rss-feedmonitor/docs/ALERT_STRATEGY.md

Google Alert Strategy for Repair Leads

The Problem

Canadian regional subreddits have very low posting volume for repair-related topics. Alerts with narrow site filters like site:reddit.com/r/kitchener + specific repair keywords return zero results because:

1. Small subreddits (r/kitchener, r/waterloo) have <10 repair posts per month
2. Google Alerts only fires on newly indexed content
3. Over-specific queries (23 site filters + 40 keywords) get truncated by Google

Recommended Approach

Option 1: Location-Based (Broader Coverage) ⭐ RECOMMENDED

Use city names as keywords instead of site: filters. This catches repair requests across ALL platforms (Reddit, Facebook, Kijiji, forums, classifieds).

Example:

("macbook repair" OR "macbook won't turn on" OR "logic board repair")
("Toronto" OR "Mississauga" OR "Kitchener" OR "Waterloo")
-job -jobs -hiring

Pros:

• Catches repair requests on ANY website (not just Reddit)
• Much higher chance of results
• Simpler queries = more reliable alerts

Cons:

• May include irrelevant mentions of city names
• Requires more filtering

File: docs/google-alerts-broad.md

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Option 2: Intent-Based (High Quality)

Focus on explicit repair requests using intent keywords like "repair shop recommendation", "where to repair", "anyone repair".

Example:

("repair shop recommendation" OR "where to repair" OR "anyone repair")
("macbook" OR "iphone" OR "console")
site:reddit.com

Pros:

• High-quality leads (people actively seeking repair services)
• Works across all subreddits
• Clear buying intent

Cons:

• Lower volume (people don't always use these exact phrases)
• Misses passive mentions ("my macbook died")

File: docs/google-alerts-broad.md (bottom half)

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Option 3: Regional Reddit (Original Approach)

Split Canadian subreddits into 5 regions with specific repair keywords.

Example:

(site:reddit.com/r/ontario OR site:reddit.com/r/toronto OR site:reddit.com/r/mississauga)
("macbook repair" OR "macbook won't turn on" OR "logic board repair")
-entertainment -movie -music

Pros:

• Very targeted to specific subreddits
• Clean results (only Reddit posts)
• No city name false positives

Cons:

• Very low volume on small subreddits
• May go weeks without a match
• Only catches Reddit (misses Kijiji, Facebook, etc.)

File: docs/google-alerts.md

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Testing Your Alerts

Before creating an alert, test it in Google Search first:

1. Copy the query from the code block
2. Paste into google.com (NOT Google Alerts)
3. Check the results:
   • 10+ recent results = Alert will work well ✅
   • 1-5 results = Alert might work, but low volume ⚠️
   • 0 results = Alert will never fire ❌

Example Test Queries

Test these in Google Search right now:

Broad (should return 100+ results):

"macbook repair" ("Toronto" OR "Mississauga")

Regional Reddit (may return 0-5 results):

site:reddit.com/r/kitchener "macbook repair"

Intent-based (should return 20+ results):

site:reddit.com "where to repair" ("macbook" OR "iphone")

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Recommendation

Start with Option 1 (Location-Based) from google-alerts-broad.md:

1. Set up the 4 core services (Data Recovery, MacBook, Console, iPhone)
2. Monitor for 1 week
3. If too much noise, switch to Option 2 (Intent-Based)
4. Only use Option 3 (Regional Reddit) if you specifically want Reddit-only leads

The broad queries will get you actual results. The regional Reddit ones are technically correct but may never fire due to low post volume.

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Why the Original Queries Didn't Work

The validation report identified these issues:

1. Too many site filters (23 vs limit of ~8-12)
2. Too many OR terms (40+ vs limit of ~28-32)
3. Too long (1,100+ chars vs limit of ~512)
4. ALERT_NAME: marker was being searched as literal text
5. Over-specific keywords + low-volume subreddits = zero matches

Even after fixing the technical limits, the fundamental issue remains: small Canadian subreddits don't have enough repair posts to trigger daily alerts.