Who's Saying What About Your Business?

There are so many web pages out there today that not even Google knows exactly how many. With many of those pages a part of social media, the number of conversations taking place on the interwebz at any given time is astronomical. And some of these conversations might be about you and your business.

Maybe it's yourself, family and friends talking up your business. Maybe it's your networking contacts, sharing information with their friends and customers. And maybe it's customers and prospects.

Makes you wonder what they're saying, right? If not...you should be wondering. They could be saying great things about your business, in which case, you should thank them. Or maybe they're saying not-so-great things, which you also need to know about and address. You can jump in the conversation, showing these people that you care about your business, your products and, most importantly, your customers. Or sometimes it's not worth jumping in, but it's something you can be addressing internally.

Either way, it pays to know what's being said about you on the Internet.

So how can you find out? It's actually easier than you could ever expect. Simply sign up for Google Alerts here. With Google Alerts, you can be notified any time a web page, blog post, etc., go up mentioning any search term you desire. Simply enter the search term; select the Type, Frequency and Volume; and enter the email address where you want to receive the notifications.

You can do this as many times as you want, with as many search terms as you want. Definitely start with your business's name. You may also want to set up an Alert for your personal name, other key personnel and even specific industry terms. Then you can find out who's saying what about you and your business!