SEO for Interior Designers: What Actually Drives Enquiries

Most interior designers hear “you need SEO” from agencies selling monthly retainers. What those agencies rarely explain is why SEO matters differently for a design practice than it does for a plumber or an e-commerce brand.

This is the guide we wish existed when we started working with interior designers. No theory. No padding. Just the interior design SEO strategy that actually moves the needle on enquiries.

Do Interior Designers Actually Need SEO?

Yes. But not for the reasons most agencies tell you.

The standard pitch goes like this: “Thousands of people are searching for interior designers every month. You’re missing out on all that traffic.” That framing is wrong. Or at least, it’s wrong for most design practices.

Here is the truth. The majority of high-value interior design clients do not find their designer through a Google search. They get a recommendation from their architect, their developer, a friend who just finished a renovation. The introduction happens offline.

But then something else happens. They Google you.

SEO for interior designers is the validation layer. A referral searches your name. They land on your website. What they find in those first thirty seconds either confirms the recommendation or quietly undermines it.

This is the reframe that changes everything: your interior design website SEO is not about attracting 50,000 strangers. It is about being findable, credible, and clearly positioned when the right 50 people come looking.

That does not mean discovery is irrelevant. For practices looking to grow beyond referrals, or expand into new markets, search visibility opens a second pipeline. But even then, the goal is qualified enquiries, not raw traffic.

Volume is a vanity metric for interior designers. Pipeline is what matters.

The Pages That Actually Rank for Interior Designers

Not every page on your website carries the same weight in search. Some pages do real work. Others sit there looking pretty and contributing nothing to visibility.

The pages that consistently rank and drive enquiries:

Project-type pages. These target specific services combined with location. Think “luxury residential interior design London” or “boutique hotel interior design.” These are the pages that match how potential clients actually search. One page per project type, properly structured with descriptive content.

Portfolio pages with context. A grid of images is not a page Google can rank. A project narrative with searchable terms, descriptions of the brief, the design approach, materials used, and the outcome — that is a page with real surface area.

Location pages for specific markets. If you work across multiple regions — London, the Cotswolds, the South of France — each market deserves its own page. Not duplicated content with a location swapped in. Distinct pages reflecting the specific work you do in each area.

Blog content that demonstrates authority. Not filler. Not trend roundups copied from Pinterest. Original thinking about your discipline. This builds topical authority and gives Google a reason to see you as a credible source.

What does NOT rank: thin About pages with three lines of biography. Image-only portfolios with no text. Generic service descriptions that could belong to any practice in any city. If Google cannot read it, Google cannot rank it.

Interior Design SEO Keywords — What to Target

Most keyword research for interior designers starts in the wrong place. Someone opens a keyword tool, types “interior design,” sees a massive search volume number, and starts chasing it.

That keyword is almost impossible to rank for. And even if you could, the traffic would be useless. Students, Pinterest browsers, people looking for wallpaper ideas. Not clients.

The interior design SEO keywords that actually drive enquiries follow a simple framework:

[Service type] + [Location] + [Market tier]

Examples:

These are pipeline keywords. Lower search volume, higher intent. The person typing these phrases is closer to hiring someone.

Compare that to vanity keywords like “interior design ideas” or “modern living room design.” Those attract browsers, not buyers.

How to find your keywords:

Google Search Console. If you already have a website, this shows you what people are actually searching when they find you. Start here. The data is free and specific to your practice.

Google autocomplete. Start typing your service into Google and watch what it suggests. Those suggestions reflect real search behaviour. Try variations: “interior designer for...” or “luxury interior design in...”

Competitor analysis. Look at the top-ranking interior design websites in your market. What pages do they have? What terms appear in their headings and title tags? You are not copying — you are understanding what Google already rewards.

A clear keyword strategy does not require expensive tools. It requires thinking carefully about how your ideal client actually searches.

If you are mapping out a broader marketing approach alongside SEO, our guide to marketing for interior designers covers how search fits into the full picture.

Portfolio SEO — Making Visual Work Findable

This is the biggest missed opportunity on most interior design websites.

Interior designers are visual professionals. The portfolio is the centrepiece of the website. And on most design websites, it is essentially invisible to Google.

A gallery of beautiful images with no descriptive text is a dead end for search. Google’s crawlers read text. They cannot appreciate your material palette or your lighting design from a photograph alone.

Here is how to fix it:

Project descriptions. Every portfolio project should have a written narrative. Not a novel. Two to four paragraphs covering the brief, the location, the design approach, specific materials or techniques, and the result. This gives Google content to index and gives prospective clients context that photographs alone cannot provide.

Alt text on every image. Alt text is the description attached to an image file. It should be specific and descriptive: “contemporary open-plan kitchen with Calacatta marble island and brass pendant lighting” is useful. “Kitchen design” is not. “IMG_4023” is worthless.

