An online brand can be compared to a tree falling in a forest. If you don’t know it’s there, then how do you know it’s crashing fast or standing proud? As professional content writers will tell you, it’s nothing these days to find your online content stolen, blog comments crashed by hackers, or photos snatched with Grinch like precision. Yet, it’s so 2005 to go out and Google yourself, Paris Hilton style. Instead of looking like a schmutz, track your online reputation incognito using these nifty devices.
Save yourself the hassle of searching through page after page, after page, of Google search results in hopes to find your business name or information. SocialMention is a free social media search engine that analyzes user generated content across the Internet in search of your input. Enter your name, business name, email address or product description in the search engine to see if anyone has made mention of the terms most recently. Your search will cover hundreds of social media properties including:
- YouTube
You might find that your product descriptions were copied verbatim and used to sell competitors’ products. Perhaps you were unaware that a video featuring your drunken gobbling post-Thanksgiving dinner has gone viral on YouTube. You may discover that your perky social profile isn’t so great after all, leaving your potential customers to be as rare as short shopping lines on Black Friday. By the way, did I mention that SocialMention is free?
Go for gold with alerts straight from the God of Google itself. You can sign up for free daily emails letting you know if there has been any activity online regarding your business. Arrange for alerts from newspaper articles, web sites or blogs based on your preferred query. A quick search of your query term, such as your name, address or website, and you’ll instantly see a list of finds, if any, for your query. It will also let you know if you are not popular, i.e. you have no recent search results. The delightful part of Google Alerts is that you can request results as they happen, once a week or daily from:
- News
- Blogs
- Books
- Videos
- Discussions
A lollipop for you regarding Google Alerts is that you can also use this to keep up with your competitors, the industry, or news related to your products. Also, be specific with your query unless you want a gaggle of emails concerning relevant but not useful updates.
If you are more focused on creating a social media strategy that allows you to measure your output in relation to your input, Trackur is where it’s at. A bit more advanced in comparison to SocialMention and Google Alerts, this service lets you dig deep into social media monitoring. Customize multiple searches for social profiles and keywords, and organize your system using nifty pie charts and Excel exportable data. Have everything regarding your social media presence in a professional dashboard that is well suited for investors, business executives and high end clients. Impress the heck out of them, while you determine whether or not your daily blog posts and hourly tweets are worth the extra effort. Additionally, just as with SocialMention and Google Alerts, you can scan blogs, videos, news and photos to see if you or something you are interested in is in the “know” online. Of course, with all the bells and whistles, you’ll have to pay a little bit for Trackur with plans starting out at $27 per month.
Miranda B is a freelance writer available on WriterAccess, a marketplace where clients and expert writers connect for assignments.
