We want to know how people and businesses in Cheltenham are using social media and what they’ve learnt from their experiences! With that in mind we’ve done some research for what we hope will turn into a series of related posts. Many thanks to Gerard for giving us the first insight into how and why local people are using social media.
The interview
Gerard, what’s your business about and what type of services do you offer?
At White Search we offer a range of online services based around Search: SEO, Google AdWords traffic generation, local search optimisation, web design etc. Beyond that we try to offer honest independent online marketing advice to local companies who are struggling to make sense of where to start in terms of their online identity. We try to guide them in the right direction even though that often means making use of other company services before our own. We’ll even talk to them about social media and how they can start using it for their business goals themselves.
What got you into social media and how do you use it now?
Back in the day of being nosey and trying to find people on Friends Reunited I think! I use it on a personal level to keep up to date with friends and what’s going on locally, plus on a professional level to keep in touch with latest developments in search.
Have you noticed any appreciable benefits from using social media? If so, what are they?
The breadth of opinion and knowledge you can read on any subject is staggering.
If you could offer a single piece of advice to other people about social media, what would it be?
Be careful what you share, remember its pretty much all in the public domain and difficult to control.
How should people follow you online?
Anything professional based goes via the White Search twitter account. Personally – via my twitter account, I’m still working on how exactly I divide these but it seems to work ok for now!