Do You Know What People Are Saying About Your Business Online Right Now?

Your online reputation moves fast. A negative review, a mention on a local Facebook group, a complaint on Yelp, if you're not monitoring it, you're always reacting late.

Google Alerts fixes that. It's free, takes 5 minutes to set up, and runs automatically in the background.

Here's how to set it up:

Go to google.com/alerts. Sign in with your Google account.

Create these four alerts:

Alert 1: Your business nameType your exact business name in quotes. Example: "Rico Plumbing Services." This catches every mention of your business across the web, reviews, articles, directories, social media posts that Google indexes.

Alert 2: Your business name without quotesSame name but without quotes. This catches variations and misspellings.

Alert 3: Your name + cityExample: "plumber Austin" or "HVAC repair Denver." This monitors what's being said about your trade in your market, new competitors, local news, community mentions.

Alert 4: Your owner nameIf you're the face of the business, set an alert for your own name. Referrals and mentions happen more than you think.

Settings to use:Frequency: As it happens. You want to know immediately, not in a weekly digest.Sources: All.Region: Set to your country.Deliver to: Your email.

What to do when an alert fires:

If it's a positive mention, engage with it. Thank the person, share it, use it as social proof.

If it's a negative mention, respond quickly and professionally. The faster you respond to a complaint the better chance you have of resolving it before it spreads.

If it's a competitor mention, read it. Understanding what customers are saying about them gives you insight into gaps you can fill.

This takes 5 minutes to set up and runs forever. Most contractors don't know it exists.

Do you currently have any system for monitoring your online reputation?

Drop it below.

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Do You Know What People Are Saying About Your Business Online Right Now?