Schema markup. Adding structured data to your portfolio pages helps Google understand what the content represents. Creative work schema, image object schema — these are technical additions your developer can implement that improve how your work appears in search results.

Case study format vs gallery format. A case study with narrative text, client context, design rationale, and images with proper alt text will outperform a gallery grid every time. The gallery looks cleaner. The case study ranks.

This is the tension in interior design website SEO: what looks best to a human and what performs best in search are often different. The answer is not to sacrifice design. It is to layer searchable content into your existing visual presentation.

Blogging for SEO — What Interior Designers Should Write About

Blogging works for interior designers. But most design practices either do not blog at all, or they publish the wrong kind of content.

What to write:

Your own expertise. Your process for approaching a residential project versus a hospitality project. Your perspective on material trends — not a list of trends, but what you actually think about them and how they affect your work. Insights from specific projects, anonymised where needed. Commentary on industry shifts.

This kind of content builds topical authority. It signals to Google that your website is a credible source on interior design topics. And it gives potential clients a reason to spend time on your site, which itself is a positive ranking signal.

What NOT to write:

Thin inspiration posts. “5 Ways to Style Your Bookshelf” content that anyone could write and hundreds of websites already have. If your blog reads like a Pinterest board, it is not contributing to your search visibility.

Generic trend roundups pulled from the same sources everyone else uses. Unless you are adding genuine perspective, these add noise, not value.

Frequency matters less than quality. One substantial, well-structured article per month will consistently outperform four thin posts. A 1,200-word piece with original thinking, proper headings, internal links, and relevant images does more for your interior design SEO strategy than weekly filler content.

If your practice is also investing in PR — and you should be — those press features create backlinks that amplify everything your blog is doing. Our guide on interior design PR covers how to get featured and why it matters for search.

Local and International SEO for Designers

Google Business Profile: claim it.

Even luxury practices need a Google Business Profile. This is not about appearing on Google Maps next to local tradespeople. It is about controlling what appears when someone searches your practice name.

Your Business Profile shows your address, reviews, photos, website link, and contact information. When a referred client Googles you, this is often the first thing they see. Make it count. Complete every field. Add project photos. Encourage satisfied clients to leave reviews.

Multi-location strategy.

If your practice operates across multiple markets — London and the Cotswolds, or the UK and a European market — your SEO approach needs to reflect that.

Dedicated location pages, each with unique content about the work you do in that area. A Google Business Profile for each physical office location. Consistent name, address, and phone number across all local directory listings.

Do not create thin location pages that simply swap city names in otherwise identical text. Google recognises this pattern and ignores it.

International SEO considerations.

For practices working across borders, the technical requirements increase. Hreflang tags to signal which content serves which market. Potentially separate site sections or subdomains for different countries. Currency and measurement conventions for different audiences.

International SEO is a longer investment. Get your primary market right first, then expand.

How Long Does SEO Take for an Interior Design Practice?

Honest answer: longer than most agencies suggest in their pitch, shorter than pessimists claim.

3 to 6 months: Early movement. You will see improvements in indexing, some keyword rankings shifting, and gradual increases in organic visibility. If your website has solid technical foundations, this phase moves faster.

6 to 12 months: Consistent results. Pages start ranking for target keywords. Organic enquiries begin arriving with some regularity. You can start to see a pattern between content published and visibility gained.

What accelerates results:

SEO is not a campaign. It is an ongoing investment in your practice’s digital visibility. The practices that commit to it consistently see compounding returns over time.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do interior designers need SEO?

Yes. Even if your practice runs primarily on referrals, those referrals will Google you before making contact. SEO ensures your website validates the recommendation. Beyond validation, search visibility opens a second pipeline for practices looking to grow beyond word-of-mouth.

What are the best SEO keywords for interior designers?

Keywords that follow the format: service type + location + market tier. “Luxury residential interior designer London” will generate better enquiries than “interior design.” Focus on pipeline keywords with clear intent, not vanity keywords with high volume and low relevance.

How long does SEO take to work for a small business?

For most interior design practices, expect early movement within 3 to 6 months and consistent enquiries within 6 to 12 months. This timeline depends on your website’s existing authority, the quality of content you produce, and the competitiveness of your target keywords.

Should interior designers blog for SEO?

Yes, with one condition: quality over quantity. One substantial article per month with original perspective and proper structure will outperform weekly thin content. Write about your expertise and process, not generic inspiration.

How do I get my interior design website on Google?

Start with a technically sound website — fast, mobile-friendly, properly structured. Claim your Google Business Profile. Create descriptive project-type and portfolio pages. Add alt text to images. Submit your sitemap through Google Search Console. Publish regular blog content with relevant keywords.

Is local SEO important for interior designers?

Yes, for every practice regardless of scale. Your Google Business Profile controls what appears when someone searches your name. Location pages signal to Google where you operate. Even international practices benefit from strong local SEO in their primary markets.