Set up keyword alerts

A keyword alert is a saved search that emails you when new tenders match it. You add the words that describe your work, and on Pro and Business the new matches arrive in your inbox each morning, so you hear about relevant tenders the next morning.

Set one up

1. Open Saved searches in the main menu, or go to /saved-searches.
2. Select Add saved search.
3. Enter a Name for the search, for example "Website design".
4. Under Keywords, type a word or short phrase and select Add (or press Enter). Repeat for each one. Remove one with the remove button on its chip.
5. Optionally describe what tenders you are looking for, and attach case studies if you have added any.
6. Select Save search. You will see a Saved search created message.

Your new search is then listed under All searches, and matches start to appear as new tenders are published.

Choose keywords that work

Describe what you do, not the procurement format. Good examples are web development, grounds maintenance, document scanning and occupational therapy. Add one keyword at a time rather than a long phrase, and include the trade names or services your buyers are likely to use. If the form flags a keyword with a tip, try the more specific wording it suggests.

On each search card, a keyword that has not matched a tender in the last 12 months is flagged, so you can replace it or choose Don't warn me about this again if you know it is simply a rare one. See keywords or sectors for how keywords sit alongside your sector choices.

When the alerts arrive

On Pro and Business, new matches are emailed once a day in the early morning, at around 8am UK time in winter and 9am during British Summer Time. You only get an email on days when there is something new. If you prefer, choose Weekly under Email preferences and they arrive together on Monday. Details are in weekly digest or daily emails.

Each email groups the tenders under the name of the search that found them, and shows which keyword brought each one in.

Good to know

• Free plan: you can keep one saved search. Its matches appear on your dashboard and in your weekly digest, but they are not emailed one by one. Following a buyer uses your one saved search on the Free plan. The Saved searches page shows a note on the Free plan that you are not receiving email alerts. See what each plan includes or the pricing page.
• Pro and Business: you can have as many saved searches as you need.
• Following a buyer also creates an alert, so you hear when that buyer publishes something new.
• You can edit or delete a search from its card at any time. Deleting stops its alerts.
• Switching emails off in your settings pauses all of them without deleting your searches. See change or stop your emails.
• For managing several searches, see manage your saved searches.