For potential customers to be able to find you, it’s important to establish a strong online presence as soon as possible. This means getting a website up and running, linking it to Social Media accounts, and starting to market your interior design services online.

But it’s easier said than done! Here are 5 tips for getting yourself out there and attracting new clients.

Tips to getting your Services Online and Finding New Clients:

1. Set up your website

If you haven’t already done so, sign up for your own domain name. Having a website that is mydesigncompany.com is a lot more professional than [email protected]. It won’t cost much, typically less than USD15 per year, but it makes a big difference in how your business is perceived. Have a look at our list of resources at the end of this article for a full tutorial on setting up your website.

When you find a template that you like, make your landing page as impressive and captivating as possible. This is the first thing a potential client will see, so make the most of it.

Here are 2 examples of a great interior design site that promotes their services online:

• Croma Design

• Katie Rosenfeld Interior Design.

Their best work is displayed when you open the page, their services are clear, their portfolio is linked, and you can find out more about who they are and how to contact them – all by scrolling down on the landing page.

2. Set up your social media accounts

Establish your online presence by opening Social Media Accounts for your business. You don’t want your clients to be involved in your personal life, so keep things separate by creating new accounts under your business name. Have a look in the resources section on Pinterest for a business setup tutorial.

For Facebook, you simply create a business page under your own personal profile, and for Twitter and Instagram, create a business page in the same way you would any other account. Google+ is a must for proper search engine ranking, so make sure that you set that up as well. More on Google+ in the How to Get Your Name Out There section.

Make sure to link these accounts to your website, so it’s easy for visitors to connect to your social media profiles, this way you will start promoting your services online.

 3. Build your online presence

 Starting with your website, make sure that your portfolio is hosted on your site, and that it’s kept fresh and up to date. People will want to see what you’re about, and what your strengths are as a designer. The easiest way to create content on your site and attract new visitors, is to blog. Many people are intimidated by blogging, and to be fair, it can be quite overwhelming! But by creating content on your website, you let your clients get to know you in an informal way. Also, the more content you have, the better your ranks will be on search engines, so it really is essential to boosting your visibility. I’ll provide more details about blogging in a follow-up article, so keep an eye out for that!

Moving on to social media: Interior design is mostly about visuals, so it makes sense to have a Pinterest and/or Instagram account. Pinterest is a great tool because you can do research for a specific project, theme or style, while building the size of your boards. It’s great for promoting your services online!

PRO TIP: Provide a clear description in the comment section of each pin, and then add your website URL as well. This way, it doesn’t matter how far that pin travels, your name will always go with it.

Instagram works well for projects and site work that you can post as it’s happening in real time. If you visit a lot of suppliers or stores in the course of a project, you can also post interesting finds.

Social giants like Facebook and Twitter are excellent resources for building your online community – you are most likely already active on these networks, so you can ask your existing contacts to join your new business page.

Don’t feel that you have to be active on all these networks – that will be exhausting! Choose what works for you and stick to that.

4. Getting your name out there

Now that everything is set up and you’re building your online presence, you’ll need to engage your audience and get them to visit your pages. There are a few ways to do this:

1. Get your friends and family to support you. Leverage your personal connections to get the word out, and ask them to share with their networks. Word of mouth travels, and it’s a great way to gain new followers.
2. Get your business on the first page of Google, so if that if a potential client searches for Interior Designer Greater London, your name comes up in the top 10 searches. This can be quite the endeavor, so click on the tutorial in the resources list for step-by-step instructions on how to set this up. It’s also important to check that whatever you publish on your site is also being published to Google+, as this will greatly improve your ranking.
3. Update your site regularly with new content, so that your followers will want to visit you regularly, and you are constantly attracting new visitors. Whether it’s a new project or product, give your audience some fresh content to explore. By writing an article for your blog once a week, you’ll have 24 posts within 6 months. It takes time to build your site, so just stick with it, and before you know it you’ll have a whole library of content.
4. Get testimonials from your clients and publish them. If you’re bold enough, ask your clients to publish your completed work on their own social media as well, and link it back to your website. While it may feel awkward to ask, a happy client will have no problem in showing off their beautiful new interior.

The online space is massive and at times, overwhelming. We’ll be going through all of these aspects in detail in the Professional Interior Design course to help you set up your business online, so make sure that you sign up now!

Resources to promote your services online:

How to set up a website

• Website Setup
• WordPress Tutorial for Beginners 

Setting up social media business pages

• Set your business account
• Set up your Facebook page

Get a high ranking on search engines

• How do I get on the first page of Google?

If you’re looking for more marketing tips, check out our Marketing Your Business course! Be sure to subscribe to the Trendimi YouTube channel to see the next TrendiTips video here, and share your ideas on Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook or Twitter by tagging @Trendimi.  

Subscribe to our Blog and keep up with our news!

The post How to market your interior design services online appeared first on Trendimi blog | trendimi.com.