Reputation Alerts is a powerful tool to monitor the Internet for your keywords, understanding the parameters of how the tool works will help you tweak your configuration so it is performing optimally.
That's why we've put together a list of the most frequently asked questions for Reputation Alerts, to help you understand and get the most out of the tool. Here you'll find the answers and some further guidance if you're not sure about something in particluar.
Understanding Reputation Alerts
How much of the Internet does Reputation Alerts cover?
The Internet is vast and ever changing, as such it is not possible for any service to cover the entire Internet. Reputation Alerts covers a wide range of sources which are too many to list (upwards of 10 million websites), with a focus mainly on:
- News Sites
- Blogs
- Forums and Message Boards
- Review Sites
Note: Reputation Alerts can only find content that is publically available, so will not be able to capture mentions on websites who's content is only accessible through a login. This means that most social media sites such as Facebook and Instagram are not covered.
What does the 'Sentiment' value mean?
The sentiment metric is an indicator of how positive or negative the captured content is.
We analyse the source content to extract positive or negative contexts, word and phrases, and record the sentiment value as a number between -1 and 1, we then display the values as:
- Negative - Between -1 and -0.33
- Neutral - Between -0.33 and 0.33
- Positive - Between 0.33 and 1
The accuracy of this metric can vary depending on the source context, and is meant to be used as an indicator.
A negative sentiment isn't alway a bad thing, for example, a blog post could be talking negatively about a certain issue and how it unfairly impacts your organisation.
What does the 'Influence' value mean?
The influence metric indicates how influential the publisher of the source content is.
Because we capture the source content as soon as possible after it is published, we don't rank the content itself on how influential it may become in terms of for example social reach, instead the influence of based on the popularity of the source website. For Twitter posts, it is based on a number of metrics such as the number of followers the publisher has.
Can I refine my captures by date or source?
Yes, you can refine your Alerts list by date, and the results for a specific alert by:
- Date range
- Sentiment
- Influence
- Post type
- Location
How can I save important captures?
When looking at the results list of an alert, select the post(s) you wish to "star" by checking the checkboxes next to the desired posts. Then press the star ⭐ button on the toolbar. You can unstar posts using the same method.
Can I choose when I receive my notifications?
Yes, by adjusting the start date/time, you can control when you receive your notification:
For example, if you have selected a daily alert, your notification will be sent to you at the time you entered your email to start, every day.
If you select a monthly alert, your notification will be sent on the same day of the month as the start date specifies, at the same time.
Can I receive multiple notifications?
Yes, you can setup more that one notification, select different alerts, frequencies, and start times.
Can I receive more captures in my notification?
Yes you can configure your notification to send you up to a maximum of 100 captures per email. The default is 25.
Can I be notified immediately when results are captured?
Yes, add a notification of type "Flash Alert"
Improving Results
I am getting too many irrelevant results
Change your keyword parameters to perform a narrower search. Read our article for tips on how to create a good keyword.
I am not getting any results, or the tool is missing results
If you are not getting any results and you think you should be, your keywords may be tto narrow. Try to use phrases that will appear in sources exactly as you type them.
Can I specify more than one word/phrase, and capture all the results together?
Yes, enter each phrase (up to 5) on the add keyword page, and the results will be collected together. This is useful when you have a number of phrases that mean the same thing.
Can I exclude specific websites or influencers?
Yes, if you keep capturing results from an irrelevant source, you can block it by ticking the checkbox next to the post, and selecting "Block Sources" on the toolbar
Troubleshooting
The tool did not capture a post we were mentioned in; can anything be done?
If you think that your keyword should have matched the post in question, please send us the link and we will add it to the source list.
Some results appear to come from random locations, is this correct?
We use a number of indicators to determine the location of a source, sometimes this is not that accurate. For example, the location of a Tweet is determined by the location entered in the user profile, but they can enter anything they like
My Alert was disabled for being "too broad"
Pulling in a large number of results normally means that your Alert is not setup correctly. To prevent us capturing lots of irrelevant results and using too many resources that may impact the performance of the system for other users, we disable Alerts that pull in too many results over a set period.
The limit is applied in a number of different ways, this allows you to go over your set limit for a day or two, as long as your average remains below the limit. This enables the system to keep working if for example, there is a sudden spike of media published that matches your keywords.
My Alert was disabled for being "too complex"
If you have many alternative phrases, and lots of excluded sources, the search may be too complex to perform. If this happens we will disable your Alert
My Alert was disabled for being "too narrow"
We periodly check Alerts that are getting no captures to see if they are written in a way that will never get any results. If this happens we will disable your Alert and offer you support to setup your Alert correctly.