Google Alerts is an excellent tool if you need a steady stream of custom, curated content relevant to your industry or business needs. However, many users aren’t fans of the tool’s design and functionality.
If Google Alerts doesn’t meet your organization’s needs, you have other options. Here’s a brief look at what Google Alerts does and a deeper dive into its top content-monitoring competitors.
What is Google Alerts?
Google Alerts lets users create custom searches based on specific words or phrases; Google will then send a notification anytime it finds the search term in new results.
Anyone with a Google account can create a Google Alert for any phrase or topic. The Google Alerts service is especially useful for notifying users of corporate stock values, product announcements or press releases.
If you want up-to-date information on a specific topic, a niche market or even an entire industry, you can create a Google Alert and set it for any frequency you want. For example, you can request daily reports or hourly updates. Google Alerts also has an option to send out notifications in real time, so Google can update you on a specific event as it happens.
This tool is also ideal for monitoring social media, evaluating social media marketing, maintaining a watchful eye on the competition, and monitoring your marketing ROI.
While Google Alerts is a capable tool, other content-monitoring alternatives may be more suitable for your needs. We’ll highlight five of the best Google Alerts alternatives.
You may also want to check out Google Analytics, which offers a free, easy way to track and analyze visitors on your website.
Talkwalker Alerts
Talkwalker Alerts allows you to monitor the internet for new content that features your name or brand, the names of your competitors, or another relevant business topic. It will find mentions on websites, forums, blogs, and Twitter and deliver them directly to your inbox in a single relevant email.
If you want to refine your alerts, use the tool’s intuitive filter option to view only the formats that are most relevant to you and your business. Talkwalker uses Boolean operators to offer a high level of customization. This free service offers the simplicity of the original Google Alerts but with far more functionality and customizability.
Did You Know?
When you use Twitter for business, you can increase sales, boost brand recognition, and even improve customer service.
Mention
Mention is a powerful option for monitoring your media mentions. It offers advanced tools such as real-time activity monitoring and access to statistics and reports. One of its most useful features is the ability to respond to social media alerts within the app. You can see and respond instantly without jumping through any additional hoops.
Mention lets businesses monitor any keyword across a wide array of sources, including all social media sites, blogs, forums and other web properties. Notifications can be sent as weekly or daily email digests or via real-time push notifications.
Access Mention from your web platform for PC, Mac or Linux. You can also download the Mention app for iOS or get the Android Mention app.
Mention offers a free plan with reduced functionality so you can try out the service and see if it can benefit your business. There’s also a Solo plan designed for individuals and entrepreneurs that starts at $29 per month. If you want to monitor the competition and receive additional alerts, look into the Pro plan, which costs $99 per month, or the Pro Plus plan for $199 per month. Mention also offers a custom option that is ideal for larger companies or agencies.
Meltwater
Meltwater is a powerhouse monitoring tool for businesses. The company uses a sophisticated AI-driven interface to yield more insightful results that provide a greater level of detailed analysis while reducing the background noise of irrelevant data.
You can easily review your data via the web interface or the mobile app, which provides Smart Alerts to keep you in the loop on developing stories. Download the Meltwater mobile iOS app or get the Android Meltwater app.
The Meltwater interface is extensive and visually appealing. Because of the high level of customization, prices vary. The company provides quotes based on your business’s needs and the level of functionality and customization your business requires.
Sprout Social
Sprout Social is a solid option specializing in social media listening, but it also includes tools capable of parsing through the web for news and mentions about your brand. Better yet, Sprout Social is easy to integrate into your existing social media platforms. It provides actionable business intelligence to guide the conversation around your organization.
Sprout offers Standard ($89), Professional ($149), and Advanced ($249) packages with varying features and functionality. It offers free trials as well.
Awario
Sporting a stellar suite of lead generation functionality, Awario is another superb listening platform able to keep you up to date on what people are saying about your business while providing critical insights about your industry.
Awario touts being able to monitor conversations “in any language, in any location” to provide a comprehensive snapshot of trends throughout the globe.
Pricing tiers start at $24 per month and go up to $249 for additional enterprise features.
Tip
Using social media for customer service is a great way to show current and potential customers how dedicated you are to keeping them satisfied.
Choosing a content-monitoring service
If you’ve been looking for a minimalist solution reminiscent of the original Google Alerts, you may want to give Talkwalker Alerts a try. The service is free and has a bare-bones design that is easy to use while still offering more options than Google Alerts.
If you’re a business user who needs more in-depth analysis or a greater degree of customization, explore Mention’s and Meltwater’s offerings. Consider Sprout Social if you’d like your content-monitoring tool to integrate with your social media platforms or if you’re monitoring your brand to build customer loyalty. If lead generation and growing an email marketing contact list is your focus, consider Awario.
Eduardo Vasconcellos and Mona Bushnell contributed to the writing and research in this article.
