SEO for Interior designers is essential because people will use the Internet to find you, and showing up in the search results lends credibility to your business.
The more credibility and exposure you can gain, the more clients you get to work with and money you can make.
Below you’ll find information on how to optimize your Google My Business profile, your website, and more.
SEO Tips for Interior Designers
Google My Business
Google has business listings where anyone can get information about a business. You have probably seen them for other companies but never given it a second thought.
These Google My Business (GMB) listings are what show up in the maps area for searches like “interior designer near me” or “interior designer my city.” If you do not have a listing, then there is little chance you will show up for anyone who is geographically close to your business.
Here is an example of what the search would look like near Atlanta, GA:
As you can see, the GMB listings are at the very top of the search results. This is high-value advertising space for your interior design business.
Claim an Existing GMB Profile
If you have been in business for a while, then Google may have already created a GMB listing for you. All you need to do is claim it as your own to manage it.
Claiming your GMB listing is relatively easy. Search your business name with the city and state “your business name city, state.” The listing will appear in the right-hand sidebar.
Inside the listing, there will be two links next to each other with the text “Suggest an edit” and “Own this business?“
Click on “Own this business?” and follow Google’s instructions.
Create a New GMB Listing
If your business does not show up with a GMB profile, then you can go to Google My Business click the “Manage Now” button and go through the process of registering your business.
Once you claim or create your GMB listing, Google will send you a postcard to verify you are the owner, with instructions on how to verify.
Google wants to have the most accurate information on the Internet, so they have made this process as simple as possible.
Reviews
One of your Google My Business listing key features is the opportunity it gives your clients to leave reviews.
Reviews are one factor for showing up in the search results, but they are even more important for how potential clients see you.
According to a consumer search study,
94% of consumers would use a business with a four or five-star rating.
Bright Local
That number drops to 57% if the company has a three-star rating and even less if the rating is one or two stars.
The good news within the study is if someone is unreasonable and gives you a one-star, you can quickly recover your average star rating up to four stars by consistently getting positive reviews.
One tip we offer all business owners is the importance of responding to all customer reviews on GMB.
A simple ‘thank you’ is an easy and appropriate response to positive reviews. A kind and professional response to negative reviews is also appropriate and important for reputation.
Website
Google considers the information on your website and how users interact with your website when determining where you will show up in the search results.
These factors mean not only should your website be informative, the information should also be easy to find. Informationally your website should:
- Show a deep knowledge of interior design
- Provide answers to common questions
- Display your contact information
For user experience, your website should be:
- Quick to load
- Nicely displayed on mobile devices and smaller screens
- Easy to navigate
Providing your potential clients with the information they are seeking and making the information easy to acquire will help your SEO and the rate at which people request more information about your services.
Citations
Citations are anywhere on the Internet where your business information can be listed. The most common are your social media profiles and business directories.
You want your citations to be listed exactly as your business information appears on your Google My Business page. When it comes to SEO, it is always best to make it easy for Google to process the information it finds across the Internet.
Photos
You are an interior designer, and it is natural for you to have photos of your work to help people see your talent.
How and where you present those photos can help your SEO efforts. Along with having a portfolio of previous projects on your website, you should also display your work on your GMB profile in the photos section.
Each photo should have a descriptive file name. For example, if you have a picture of a kitchen remodel in Spokane, WA, the file name should read “kitchen-remodel-Spokane-wa.jpg.”
It would be best if you also modified the alt text of the photo in the HTML to describe what is in the image on your website. For most content management systems, this is done by filling in a text box, but if your website is hardcoded, you will have to do this manually.
Alt-text is used when an image cannot be loaded and for accessibility tools which read the image description to those who are blind or visually impaired.
Keywords
Keywords are common words people use when searching online. They can be broad like “interior designer” or specific like “interior designer who specializes in kitchen remodels.”
In the SEO industry, these long worded searches are called “long-tail keywords.” While broad searches have the largest number of searches each month, they will also be the most competitive.
According to a study on keywords:
Long-tail keywords make up 70% of internet searches.
Search Engine Journal
This means focusing on only popular search terms will be slower for your business to rank and ignores about 70% of the search traffic.
Identifying the long-tail keywords and creating content for your site which targets your ideal client can bring faster results to your SEO efforts and more money into your business.
Why Use Tavallo for Your SEO?
If you want to see our results, be sure to check out our case study.
For many interior designers seeing a list of SEO suggestions can feel overwhelming. You are great at helping people with their interior design projects, but learning how to edit code and fill in the correct information to Google isn’t high on your “fun things to do on a Saturday” list.
At Tavallo, we are passionate about helping businesses gain more clients through their online presence. Having worked with interior designers and driven great results, we know how to take your SEO and digital marketing to the next level so you can focus on your business.
When you set up an appointment with our team, we will spend the time understanding your goals, examining your current digital presence, and customizing a plan to your needs.
Let’s grow your business, together.