SEO is a great marketing channel for interior designers.
If you manage to rank on Google’s #1 page for “interior designer” in your area, you’ll be driving dozens (if not hundreds) of qualified prospects to your website.
That said, SEO for interior designers can seem very complicated.
Backlinks, technical SEO, on-page SEO – if you’ve read just about any online guide to SEO, you probably stumbled on all these terms and ended up more confused than before.
Well, you’re in luck – we created this dedicated SEO guide solely for interior designers!
In this article, we’re going to teach you all you need to know about SEO to rank #1 in your area – zero technical knowledge required.
Here’s what we’re going to cover:
- What is SEO for Interior Designers
- How to Rank #1 for “Interior Designer” Keyword with SEO
- Interior Design SEO FAQ
Let’s dive right in!
What is SEO for Interior Designers
SEO for interior designers is the practice of optimizing your website so that you show up on page #1 of search engines when people look for keywords like:
- Interior designer
- Interior design agency
- Interior designer near me
The benefit of ranking for such keywords should be pretty clear – potential customers will have a much easier time finding your business.
For example, let’s say you’re an interior designer based in Boston.
As you can see above, hundreds of people Google keywords related to hiring an interior designer in Boston.
By doing interior design SEO, you’d be able to drive these people to your website without having to pay for ads.
For comparison, if you wanted to pay to advertise for these keywords using Google Ads…
You’d be paying anything between 2.56 USD to 11.15 USD per click.
Such costs, as you’d guess, can seriously add up.
How to Rank #1 for “Interior Designer” Keyword with SEO
Now that we’ve got the basics out of the way, let’s talk about what’s really important: what are the steps you need to take to get your interior design website to rank well on Google?
#1. Pick the Right Interior Design SEO Keywords
First things first – you’ll want to decide on which keywords you want to rank for.
In the case of interior design SEO, this is relatively straightforward. You want to rank your main keyword (“interior designer”) in your geographic location.
In other niches (like SaaS or CBD), you’d have to do extensive keyword research to find dozens or hundreds of keywords you want to rank for with different pages.
In the case of interior design SEO, though, all you need to do is rank for the main keyword in your local area to drive new leads to your business.
The one case where you DO need to target several keywords is if you operate in several different locations. In such a case, you’d want a separate web page for each of these locations.
E.g. if you operate in NYC, Boston, and Salt Lake City, you’d want to have the following pages:
- Homepage targeting your main location and the keyword “NYC interior design”
- Two separate pages, each targeting the respective location.
Here’s an example of a location-based landing page we created for our interior design SEO client:
The page currently ranks #1 for “park city interior design” thanks to the on-page SEO techniques we used during its creation.
Speaking of on-page SEO, here’s what you need to know about it.
#2. Optimize Your Web Pages for SEO
Once you’ve decided on the keywords you’ll be targeting, you’ll need to optimize each respective page to target this keyword.
Here’s what you need to do:
- Mention the target keyword in the URL slug (unless it’s your homepage). E.g. /interior-designer-nyc/
- Include the keyword in your main page header (H1 header)
- Include the keyword in one of the H2 headers
- Maintain a keyword density of 0.5% to 2%
- Include internal and external links on each of your web pages
- Include alt text to all the images on your website.
#3. Create a Google My Business Profile
There are two ways you can rank well on Google as a local interior design business.
You can rank on conventional search results:
Or you can rank on the Google Maps Snippet:
Best case? Ranking for both. The bulk of this article covers the first topic, so in this section, we’ll talk about the 2nd – what you need to do to rank on the Google Maps snippet.
First things first, you’ll need to create a Google My Business (GMB) profile. You can do so here.
Once that’s done, make sure to follow these optimization tips when filling out your profile:
- Include all the essential information. Working hours, location, business name, etc.
- Keep track of your working hours and make sure they’re accurate. If your working hours change (e.g. you work different hours during summer), or you don’t work on a certain holiday, you should make sure to indicate that on your GMB profile.
- Create a “from the business” description. This description is basically a small blurb that tells readers what your business is about. Pro tip – make sure to include keywords that describe your business here, e.g “interior design firm Pittsburgh.”
- List your services on your GMB profile. Include some basic services in your GMB profile, as this can help you drive calls. As an interior designer, you’d likely want to include is a free (or paid) consultation as a service.
- Include portfolio photos. As an interior designer, your portfolio pics will make or break your business. So, make sure to include pictures of your best work in your GMB profile.
- Make sure to answer questions on the FAQ. Sometimes, your customers will ask questions related to your business. Answer them whenever possible to provide the best possible customer experience.
- Post news or updates. Like on any other social media, you can post updates related to your business on your GMB profile.
Last, but definitely not least, encourage your customers to leave reviews on your GMB page, as reviews are the most important ranking factor for Google Maps.
#4. Build Citations for Your Website
A citation is any mention of your business online that includes your business name, address, and phone number.
Think, Google My Business, Yelp, Facebook, and so on.
The more citations your business has, the more likely it is that Google will think your website/business is legitimate, and the more likely it is you’ll rank better on Google.
So, look up citation-building websites online and make sure to submit your website to as many as you can find.
Some of the most popular citation-building websites are:
- Yahoo
- Yelp
- Bing Places
- YellowPages
#5. Build Backlinks from Interior Design Blogs
A backlink is a link from another website to yours.
Google views backlinks as a voucher of trust. The more websites link to your site, the more likely it is that your website is “legitimate.”
Whether or not you build backlinks can determine whether your website manages to rank on Google in 5 months or a year plus.
Now, in the case of interior design SEO, it’s also very important that you build backlinks from websites that blog about interior design.
Google can understand the context behind a link.
If, for example, you get a backlink to your interior design website from a blog about raising kids, Google will think that there’s something off about this link, and it won’t give you as many improvements in rankings.
As for the “how” of building links for an interior design agency, here are some things you can do:
- Niche Edits. Reach out to bloggers in the interior design niche and offer them something in exchange for including your link in one of their posts.
- Guest Posting. Reach out to interior design bloggers and offer a guest post for their blog.
- Link Exchanges. Exchange links with other interior design experts (who aren’t your competitors).
Not all backlinks have the same impact. To determine if a backlink is worth acquiring, read our article about assessing backlink quality. Don’t have the resources to do link-building yourself? You can always outsource it.
#6. Optimize Your Website for Performance
Your website’s performance can heavily impact your rankings on Google.
If your site is mobile-friendly and fast, you’re a lot more likely to rank.
If your site doesn’t work on mobile at all, or it takes 5+ seconds to load, then you’re seriously harming your interior design SEO efforts.
We don’t have any particular tips on this one – all you need to do is hire a web developer that really knows what they’re doing.
Want to see how your website holds up in terms of mobile optimization or load speed? Use Google’s own tool here.
Interior Design SEO FAQ
#1. Which interior design SEO keywords should I target?
You should target interior design keywords like “interior designer,” “interior design [your location],” and “interior design agency.”
#2. What’s the SEO strategy for interior designers?
The SEO strategy for interior designers is to optimize your homepage for your target keyword, create location pages for each area you operate in, and build backlinks as well as citations.
#3. How can I promote my interior design agency?
One of the most effective ways to promote your interior design agency is to focus on SEO. Optimize your homepage for the keyword “interior designer,” build backlinks, and you’ll be driving new customers to your website in no time.
#4. Do interior designers need a website?
Interior designers definitely need a website. In 2023, when picking out a service provider, most people look up experts in their area. If you don’t have a website, you’re missing out on a lot of prospective customers.
