Keeping your web site fresh with interesting content can be a challenge. After all, once you have added most of your general content to the site, what else do you write about? One of the best ways to add new content to your web site is by staying abreast on timely news related to your industry. Either by linking to, responding to, or reporting upon news is a great way for your site to remain fresh and relevant. The best way to stay up to date with the news and get a steady stream of ideas to write about is by setting up a Google News Alert. The alert will email you whenever a news story comes out that is relevant to your business.

Here is how to set up Google News Alert:

1. Go to http://news.Google.com/.

2. Perform a search on a topic that you’re interested in. It doesn’t matter if there aren’t any results yet.

3. Click on the News Alerts icon in the left column. You’ll get to select some options regarding where an how you’d like to receive your news alerts.

4. Click on the Create Alert button.

5. If you selected that the alert be delivered by email, you will be sent an email confirming your Google News alert.

Next week, we will look at other ways to gather information to inspire your content.