#31 WBGB ~ Week 10 ~ Set Up Monitoring Alerts
I am following Tonia's Roots as she brings several GeneaBloggers through 31 weeks of working towards a better blog, prompts written by Darren Rowse.
Tonia's blog states~
"Welcome back to another week of 31 Weeks to a Better Genealogy Blog! Our topic for week 10 is setting up alerts to monitor what is happening in our areas of genealogy. Alerts are useful for both blogging and for genealogy research, so they are a great addition to any geneablogger’s toolbox.
Reasons to Use Alerts
Alerts let you stay on top of what is being said in blogs and in the news about certain topics. There are quite a few reasons that geneabloggers would want to do this:
- Ideas for posts – keeping abreast of what others are writing about can give you lots of ideas for topics.
- Tracking research interests – do you have time to read every blog post written to see if it mentions your surnames or locales? Probably not. Alerts will scour the internet for mentions of your keyword interests and deliver the results to you.
- Managing your reputation and connecting with others – knowing when others are writing about you or your blog can be valuable information. You can build relationships with those who are saying positive things and also manage any negativity that may emerge."
- Get started monitoring! Make a list of search topics relevant to your blog and/or research. Test them out in Google to make sure you get the results you want. Remember, exact phrases can go in quotes to give you more targeted results.
- Set up some alerts. Let us know what service(s) you used and some of the keywords you chose in the comments.
If you are just joining us, then “welcome.” You can read the kick-off post about 31 Weeks to a Better Genealogy Blog here. Feel free to start with this week’s reading and action items – you are not behind!"
my Heritage Happens Action ~
- I have been using Google Alerts for a few years. I have several alerts set up which include areas where my ancestors were from or settled in. For instance, Sweden and Norway are a couple areas my family immigrated from so I use specific names along with the area in each country where they were from. An example is: "Dulin+Bergen" or "Dulin+Norway."
- I also have had an alert set using my blog name. "Heritage Happens." I realize now though, I need to go in and update that alert to include "my" for "my Heritage Happens."
-Family surnames with a "+ genealogy" is another alert term that I use.
-I have alerts set up for news, blog and cemeteries.
I use Twitter and Tweet Deck where I have columns of information I am interested in, by using Twitter Hashtags. Of course #genealogy and #family history are ones I follow. As conferences come around I try to follow the hashtag for that specific conference.
I am sure I could, and or should, add more alerts. This prompt has actually given me some food for thought, and I already realize I need to add at least one new alert in particular. So, I am off to do that now!
my Heritage Happens Action ~
- I have been using Google Alerts for a few years. I have several alerts set up which include areas where my ancestors were from or settled in. For instance, Sweden and Norway are a couple areas my family immigrated from so I use specific names along with the area in each country where they were from. An example is: "Dulin+Bergen" or "Dulin+Norway."
- I also have had an alert set using my blog name. "Heritage Happens." I realize now though, I need to go in and update that alert to include "my" for "my Heritage Happens."
-Family surnames with a "+ genealogy" is another alert term that I use.
-I have alerts set up for news, blog and cemeteries.
I use Twitter and Tweet Deck where I have columns of information I am interested in, by using Twitter Hashtags. Of course #genealogy and #family history are ones I follow. As conferences come around I try to follow the hashtag for that specific conference.
I am sure I could, and or should, add more alerts. This prompt has actually given me some food for thought, and I already realize I need to add at least one new alert in particular. So, I am off to do that now!
Thanks for stopping by!
Wishing you success in all of your genealogical treasure hunts!
Copyright © 2011 By Cheryl Palmer All Rights Reserved
Nice blog! I enjoyed reading your post. I'm following along on the 31 weeks too.
ReplyDeleteI wasn't as far along as you with alerts. I just set up Google Alert this past week. I added my surnames buy didn't add genealogy to them. That's a good idea and I'll go back and do that.
Thanks for the help!
Cindy @ Genealogy Circle
Hi Cindy! Glad you are following along also! I am glad to have been able to throw an idea to you. There will be many more I am sure by the time you read all the other posts! Thank you for commenting!
ReplyDeleteHi, I found your site as I searched for any results on the Great Swedish Adventure. I, too, was cut but got very wrapped up in the process as I moved further into the selection process. But, I checked your surnames search, and my ancestors are Johansen. I would be willing to share what I have if you're interested. It's not much, but we are still in contact with other relatives in Sweden.
ReplyDeleteHi Anonymous! I would be very interested in communicating with you! Please email me @ geneaminded@gmail.com or cap55@comcast.net ASAP please. Thank you!
ReplyDelete