credited with an additional $40.00. If,

in any 180-day period, you refer 20 advertisers who each spend more than

$100.00 within 90 days of their respective sign-ups, you will be awarded a

$600.00 bonus.”

“When a publisher who signed up for Google AdSense through your referral earns

$5.00 within 180 days of sign-up, you will be credited with $5.00. When that

Same publisher earns $100.00 within 180 days of sign-up and is eligible for

Payout, you will be credited with an additional $250.00. If, in any 180 day

Period, you refer 25 publishers who each earn more than $100.00 and are all

Eligible for payout, you will be awarded a $2,000.00 bonus.”

Do I need to say anything else to convince you to sign up? I Don’t think so.

Just do the math and you will find out the potential of your earnings, if you

Already know the programs you know what im talking about and have a better

perspective, if you don’t I tell you this, you can look but I guarantee that

does not exist nothing else like it.

And don’t worry, take it easy, take your time, it doesn’t matter if you don’t

Understand any of this, the only matter is that you have a website and want to

Make money with it, in the process you will discover how everything works and

How the succeed in your goals.

That’s for this and many other reasons that Google is and will be the internets

Number 1 for many years to come!

Follow the path, become rich and make your dreams come true forever!!

Have you paid for a yellow pages ad? I recently had a quote for a half page ad and it was $10000 for the year. With more and more people turning online to find goods the yellow pages seem to me to be a bit of a rip off.

If you are a local small business, you probably do some marketing offline to gain customers. So most small businesses owners figure they will just hire someone to make a website and you will be in business online.

No, this could not be further from the truth. Having a website online isn’t going to help your business unless it shows up in the top 2 pages of Google. When someone searches for any information online through Google the top ten most relevant search results will come up, this could be out of 1000’s.

Ask yourself when you have ever searched online for any product or service do you ever look past page 2 of Google, I know I don’t, I rarely look past page 1.

If your a researcher doing your thesis or something looking through thousands of pages is good. If you are marketing your small business online you need to rank at the top.

Since the average small business website is after customers online you need to get on the first page, the odds are extremely high that if someone looks up say Carpet Cleaners in Sydney and your business doesn’t pop up on the first page then they are not going to click on your website to see what you have to offer.

This does not matter if you spent $10,000 on your website if it isn’t in the first page of Google your online marketing is doomed, but it’s not all bad news. The good news is that you can work at getting your local business to the first page of Google and it does not cost much at all.

So, not only do you need a website, you need a website that will be listed in the top page of Google when someone searches for your type of business. Otherwise your just wasting your money getting a website developed.

Would you like to learn how to get your website to the first page of Google. Check out the final article of my three part series or visit my website.

In the old days I used to carry a laptop with an overhead digital projector. And sometimes a portable printer. I looked like a mercenary walking in. I still on occasion use the projector. But not much…same goes for my sales collateral, presentation, brochure, letterhead, portfolio and media packet.

First off it’s so much easier. I don’t arrive at a client’s office needing a baggage cart. I show up with my notepad, digital camera and recorder; all fit nicely in my pockets. I don’t carry a phone onsite since I am not an obstetrician or plumber. In fact I walk in with what appears to be just me because it is just me.

Sometimes they give me a quizzical look as if to say ‘didn’t you forget something?’ But unless they specifically ask, I don’t specifically tell. If we are at a conference table, I take out my pen and my small paper notepad and put it directly in front of me. To one side I lay my pocket recorder, and to the other my trick digital camera which I take from my shirt pocket. I’m not totally low tech…

I then take out my business card or maybe several if we are in a group. I lay them on the notepad. By this time more than a few in the room are watching and wondering what I will do next. Maybe perform some sort of magic trick and up will pop a laptop and projector and sales portfolio packet. As we do the obligatory handshakes and settle in, I slip my card across the table to my hosts. And smile.

“Do you have a resume or client list we can review?” is often the first question since they don’t know what else to ask.

“No,” I answer, “both are provided by Google and Yahoo.”

“Really?” they ask with raised eyebrows, “do you have a special deal with them?”

