Track Your Online Reputation with These 3 Alternatives to Google Alerts
If you want to know what your customers are saying online about your business or what a competitor across town is up to, Web-monitoring tools can help. They are also known as Alert apps and basically act as your own private eye on the Internet.
The original Alert app, Google Alerts, is on the wane now with users reporting lackluster results, so we decided to profile three surprisingly robust alternatives:
1. IFTTT
If you’re not that tech-savvy and prefer something intuitive and user friendly then IFTTT is a good alternative. IFTTT, short for ‘If This, Then That’ uses an automated system known as “recipes” (connections between channels) and is a cinch to set up. For example, some companies receive leads from weather related events. You can set up a recipe connecting the weather app to send you an email when there is a storm. Or you could use the same idea to send coupons to customers.
Another viable option is to set up a recipe telling IFTTT to text you when a rival business creates a specific type of content, like a blog post. This could help you keep tabs on your competition. There are many other equally amazing possibilities for this tool– in essence, the more creative you are, the more you can get out of it.
2. TALKWALKER
Talkwalker is your best bet if you want a web monitoring tool that is close to the older version of Google Alerts. It can be used to monitor the questions your customers ask online. Basically, the more answers you have to questions people are searching for, the more you can build up brand trust and authority. And, because it’s a free service, you don’t have much to lose. You can simply enter a search term and email address to get started.
3. MENTION
Most business owners spend time and money on marketing but forget to look at its effectiveness. That’s where Mention comes in. If your business is using Google Adwords, you could use Mention to track how well your online advertisements are working. You even have the option to compare the results to your competitors’ ad performance! The basic version of Mention is free, with paid versions starting around $10 per month.
With the amount of new information out there that could potentially impact your business, it is important to be informed. Whether it is about you, your brand or your industry–these alternatives to Google Alerts will give your business the edge.
