How to Effectively Use Google Alerts for Your PR Work

Don't want to miss important mentions of your clients and stay informed about current trends? With Google Alerts, you can achieve this effortlessly. In this post, you'll learn how to set up Google Alerts and use them optimally for your PR work, saving time and staying up-to-date.

What are Google Alerts?

Google Alerts is a service by Google that automatically notifies you via email about content changes related to specific topics. You first set up the desired search query and then receive an email at defined intervals as soon as new search results appear for the search terms.

So if you set up Google Alerts for “PR” and “Public Relations,” you will receive a notification whenever the search results for these terms change. This way, as a PR expert, you are always informed about the latest developments and can't miss any important mentions of your clients.

How can you use Google Alerts for your PR work?

First, the obvious benefit of Google Alerts that I briefly mentioned: you are always up-to-date with your search terms. Additionally, you don't have to actively search for mentions of your clients but are automatically notified by Google. This, of course, saves a lot of time and effort. Furthermore, you can even use Google Alerts for free.

Another benefit that was not immediately apparent to me is using emerging trends for contacting journalists: Imagine your client sells second-hand clothes. Journalists could report on this at any time, but they probably won't see a request from you in their inbox as THE STORY. However, if a study appears about how many clothes are thrown away worldwide and how harmful the production of new clothes is, and you appear in the journalist's inbox shortly afterward with an interview offer, the topic suddenly becomes very relevant! This way, you can achieve better placements for your clients using Google Alerts.

How do I set up Google Alerts?

1. Go to https://www.google.com/alerts
2. Then enter the relevant terms for you in the search box. How to combine these terms most effectively will be explained in the next blog post.
3. Once you have entered at least one search term, the dropdown “Show options” will appear. Here you can specify

• how often you want to receive an email,
• which sources should be searched for you,
• which language or countries are relevant to you,
• whether only very relevant or all available results should be reported.

1. Now you will see a preview of the alerts that would be sent to you for your search terms. Check these for relevance and refine your search query if necessary.

Have fun setting up your new Google Alerts!