“No, just Google or Yahoo my name in quotes” I reply.

“And your resume is online?” they continue.

“No, just my history and work.”

At this point someone is curious enough to open up their laptop. They Google or Yahoo my name and look up, nodding their head affirmatively. What they see is what I have done. I could compile one myself in a resume format but why bother. My footprint or search results go on page after page. Depending on Google’s algorithmic moods, it can go on for dozens of pages.

As they click down the pages their eyes scan my article topics and they can see I write mainly business articles but also personal development, humor, sports, motivation and politics. I tell them my websites are simply self publishing blogs that store and house my article archives.

If they continue to scroll they will see many different websites where my articles are posted. All types of industries; auto, construction, health, real estate, pet care and even a few not so PG sites fortunately pretty far down the list…ha. Some political sites, some personal development sites and even an inspirational site or two. And a few radical ones, a few right wing ones and a few Jesus ones.

The advantages for me are many. First I don’t look like a salesman warrior loaded down with gadgets and briefcases inspiring fear as I prepare for battle. If I need a promo sheet, I have one folded up in my pocket just in case. I can use the wasted set up time to chat or start asking questions.

Second, I have a very cool business card that is simple, direct and just the right colors. It’s me. Third, they will never hear my cell beep or catch me stealing a glance down to see who called. What an insult. Fourth, I don’t distract everyone by looking for an outlet and setting up my gear. Ten years ago I would set up a mini office to impress. Today I don’t set up anything to impress. Google and Yahoo are nice enough to do that for me.

There’s an old sales tactic that asserts if you can get the prospect to do something active they become more involved and more likely to buy. Doing a simple Google or Yahoo search isn’t much but it is active. It’s also something they can do when I leave or whenever and wherever they wish. It’s something they can duplicate anywhere and something I have no direct control over. Because of all this, it’s credible. And (in)credible

Another important point to note is that I have a clean record. Not even a divorce, knock on wood. So by boldly stating ‘Google my name’ it shows that I am confident that no prison record will pop up. Unfortunately this tactic is not a good one if you do have a prison record…

If you Google my name you will find articles of mine in the London Daily News but no record of my being an inmate at San Quentin. That’s because I have had articles in the London Daily News but have never been an inmate at San Quentin. A simple Googling proves both. Thank you Google and thank you Yahoo for making my life so much easier.

You ever try to get a three prong plug into a two prong outlet without an adapter?

It doesn’t take long in the world of Internet marketing before you recognize the importance of good market research when it comes to the health and ultimate success of your business. While you can spend big money hiring people to do market research for you, or spend significant time and energy attempting to conduct it on your own, few methods are more user-friendly and effective than Google Trends.

Google is known worldwide for its useful tools, from its highly popular search engine to Gmail to a number of research and analyst tools. Google Trends is part of this family of free tools, and it tends to receive rave reviews from all users, regardless of the level of experience or type of business the user possesses.

Users of Google Trends claim it greatly improves their methods for conducting research online, which in turn helps them to be more productive and efficient in their businesses. They actually end up saving time and money as they learn about search engine trends on a global level.

How Does Google Trends Work?

Google released the tool to the public in 2004. Its purpose was to give users a method for viewing and monitoring online search results. Users can gain an understanding of how search results shift and change over a period of time. Another benefit to Google Trends is that it provides supporting information and relevant news stories that are related to the particular search term you enter. Instead of having to find the information on your own, it is all presented very neatly in an easy-to-understand format.

For example, after you plug a search term into the tool, it provides a line graph displaying time and search volume, as well as the countries, cities and areas that have searched for your specific term the most. By doing this, you can easily identify the types of products and solutions your target market is seeking. You can also learn exactly what search terms they are using, so that you have an understanding of how to best utilize your SEO tactics.

If you are interested in doing a comparison search between different terms, you can submit up to five words on the same graph by entering the terms separated by a comma. Being able to view the results for each term side-by-side is a great way to determine which words are going to be most powerful in your optimization of websites, articles, blogs and other online content you may use.

