Google Alerts is a favorite tool I’ve been using for about a year now. This versatile, simple and easy to use tool not only helps for building links, but it is also great for relationship building, content ideas and development, research, finding industry or topical news and so much more… I should note right away that I learned about this tool during a conversation I was having with Eric Ward (link building god) about building links for a contest I was running. He mentioned it to me as a way to determine if my press releases had been picked up. I quickly realized the power of this free and easy to use tool, now I’m going to share the secret powers if this nasty little weapon with you… To understand it’s power you first need to know what it does, so let me show you how Google Alerts works. How Google Alerts Works What It Does Simply, Google Alerts sends you an email notification when NEW web sites appear at the top of Google search results for any keyword you specify. Ohhhhh I can hear your cerebral wheels spinnin’ already…. But first: How To Set Up Google Alerts First, you need to sign in with your Google account. If you don’t have one, get one and learn everything Google wants you to know, here: www.google.com/support/accounts. Then, you input a SEARCH TERM (keyword or phrase) you want to be alerted about. Next, you select what TYPE of search results you want to receive alerts from. You can get ‘alerts’ for results from: web search blog search Google News Google Groups Google Video There’s also an alert you can choose the ‘Comprehensive Alert’ that will provide the results from web, news, & blogs all together (but categorized). Alert items (websites) are selected from the top ‘X’ results in these numbers/categories: 10 for blogs/news/videos, 15 for Google Groups and 20 for web search. Next, you select how often you want to be alerted. By day As-it-happens Weekly Finally, you input the email address you want to be notified at, and after clicking ‘Create Alert’, you’re done! The 10 Google Alerts Secrets Here are the secrets that will allow Google Alerts to be one of your best internet marketing weapons: Secret #1 - Find posts to comment on for link building Using the main keyword(s) your site is about, use BLOG ALERTS for finding posts related your blog or website, so you can post comments to get links from ‘related’ websites. Some Follow

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