5 website mistakes interior designers make (& how to fix them)
You have just a few moments from when a potential clients lands on your website until they decide to keep scrolling, or move on.
While designing websites for interior designers, I’ve noticed a few common mistakes that often pop up before we start working together. These mistakes can lead to missed inquiries, failing to attract perfect-fit clients, and poor visibility in Google searches.
Let’s look at 5 mistakes interior designers are making on their websites and how to fix them.
Mistake 1
No clear heading or CTA
When someone lands on your website, it should be immediately obvious:
What you do
Who you work with
What action you want them to take
Ideally, this information should be positioned "above the fold", the part of your site visitors see before they start scrolling.
You want a clear headline like:
Beautiful family homes: taking you from chaotic to calm
Thoughtful, minimal spaces for your home and office
Follow this with a subheading that includes the areas you serve. Interior designers typically work within a specific region, and it's important to include this for both potential clients and SEO.
Add a clear button guiding visitors toward the next step, like "Start Your Project" or "Get In Touch".
Many designers love full-width hero images, and I get it, images are how you share your beautiful work.
This approach can be done as long as your SEO is optimised and the first text on scroll does everything we've just spoken about.
But if you can combine beautiful striking images with text, you're on to a winner.
Mistake 2
Displaying all your projects, not just your best work
If your interior design business is newer you will be very keen to share all of the great work you have done up to this point, to attract new clients. But realistically, people will only browse a few of the items in your portfolio that really catch their eye before making a decision.
I would recommend 4-8 projects to showcase. This is enough to show your range without overwhelming visitors.
Also think about the type of work you want to be doing. We all take on projects that aren't ideal because we've got bills to pay! But you don't necessarily need to include that in your portfolio if it's not the type of work you want to take on again in the future.
Bonus - What should you include on your project page?
I think you can get the most out of showcasing projects if you turn each one into a case study. It doesn't need to be extremely in-depth but adding project details can help potential clients to see how your service might work for them.
Think about including:
Budget
Timeline
Rooms tacked
Package selected
Then a short paragraph explaining
What were your clients pain points?
How did you solve them?
Mistake 3
Not enough text
Interiors designers will often want a website that is 90% images and 10% text. Too little text can create issues:
Google can't read images - although Google is getting smarter, written text is still the number 1 way google is going to search through your content and decide it's a good result to deliver someone searching on their platform.
Minimal text can leave potential clients with lots of questions and hesitations. If a potential client is unsure or confused about something, there is a high chance they will move on to another designer.
Here are some sections of text I wouldn't leave out of an interiors website:
Services outline - explain briefly the different services you offer
Your Process - hold the clients hand. Let them know exactly what is going to happen from their initial enquiry to the project handover.
Starting from pricing - this can be included on your services page but it's really helpful for you and your client to give them a starting from price. Your projects may be custom quoted but you will usually have a minimum project fee. Sharing this will avoid website visitors making an enquiry if you are out of their budget.
Further reading: Interior designer website case study
Mistake 4
Forgetting local SEO
Dedicate some copy on your website to the areas you work in. This will be particularly helpful for your search engine ranking when someone is looking for 'interior designer near me'. I already spoke about having your location in your 'above the fold' section but it is also worth dedicating a paragraph of text about the areas you work in on your home, contact and about pages.
You can also include the location of the projects you have worked on in your portfolio. Of course not their exact address but the town, area or region will be helpful for your local SEO.
Mistake 5
Not optimising images
Although I've spoken a lot about the importance of text on your website I can't deny that images are just as important for interior designers and are what is going to capture the imagination of potential clients. So when you are using a lot of images on a website it's extremely important that they are optimised for your website.
Resize (2500px wide for full-width, 1500px for regular)
Compress file size
Rename with keywords (e.g., “colourful-playroom-inverness-kirsty-m-design.jpg”)
Most images you take on your phone or that you'll receive from a photographer will be huge in both pixel dimension and file size. If you're a pro at Photoshop, there are tools you can use there to batch resize images. There is also a great online tool from Squarestylist called PixResize which both compresses the file size and makes the images smaller. If you want full width images I recomment 2500px but for all other images on your site, 1500px will be perfect.
Once resized you should change the name from IMG 27546 to something like 'colourful playroom invereness kirsty m design' So you've covered what the image is of, added a location and your business name.
Implementing these 5 tips on your existing interior design website should see improvements in your search ranking and client engagement. And if you'd like me to help you with a new or refreshed website, take a look at my services!
