do i need seo for my painting and decorating business?
painting and decorating work travels largely through word of mouth. a good finish on one house leads to a neighbour asking for a card. that network has a ceiling though — seo is what reaches customers outside it.
how people find painters and decorators
a homeowner planning a redecoration or a landlord turning around a rental property opens google. they search "decorator wiltshire," "painter decorator salisbury," "interior decorator near me." google returns a list. they look at the first few results and contact someone whose work looks right.
painting and decorating is a visually led decision. the customer wants to see finished work before they call. a website with photos of completed jobs does more work than any amount of description.
what decorating customers search for
decorating searches split broadly into residential and commercial.
residential searches:
- painter decorator [town]
- interior decorator wiltshire
- bedroom painting [town]
- decorator near me
commercial and rental searches:
- commercial painter decorator wiltshire
- landlord decorating service dorset
- end of tenancy decorating [town]
exterior searches:
- exterior painter [county]
- house painting wiltshire
- exterior decorating somerset
commercial and landlord searches are worth targeting specifically. a letting agent or landlord with multiple properties is a repeat customer. ranking for "landlord decorating wiltshire" or "commercial decorator somerset" puts you in front of customers with ongoing work to place, not just a single room.
what seo does for a painting and decorating business
seo for a decorating business involves:
- pages covering the work you do — interior, exterior, residential, commercial, specialist finishes
- location content for the areas you cover
- a google business profile with photos of completed work
- consistent contact details across the web
- portfolio content that gives customers something to assess before they call
a decorator with a well-optimised site and an active google business profile can appear in two places on a local search: the map pack and the organic results below it.
whether you need it depends on your situation
| situation | seo useful |
|---|---|
| fully booked through referrals, not looking to grow | no |
| want to attract commercial or landlord work | yes |
| new business with no existing customer base | yes |
| covering a wider area than word of mouth reaches | yes |
| losing work to competitors who appear online | yes |
portfolio and photos
painting and decorating is one of the few trades where before and after photos directly influence whether someone makes contact. a decorator who appears in search results but has no photos of finished work is harder to hire than one who does.
seo gets you found. photos of finished work convert the visit into an enquiry.
what seo costs for a painter and decorator
| option | typical cost | contract |
|---|---|---|
| freelancer | £200–600/month | varies |
| agency | £500–2,000/month | often 6–12 months |
| computer web | £99/month | none |
computer web seo covers two hours of on-page work each month. no contract, no meetings. focused on trade businesses in wiltshire, somerset, and dorset.
see: computer web seo
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