Keywords are the most important aspect of Reputation Alerts. Without them, you wouldn’t get very far!
A keyword is something that you want Reputation Alerts to find, whether it’s your organisation name or an event you might be holding.
Due to the vast nature of the internet, it’s important to get your keywords correct! Your keyword can be anything, it’s very much down to you, but to ensure quality results, follow our tips on how to set up a good Alert.
How Phrases are Matched
It may sound obvious, but whatever you put into the search box, will be matched directly. Knowing the potential reach of your keyword or phrase will determine what results you get.
Understanding how matching works will help you create better Alerts.
Phrases are Matched Exactly
Each phrase that you enter will be matched in the order you enter it. For example entering "St Mary's School" will not match content that contains "St Mary's Primary School"
Letter Case is Ignored
It doesn't matter if you enter "St Mary's" or "sT mArY's", all matches are case-insensitive
Punctuation is Ignored
Any punctuation in your phrases is ignored. For example, your phrase "St-Mary's" will still match "St Marys" and vice-versa
Constructing Your Alert
You can enter up to an additional 5 words or phrases to construct your primary Alert.
This enables you to build very specific and refined searches that either cast a wider net for searches or narrow them down.
You can join your keywords with the following:
AND
If you want to match another phrase, join it with AND. Captured content must match both these terms.
OR
To match alternative phrases, join them with OR. All OR phrases that are next to each other, content must match at least one to be captured
NOT
Use NOT to only match content that doesn't contain this phrase. If the search picks up this term, results will not be sent to you.
Matching Examples
Here are some examples to help you decide how to structure your alert:
AND / OR / NOT Example
To show an example of combining phrases, here's an example of trying to seach for fruit and vegetables with reputation alerts. Adding in the AND/ OR / NOT filters can bring in more results whilst blocking content that isn't relevant:
- Apple
- OR Banana
- AND Fruit
- OR Vegetable
- NOT iPhone
Using these filters will only capture content where it contains "Apple" or "Banana", and "Fruit" or "Vegatable", but not "iPhone".
Technically this will be interpretted as:
("Apple" OR "Banana") AND ("Fruit" OR "Vegetable") NOT "iPhone"
Common Name Example
Where for example your organisation has a common name, and may get confused with something else, your don't want to capture matches that aren't relevant to you.
A simple solution here is to add in another phrase that is unique to you, for example your location, e.g:
"St Mary's" AND "Exeter"
This will make sure that when matching "St Mary's" the source content also contains "Exeter"
Tips for Creating Good Alerts
Here are some tips for creating well performing, optimised Alerts:
Avoid Phrases that are too Narrow
Overly specific phrases will reduce the number of captures you get. For example "St Mary's Church of England Primary School Exeter" would be too narrow, "St Mary's" AND "Primary" AND "Exeter" is better.
Avoid Phrases that are too Broad
If your alert contains phrases that are collectively too broad, your Alert will be flooded with irrelevant matches. For example "President" would bring back a lot of matches, whereas "President Butter" would be more targeted.
Add In Alternatives
Including OR terms that are used as alternatives to your keyword can gather more results. For example, adding in abbreviations for your organisation, an authoring username or maybe a twitter handle?
Avoid Duplicating Phrases
An Alert such as "St Mary's Primary" OR "St Mary's Primary School" is unnecessarily duplicated. The first phrase will capture everything the second would. Try to use the shortest phrase that will capture the results you want.
Avoid Similar Alerts
If you create multiple Alerts with similar phrases, you are likely to match the same content multiple times. Create a single Alert with your alternative phrases joined with OR, or use the shortest phrase that will capture relevant content
Personal Support
A big part of Reputation Alerts is experimenting with keywords to find out what works best. You may find that adding slight changes to your keywords can gather better results, it's very much down to trying new things out.
But if you need support in setting up your Alerts we will be more that happy to help, just use our contact form:
