Information is the key to success. And with so much of data all over the internet, it is a challenge to go through all of them. Google provides a free service called Google Alert and it could help you receive any information on selected words terms or phrases right in your email.

Google Alert - Collecting key information in you email

The first step is to log into Google Alert . The simplest way is shown on the image above. You put in your search terms, separated by either space or comma, and then you enter your email address where you want Google to send the email. The Google search bots will perform periodic searches over the internet, gather your information and send it over to you in the email.

Now before you create any Alert, know that if you do not organize your Alerts properly, they could become quite difficult to maintain. And if you are getting too many Alerts, you will not be able to derive the best of the information. To avoid this, and make the best use of the searches, Google has given an Alert Management tool along with Google Alert too.

Alert Creation & Managing your Alerts

You use the New Alert button to create a list of keywords that you want to search and track periodically. If you already have an Alert set up for some words and phrases, you could edit them with the Edit button.

One way is to group the words and phrases logically into individual Alerts. For example, since I am a pro Nikonian & use all the professional Nikon gears, I want to track all the developments and news that has to do with Nikon Nikons Nikonian D200 D300 D3 EN-EL- . I have grouped all these words in a single Alert. Since these information is usually needed upon the launch of a new professional model, I keep the alert frequency to once-per-day to begin with. When the products stabilize and all known issues are somehow highlighted, I change (Edit the existing Alert) the alert frequency to once-a-month .

The other way, the one that I found very effective, was to group the phrases or words according to my blog or website. For example, I publish a blog for small home based photography business - http://www.ranjaymitra.com . For me to keep track of photography & small business, I have created an alert with keywords photography, home business, small finances, printers, kodak deals. Although all these words could appear unrelated by themselves, they make perfect sense to by publication! And since I want to tell my readers about deals and workshops as soon as they are announced, I track this Alert daily.

Google Alert is a free tool that is immensely helpful and you could use the information offline. You could read your Alert emails at leisure even when you are not connected to the internet!

Find more Internet Money Making Tips in: Google Alerts, Google Analytics, Search Engines

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