If you’re an interior designer looking to grow your business and find more clients (or should I say, have more clients find you!) then you’ve come to the right place. When you rank well on Google, there is so much opportunity for potential clients to be able to easily find you—without you needing to spend tons of time creating content every day like you do on social media. So if you want to save time on social media and have clients coming to you, keep reading my top tips for utilizing SEO for interior designers!
What is SEO?
First things first – what actually is SEO? For any new interior designers to my site (hi there!), I wanted to provide a quick overview before getting into the tips.
SEO stands for search engine optimization, and in very basic terms it is the process of making your website easier for search engines (like Google) to find and understand your website. In turn, this means your website will rank higher when people on the internet search for particular keywords, and you’ll get more traffic to your site (hint – more traffic means more eyes on your site and therefore, more potential clients!).
So if you’re an interior designer in NYC, for example, you’ll want your website to be ranking for the search term “interior designer in NYC,” as well as other related terms. Improving your SEO is how you make that magic happen!
So keep reading for my top five tips for using SEO as an interior designer to really optimize your website and get those inquiries rolling in.
#1 Find the right keywords
Keywords are a great place to get started with SEO as they play a key role in deciding how relevant a website is to a user’s search query. They are specific words or phrases that search engine algorithms are looking for based on your potential customer’s search term, and you can purposefully target to improve your website’s visibility in search engine results pages (SERPs).
So, for example, my goal with this blog post is to provide tips and strategies for SEO for interior designers, and so one of my keyword phrases is “SEO for interior designers.” This means that if someone searches for that phrase, Google will know that this page will include information they are looking for.
Keyword research might sound daunting but it can actually be super simple and there are free options for finding what people are searching for. The first step is figuring out what your potential customer would be typing into Google to find you. If you specialize in luxury design, for example, or eco-friendly interiors, then these are the sort keywords you may want to use on your website. This way, when people look for these terms, you’ll be more likely to show up in the search engine results.
Where to find keywords
There are a few different keyword tools (both free and paid) you can use to find the right ones for you. Have a look at what people are searching in terms of interior design, and try to target keywords that aren’t too competitive! Some popular tools include:
- Google Keyword Planner
- Keysearch
- Ahrefs
- Keyword Tool.io
- Ubersuggest
- Moz
- SEMrush
Most are easy to use, but it’s worth playing around with a couple of the tools and seeing which one works best for you.
And if this sounds like too much work, I offer keyword research plans for website copy and blog posts so you won’t have to worry about figuring out what to write about to rank and reach your dream clients!
Where to use keywords
Once you’ve found the keywords you want to rank for, you can start using them on your site! These keywords can be used in blog posts, website copy, title tags, and meta descriptions. A good rule of thumb for how often to use your keywords is 1-5% of your total website copy. So don’t go crazy with using keywords every other sentence, but you do want to make sure you’re using them a few times to reinforce to Google what the page or post is about and should be ranking for.
#2 Optimize your images
When people are looking for the right interior designer, chances are they’ll want to see photos of your designs. This really is a great opportunity to showcase your work, especially if you can show some before and after images as well as “behind the scenes” content. Photos will help your potential clients envision what you could do in their space, and whether you’re the right person for the job.
Before you upload a photograph to your website, rename it with a keyword you’re hoping to target – like “minimalist bathroom design in Seattle” for example. Make sure the file size of your image isn’t too big, so website visitors don’t have to wait for lots of large images to load.
And for accessibility and to help your images rank well, make sure you’re optimizing the image alt text! Just like screen-readers read the alt text for visually impaired visitors, search engines read it the same way to understand what’s in the picture so it can rank on Google Images. You can include your keyword within your alt text, as long as it still makes sense when providing a description of the image.
#3 Write plenty of helpful content
Your website may not convert clients within a few seconds of landing on your site, so be sure to use your site as a place to help position you as an expert in your industry and build connections. Blog posts give you a chance to talk about your passion, your ideas, your projects, the things you’re good at, and let your potential customers get to know you and feel a personal connection with you.
Blogs are also a great opportunity to try and rank for more a variety of interior design keywords rather than ones specific to just your services to give you the opportunity to rank for more keywords. And it goes without saying that this content should be well-written and properly researched, with keywords used with purpose instead of simply stuffed everywhere within your post. Not all content is good content, after all. To rank high for your keywords, your content needs to be valuable for website visitors to want to stay on your page and click through to other areas of your site.
#4 Don’t neglect your user experience
User experience might my top SEO tip for interior designers because it’s often overlooked. I focus a lot on user experience (UX) with my SEO services because it is so key for conversion, and Google is prioritizing it more and more as a ranking metric.
Your site should be easy to navigate and fast. You don’t want people getting confused by your menu or unable to read the text because the color is too similar to the background. If people can’t easily read your website copy or can’t quickly find the information they need to make a decision, they’re less likely to convert to become clients.
If people have a bad experience on your site they are likely to click off quickly and look elsewhere, which can affect your rankings in Google. One of the factors that goes into SEO ranking is called “bounce rate” which refers to the amount of visitors who leave your page without taking any further action, engaging with the content or visiting other parts of your website.
Another way to prioritize user experience is to make sure your site mobile friendly. More people are using their phones to visit websites because it’s more convenient. So make sure your site is set up for mobile users to access and experience everything properly is vitally important when it comes to improving your SEO ranking.
#5 Use internal links and CTAs
Calls-to-action (CTAs) and internal links go hand-in-hand with user experience because you’re making it easy for people to navigate around your site. Use a few eye-catching, colorful buttons on your website pages to lead people to check out your services page or contact page to set up a consultation call.
So when you write blog posts, be sure to link it to other pages across your site. For example, if you’re writing a blog post about wallpaper then you can include a link to the page where you talk about your own wallpapering services. Not only is this a clear CTA for your readers to help increase conversions, but it shows Google and other search engines that your content is connected. It provides a structure to your website which is really important in terms of SEO for interior designers, as well as giving your potential customers more reasons to explore your site!
#6 Be active on Google Business Profile
Google Business Profile (formerly Google My Business) can be such a beneficial SEO tool for local businesses like interior designers. It can help you get seen by more clients in your area who are searching on Google Maps, show off your glowing client reviews, give potential clients a screenshot of who you are and what you offer, show your recent work, allows people to quickly ask questions, and so much more.
And all the information that you put on your page for potential clients will also be seen by Google, which can help them understand more about what your business should rank for!
SEO for interior designers might sound confusing, but it doesn’t have to be! Once you know what you’re doing with optimization, your website will start to rank on Google and you’ll begin to see more people landing on your site. If it sounds like a lot of work and you’d rather focus on other parts of your business, head to my SEO services page to see how we can work together!
