5 Reasons You Should Invest In Your Interior Design Website
As we've seen in a previous blog post called " 8 Must-Haves for a Successful Interior Design Website", having a strong website is essential to grow your interior design business.
In fact, a well-designed website will make you look professional, credible and trustworthy; it'll also help prospects and other businesses find you more easily.
In this article, I share 5 reasons why you should invest into building a good website for your interior design business.
01. Don't Depend On A Social Media Platform
It can be tempting to stick to social media platforms like instagram because of how easy it is to share photos and grow an audience. But these platforms are owned by someone else, not you, which means you are 'renting' someone else's space. As such, you are dependent on algorithms, potential glitches that could lead to a blocked account, the platform failing...
Your own platform means a space you can customize to reflect your personality and business and attract people who are interested in what you have to offer.
02. Showcase Your Work
A gallery/ portfolio is a non-negotiable as an interior designer. Prospects will want to see what you've done in the past, see if your style matches theirs and get inspired by previous projects for their own. If you don't have photos of completed projects, which often happens for online interior designers, include anything useful such as sketches, colored drawings and 3d renders. I highly recommend investing in realistic 3D rendering until you have photos of finished projects;
they will not only give your prospect clients a great idea about your work and get them excited about working with you but also give you a more attractive website. Websites that have no examples aren't visually appealing nor do they build trust or credibility!
03. Connect With Your Audience On A Personal Level
Hiring an interior designer is highly personal: you are bringing in a complete stranger to design your most sacred space, your home. Think about prospects looking to hire you to build their dream home; you'll be spending countless hours together, won't you?
It's essential that you connect with prospects and you can do that by introducing yourself to them on a more personal level. Remember that people usually buy based on emotions, rather than logic. If your rates are a little higher than they budgeted for but they love your personality, they will find a way to work with you! Tell them about your hobbies, why you fell in love with interior design, fun facts, and so on...
I once got a client because she loved travelling as much as me and could relate to my life as an expat. Be vulnerable and let them get to know you a little, even if most of it will come through during your meetings. Lead capture is the first step!
04. Increase Lead Capture & Grow Your Email List
Although technically not essential, a blog and newsletter are both great marketing strategies to capture more leads. If you've heard about SEO (search engine optimization) before, it helps you rank higher on google searches. (The higher you rank, the higher your number of leads)
The best way to increase your SEO is to update your website on a regular basis; therefore, by adding articles on a regular basis, you improve your SEO rankings.
The same applies for having a newsletter. Email marketing is one of the best techniques to talk directly with prospects to share tips, offers, latest news and close a sale. If they are really interested in your content, they'll keep opening your emails and, over time, you will build trust; once they trust and need your services, they'll reach out to hire you as their interior designer.
Having a blog and a newsletter is yours, which allows you to get personal, and they are great ways to convert more leads into paying clients.
05. Attract The Right Niche
Starting a blog is a great way to share your knowledge and experience with your niche. You attract the right people by posting about what they like, want or need.
For example, if you are a kitchen designer and write about the " My X top tips to choose kitchen tiles", you will be attracting people who are looking to re-design their kitchen. Some of them will use these tips to do their own reno but others will come across your blog article, then move on to reading more about you and might hire you.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Having a good website is an investment to make if you want to grow your interior design business.
It is your chance to showcase your personality, values, creativity and services.
When you build your website, think about the key pieces of information your ideal client will need and always keep in mind what their pain points are so that you can create content around them.
Lastly, your branding and how it is incorporated in your site is as important as the layout. I recommend investing in both graphic and web designers to work together to build a successful and efficient website for you.
We now offer both services to interior designers so get in touch for more information or visit our services page.
See you next time!
Kristell Valentina Mouriès
Director, KVM Design