Far too many online businesses fail because they leave out the vital step of market and product research. Many who begin to use Google Trends discover that they did not know their target market as well as they thought. By using the tool to determine the best products and SEO terms, you are better able to meet your potential customers’ needs, rather than just throwing products out there hoping people will want them.

Once you witness the power of solid market research and product trending for yourself, you will likely never begin another product launch or website without incorporating them into your plan. The good news is that conducting this research doesn’t have to be difficult or even time consuming. Google Trends provides excellent search engine research with a few clicks of your mouse, helping you to propel your online business to the next level.

With the relative chaos that surrounded Google’s last major search engine algorithm update (Big Daddy) now on the ebb, there is now time to reflect -but not a lot of time. Google will continue to update its search engine algorithms, and sometimes in essential, infrastructural ways, as they seek to improve the quality of searches. Indeed, in all the fuss over Big Daddy the fact that the Jagger update (which temporarily gave msn.com a page rank of 2) preceded it by only two months. While this development is, of course, good in the sense that all who use the machine will have a better machine with which to search, it is a turbulent environment that can materially impact our online businesses -your business.

Operations that depend on Page Rank and that have spent the time and resources to cultivate a high one need some assurance that their work won’t be wiped out in a blink. What it requires are a few tactics to improve your chances for surviving Google updates. Here are a couple of tips farmed from several blogs and bulletin boards throughout the web. Essentially what the discussion boils down to is a concern over function.

“Google wants to present high quality web sites that are interesting to web surfers in its search results”, says free-seo-news.com. I think everybody can agree that this is true. However, what does it mean? What qualities does Google command its crawlers to analyze for when listing and ranking websites? Furthermore, are there things to be done outside of what we generally think of as SEO activity to improve our chances? Some suggestions for answers to these questions are as follows:

First, I can’t tell you exactly what it means, but there are definite qualities Google’s crawlers are programmed to analyze when listing or ranking a page, and while their optimization is never a guarantee in the face of beasts like Big Daddy, it certainly improves your chances.

Time and consistency are of the essence. Make sure the website gets regular updates. Keep things fresh. Let the Google-bots know there is stuff going on. As for time, well that kind of runs on its own. Keyword optimization is also growing necessity. The trick is to be strategic. As John Hill, an SEO Professional says in his article for seo-news.com, ‘If you have a ten page website in a highly competitive market then ranking for the major keywords will be close to impossible.’ He suggests using tools to see which keywords relevant to your organization are already heavily contested, and to find alternate keywords to claim.

There are other ‘white-hat’ SEO trade tricks, and they are well summarized in a number of places. If you are not familiar with them definitely become acquainted with the basics. Even if you hire someone to do it for you, know the essence of SEO, Google, and their functions. However, as stated above these tricks and techniques are not always a match for the algorithm updates. While staying on top of your website’s SEO is crucial, it is also a good idea to cultivate a customer base in a sphere outside of the Google search -that timeless discussion over eggs and baskets. Do not neglect a mailing list. Do not depend entirely on the search engines for customers. If people like what your website has to offer they may or may not bookmark it, email the link to friends or even link to it from their website. In other words, even with Google’s awesome capabilities, word-of-mouth is still the best of all marketing tools. Stay in the radar. Grow a mailing list and send out newsletters to those who have subscribed; not just any newsletter, a newsletter people can use. Think about it. How do you feel about subscribing and receiving fluff when what you want is information?

If you’ve done your job providing good content and staying ‘present’ to a growing number people, your website should be able to better weather the slowed search engine traffic from a Google algorithm storm. Based on bulletin board discussions surrounding Big Daddy it appears some websites spent as long as five or six weeks either listed ‘supplemental’ or with radically diminished Page Rank. While that was an extreme situation, you’re aim should be to try and cultivate a customer or readership base large enough to compensate for such ‘lost’ time so as to make those accidental Google pains less painful.

WikiAd â?? Add your business, products, news, websites, and classifieds. Add you information and find it on google.

Free Advertising Wiki website built with web 2.0 features. Just like wikipedia, when people search for your information, its relevance is much higher in the search results.

