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Digitizing an Interior Design Business: A Guide
Once upon a time, we would turn to books, magazines, TV shows, and the homes of others for their interior design inspiration and advice. Of course, as with many industries, the internet has changed the game. If people are updating their home, office, or any commercial premises today, they turn to social media and search engines. This means that interior designers need to be digitizing their business to get their services in front of the right people at the right time.
Having a strong online presence will maximize visibility and awareness of your brand, increase traffic to your website, generate sales leads, and, ultimately, increase your revenue. However, building a digital presence is not a process that happens overnight, and you need to be ready to put in the time and effort, as well as be prepared for some trial and error.
Whether your business is new to interior design or you are trying to move your existing business into the digital world, this guide includes some essential tips which should help.
Build and maintain a website
This should go without saying, but it is no longer an option not to have a website. While it is true that there are plenty of ways for you to provide information and communicate with customers on the internet, your website should be your hub.
Your website is where you introduce yourself, your experience, your brand, and, crucially, the services and unique insight that you can offer. It is important to display your professional portfolio on your website as well as stunning imagery on every page. You are an expert in design, after all, and your website should reflect this. If possible, display testimonials from previous satisfied customers. Ensure that your website is easy to navigate and provides visitors with multiple contact options such as an email address, a telephone number, and an enquiry form.
Optimize your website for search engines
When you have a fantastic website, you want to maximize the number of people who will see it. There are several ways in which you can increase traffic to your website.
The simplest technique is that whenever you publish content on your social media profiles, include a link back to your website and encourage people to click it with a compelling call-to-action. However, a more effective strategy is to implement a search engine optimization (SEO) strategy. When someone types “interior designer” or associated phrases into a search engine such as Google or Bing, they will rarely look past the first page of results, so appearing at the top of search rankings is the aim for every interior design website.
Search engines decide which pages to present first based on a ranking algorithm, which is updated regularly. In order to increase the likelihood that your website will appear on page 1 for certain search terms, your website needs to meet the algorithm’s criteria. SEO can be complex when you start to dig into the minutiae, but generally your website should be full of high-quality and unique content that covers your target keywords and is easy to navigate, is user-friendly, and is secured against hackers. Click here for information on SEO for beginners.
Offer virtual appointments
We are now living in a world where virtual appointments are not just possible but expected. Make it clear on your website, social media accounts, and in your content that you offer virtual appointments and, ideally, will provide no-obligation quotes for your services. With video call technology clients can guide you around their home or commercial premises, enabling you to gather the information you need to provide a quote. This also enables both you and the client to save time and money as neither of you need to travel for the appointment.
To give clients a fully interactive experience and bring your business up to date, you might also want to invest in interior design programs. This software enables you to show customers what their newly decorated home will look like with 2D and 3D floor plans, 3D visualizations, home decorations, room templates, light editing, and even custom finishes.
Become a blogger
Your website should also be where you share your expertise via regular blog posts on interior design and related topics. By creating unique blog posts that target high-volume search terms, you are creating a page that could rank in search engines and increase your visibility. You can also describe key events from your education or career which have influenced where you are now as a professional, focus on particular services that you offer, and provide interior design tips. A blog is also a great way to show your personality, which can be very appealing to a lot of customers.
In addition to publishing blogs on your own site, consider guest blogging on other interior design websites to raise your profile as an industry expert. If possible, try to secure a backlink from the publishing website to your own as this can be helpful for your SEO performance. Creating unique and useful content on your own website may also attract backlinks.
Get active on social media
Whatever your personal stance on social media, there is no denying that it can be an incredibly powerful marketing tool. Photo-sharing platforms such as Instagram and Pinterest are particularly well suited to interior designers, but Twitter and Facebook can also be effective. The content that you post on social media should be interesting, useful, engaging, entertaining, and unique—as well as eye-catching—as it needs to shout above the noise. Video content is becoming more powerful as a way to capture and hold the audience’s attention, and it is the perfect tool for interior designers.
Encourage online reviews
Reviews and testimonials from previous customers can be incredibly powerful when trying to attract new customers, and nowadays almost all reviews are posted online. Whether on social media, search engines, or via an online review site, people are talking about their positive and negative experiences with companies. Make sure that you encourage your satisfied customers to publish a positive review, and in the event that you do receive negative feedback, be sure to address it proactively and professionally.
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