Interior design enquiries are wildly uneven in quality. Most come from people who want ideas rather than a designer. Search targeting is what changes the ratio.
I run search programs for design studios directly, so a senior specialist does the work rather than an account manager relaying it. Every recommendation is judged on qualified enquiries, not rankings.
Studios rely on Instagram and a portfolio site with almost no text, so search sends whatever it sends. The enquiries that arrive are inspiration-seekers, not clients with a renovation budget and a timeline.
Project values vary enormously between a single room and a full renovation or commercial fit-out, and the work is intensely visual, which tempts studios into sites with no words at all. Trust and taste alignment decide the hire.
Target the searches attached to actual projects and budgets, make the portfolio findable rather than just beautiful, and be clear on the site about who you work with and how you charge.
Design clients research for months before engaging. Coverage is built at each point, in Google and in the AI tools now answering these questions.
Someone works out what's possible, what a designer does and what it costs. Increasingly they ask an AI assistant rather than trawling Pinterest.
“do I need an interior designer or decorator”, “how much does interior design cost”
They shortlist studios. Portfolio fit, style alignment, project types, reviews and whether an AI tool names you decide who makes the list.
“interior designer [suburb]”, “[style] interior designer [city]”
One studio gets the enquiry. Clear process, fee structure and evidence of similar projects convert it.
“interior design consultation [city]”, “[project type] designer near me”
Scope follows your business, your market and your service mix. These are the components a program draws on.
Working out which project types and client segments are most profitable, then building coverage around those first.
Pages that genuinely explain the service, the process, the fee structure and who it suits, rather than imagery and a contact form.
Projects structured so they rank for the style, project type and location searches clients make, instead of sitting in an unindexable gallery.
Design sites are frequently very slow because of image weight, which costs both rankings and enquiries. It's fixable without compromising the work.
Structured data and consistent, corroborated facts so AI tools name your studio when someone describes their project and style.
Systematising review generation plus coverage in publications both clients and AI models treat as credible.
A business doesn't run on traffic. It runs on the work that gets won and what that work is worth.
LeadSight, my own attribution software, ties enquiries and closed work back to the channel that produced them, so your monthly report shows what SEO returned in dollars rather than which keywords moved.
How LeadSight works →I keep my client list small, and design SEO works best where project values justify the investment.
Where full renovations and new builds are the goal rather than single-room consultations.
Where fit-out values are substantial and the buyer is a business researching carefully.
Heritage, sustainable, luxury, small-space. Specificity is what search and AI answers reward.
Because search engines and AI models can't see a photograph. Your work does persuade people once they arrive, but almost nobody arrives, because there's nothing on the site for a search engine to match to a query. Adding real explanation alongside the imagery is usually a very quick advantage.
Instagram attracts people who like your work. Search attracts people who have decided to do something and are looking for someone to do it with. The intent is completely different, which is why search enquiries typically convert better and arrive with a budget.
Two things. Target the searches attached to real projects rather than inspiration, and be upfront on your pages about your process, your minimum project scope and how you charge. Most studios avoid saying anything about fees, which guarantees enquiries from people who could never afford them.
It's almost certainly slow already, from image weight. Fixing that is one of the first things I look at, and done properly the site gets faster while looking exactly the same. Text adds almost nothing to page weight.
No. I keep my client list deliberately small and won't take on a directly competing design studio in the same market and segment.
Expect early movement in two to three months from technical and local work. Design decisions take months, so judge the full picture over two to three quarters.
Send your domain through and I’ll review your site, your competition and your AI visibility before we speak. No obligation, and a straight answer on whether it’s worth the spend.