Anyone can publish free advertising, add your business information, website details, classifieds, latest adverts, news, products, service, events, gossip, travel deals, movie reviews, and more â?? and all of it for free.

The information is given a more relevant ranking on search engines like google and yahoo

The Internet is about giving the community more choice and more information. The whynotAD wiki website allows for more choice and more freedom of information.

Free advertising that gives your information higher search relevance when people search on google and yahoo.

This wiki design web 2.0 free advertising website allows users to place free web pages. Its â??smartâ?? programming puts the information at higher search relevance in search engine listings.

Itâ??s very quick, easy to use and the design is stylish. Attention to detail and latest technology make it an awesome free advertising and Internet marketing tool.

Businesses spend thousands of dollars with online advertising and to generate business online. This free advertising tool can improve your google ratings and help people find your information, products and services.

The makers of this exciting portal have eliminated the lengthy registration forms, and so have made a simple but very effective end-user solution.

Twenty-four months in the making, the whynotAD free advertising portal offers you enormous advantages. Users have a much greater choice of service with better and more targeted results. Free advertising of any sort can be placed on the portal in almost a few seconds. Users have the ability to add various advertising categories and thus give the article more relevance to a particular category or field.

The whynotAD 2.0 website is a free advertising service. It was built for the community and is centered on the interests and requirements of advertisers, businesses and the everyday user from around the globe. The whynotAD 2.0 website provides interactive features that make using and browsing the site more valuable and interesting.

United Kingdom www.whynotad.com

The news lately does not too look good for print media. I see articles (online) on an almost daily basis about how major newspapers and magazines are in serious financial jeopardy. The bad state of the economy notwithstanding, people are abandoning these traditional media outlets in droves. The internet has dramatically changed the way in which people inform themselves on current events and general news items. To make matters worse, a big part of the print media decline is greatly diminished advertising revenue.

Not only has the internet opened up a whole new world of news delivery for people the world over, it has also completely shaken up the traditional advertising model for small and large businesses alike.

The premise of traditional advertising is to get your ad in front of as many people as possible; the more eyeballs looking at your advertisement the better. Your chances of quality prospects responding to your ad will increase as the number of people who see it increases. The big problem is; the more people who will potentially see your ad, the more expensive the advertising becomes. ($3 million for a 30 second Super Bowl ad??? Holy smokes!)

This is what is commonly referred to as the shotgun approach. Blast a round of advertising at a group of people and hopefully you’ll hit a few decent prospects.

Actually, if you really think about it, this is an extremely inefficient means of advertising for the home based business owner – believe me, I know how monetarily wasteful traditional advertising can be. Like the old joke goes; half of all your advertising goes to waste – wouldn’t it be nice to know which half?

Maybe the shotgun approach makes sense for the large corporation with a massive advertising budget. But, for the small entrepreneur, there is a much better advertising alternative; it’s called Google Adwords.

Google is the undisputed king of internet search engines. So synonymous with web searching is Google that their name alone is now used as a verb. You need to look up information online? Just go and Google it! I don’t know about you but I don’t use any other search engine but Google.com.

Google has harnessed the power of their web presence and search reliability to develop the greatest advertising program of the modern age; it’s called Adwords. Once you really grasp the concept of Adwords, you will see that, for the small entrepreneur, it is the most efficient and cost effective means of advertising to be found anywhere.

The mechanics of how to implement an Adwords campaign and get the most out of it is way beyond the scope of this article. Matter of fact, entire, multi-chapter books have been written on this one topic alone. What I am encouraging you to do is explore the potential of using Adwords to grow your own business. There are tons of great articles and resources to be found that will help you to get a better understanding of this powerful medium. And, if need be, there are even Adwords consultants out there with plenty of experience who can help you get started.

Remember earlier how I referred to traditional forms of advertising as taking a shotgun approach? Well, using Google Adwords is like advertising with the precision of a highly skilled marksman. For now, suffice it to say that an advertisement can be placed on the world’s most popular search engine with such accuracy that only your best, most highly qualified prospects will ever see it. And, you’ll only be charged for showing your ad IF your prospect actually takes action and clicks on it.

