As a webmaster, I'm constantly on the lookout for applications or programs that will make things easier and/or faster. I recently found out how to use Google Alerts to monitor how my sites are doing with regard to building backlinks and getting indexed. I now get reports every day that show me which pages were indexed and new backlinks.
I'd like to share this with other webmasters whom may not be aware of how to use Google Alerts to their advantage. Knowledge is power and a daily or weekly report can be another weapon in your arsenal.
I highly suggest signing up for a Google account if you haven't already. With a Google Account you can view, create, edit and delete your alerts by visiting the "Manage your Alerts" page. There are also advanced options available if you sign up.
Google Alerts will regularly check to see if there are new results for the query you enter and if there are new results, Google Alerts will send them in an email.
Here's how to get started.
First, go to Google Alerts by visiting google.com/alerts and you will see a web form. The form fields we'll be dealing with are titled Search terms, Type, How often, Volume and email. Here's how I filled out the form.
Step #1 - The first field in the form is "Search Terms". In this field you should enter your URL and put it in quotations.
Example: "www.url123.com" or "url123.com"
Use your preferred URL. Use the URL that you prefer to use. If you do not have a preferred domain, I highly suggest you choose one. In fact, be sure to use a 301 redirect so that your unpreferred URL redirects to your preferred URL.
The quotation marks will ensure that you only receive results containing that exact term, in this case, your preferred domain. If you've set a preferred domain, use that, but always remember, some webmasters may link to your site either with or without the www prefix. You could always have the results sent to you with and without the prefix by having an alert for each variation but that's up to you.
Step #2 - The second field in the form is "Type". It's drop-down menu where you can choose the type of results you would like to receive. Everything alerts will include results from Google Web Search, Blog Search and Google News too. If you prefer to receive just one type of result you could always do that but choosing "Everything" will leave no stone unturned.
Step #3 - The third field in the form is "How often". This is where you can choose how often the results are sent to you. I prefer a daily email but you may prefer an email just once a week. The "as-it-happens" selection would be better used in other scenarios so skip that one for now.
Step #1 - The fourth field in the form is "Volume". I suggest you choose "All results" in the volume field. Since we're using quotation marks there is no need to choose "Only the best results".
Step #1 - The fifth and final field is "Deliver to". This is the email address where you want your reports delivered to.
By using Google Alerts you'll be able to see where new inbound links are coming from. It really is a handy tool for webmasters. It can be used for much more than just inbound link reports. You can use it to track the publication of articles, files and can even help a writer assure that their copy isn't being used without permission.
Author Resource:-
Roger Matthews is a writer and web designer. He runs multiple article directories and link directories. You can visit his link directory and submit your site or article directory
by clicking on the hypelinked text. His article directories are free to use and provides
webmasters with free, reprintable content.
Sign up as an author, submit your quality articles and build inbound links to your website or blog.
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