Now I’m not here necessarily shilling for Google – they don’t need little, old me to sing their praises. What I am doing is looking out for my fellow home based business entrepreneur. I’ve had many different types of businesses over the years and have spent untold thousands upon thousands of dollars on print advertising – much of it a complete waste. I want to try and help you avoid traveling that same, wasteful path.

At this point I encourage you to learn more about the Google Adwords campaign. It will only cost you an investment of time as there are numerous resources and articles to be found online that provide some great information on the topic.

The bottom line is this – the internet is changing everything, including the ways in which business is conducted. You have to keep up or you will be left in your competition’s dust.

At times it seems that Google releases more new products and services than we can keep track of. From Google Calendar and Google Video, to Google Base, Google Finance, and Google Trends, it can be overwhelming just to remember what each one does. One of the oft overlooked hidden gems in Google’s enormous offering is Google Alerts. Within minutes, one can be signed up for email alerts that can give them and their business a leg up on the competition. Alerts can be used to spy on competitors, keep track of what people are saying about your business, or follow an important news story.

How Does It Work

Google Alerts sends you an email each time a new page for your chosen term makes it in the top twenty results on Google’s web search. You can also have the alert check Google News and/or Google Groups. To sign up for a Google Alert, all that you need to do is visit the Google Alerts homepage (http://www.google.com/alerts), enter the search term, type of alert (search Google News, Google Groups, or the web), frequency of emails (daily, as it happens, or weekly), and your email address. You can set up alerts for as many terms as you like using a Google Account. So why would you want an unlimited amount of alerts? Because as a business owner, you have a lot to keep track of and very limited time to do it.

Spy on Your Competitors

Every business has a competitor. More likely, you have several direct competitors and several more indirect competitors. While regularly checking out their websites is an important part of the process, it doesn’t paint the whole picture. A competitor’s website is very much crafted to the image that they want to portray to their customers. This is great if you want to know what their latest sale is or how much their new product costs, but it isn’t likely to feature a negative review in last Sunday’s newspaper.

That’s where Google Alerts comes in. By simply setting up a News, Groups, and search alert for each of your competitors, you will know what other people are saying about your competition – both the media and consumers, both good and bad.

Keep Up To Date on Your Industry

Equally as important as what people are saying about your competition is what people are saying about your industry in general. If there’s a negative PR swing against violent video games, and you just happen to run a video game store, you will probably be affected. By receiving alerts on important key words related to your industry, you can be on top of any sudden changes and react accordingly. By the time your competition realizes what’s happening they will be scrambling to catch up to you.

Track Yourself and Your Business

It goes without saying, if it’s important to know what people are saying about your competitors and about your industry, it would stand to reason that it’s important to know what people are saying about you. I have Google Alerts on both my name and my businesses name. I know that they go hand in hand – if one is getting slandered you better bet it will hurt the other. By receiving alerts, you can be on top of anything negative relating to you or your business, and hopefully nip any problem in the bud before it grows too large. On the flip side, there’s nothing better than receiving an alert where someone praises your business. Those are the types of things that you want to make sure are on the PR page of your businesses website.

Get News Stories for Your Site or Blog

I own a site where I do weekly news updates about what’s going on in the industry. Some weeks, there are tons of news items to choose from, other weeks it’s hard to find anything. In addition to the regular industry news sites that I check to get information, I have Google Alerts set up for each of the key terms. You’d be surprised how frequently a unique story from a local newspaper pops up in Google News. Many times these stories haven’t been seen by my competitors and I am able to “break” the news to the online community. This works well for blogs too – if you have a daily blog about being an entrepreneur, having an alert for the word “entrepreneur” can fetch you several quality stories each day to help inspire fresh posts.

In this increasingly competitive business world, you need each and every leg up on your competition that you can get. Used properly, Google Alerts can be an extremely efficient way to track what’s going on across the web. The alternative would be to search each term every day for new updates. Who has time for that? Spending less time researching enables you to spend more time on the things important to your business.