The Ultimate Houzz Marketing Guide: 7 Simple Steps To Optimize Your Profile [+ SEO Checklist]

optmira marketing The Ultimate Houzz Marketing Guide: 7 Simple Steps To Optimize Your Profile [+ SEO Checklist] Audrey Ashburner

Every day, homeowners (your potential clients) are using Houzz to find inspiration for their home projects.

Users are browsing photos and saving them to idea books. Those photos link to the professional that did the work. Houzz is great because they show results for the searcher's query from businesses within a 50mile radius—a great opportunity for your services to be found by people who may be interested in hiring you!

That’s why it’s important to update your Houzz profile so you show up in these results! Below, you will find our Houzz Marketing Guide optimize your content and show up when homeowners near you are browsing Houzz.

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Step #1: Edit your profile and talk about your biz After a homeowner finds your profile via images, they turn to your profile to learn more about you.

Therefore, you need to give them insight into everything they need to know so they can make an educated decision to work with you. If you don’t give them the right information, they’ll find it from your competition!

Tip: Write a detailed, unique business description.

Take that company about profile snippet you already have and tweak it to make it a little more personal.

Clients want to know your brand’s history (i.e., When did you get started? Who have you worked for in the past?), inspiration (i.e., your favorite design mags, color palettes, or a go-to statement piece), and the things you like to work on (i.e., What do you specialize in? Kitchens? Nurseries? Patios?).

Tip: Identify what makes your company unique.

We can definitely say the design marketplace on Houzz is, quite literally, saturated. With so many other designers fighting for the spotlight, you need to stand out! What’s something you do differently? Do you work with specific manufacturers? What’s your style? Scandinavian? Glam? Beachy? Contemporary?

Tip: Address 3-4 questions people commonly ask.

Kind of like an FAQ, but more casual. Take your commonly asked questions and turn them into descriptive sentences. Do clients frequently ask about your preferred communication channels? Identify what apps/software you use to communicate the plans and approvals for your projects and why you love them!

Step #2: List your services provided Instead of vaguely describing what you offer, outline your specific services. Do you remodel kitchens but specialize in cabinetry design? Say this! The more detail you can offer here, the better. Writing this stuff down on the spot can be tricky, you might forget something. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s okay to go back and add things later on. In the meantime, keep a notebook next to your desk and jot down the things you do for your clients as they come up.

Step #3: Identify the areas you service Where are you willing to travel? By default, Houzz pulls professionals within a 50-mile radius of a users location. Identify the main areas you serve but also list popular metros and neighborhoods that you like to serve in your area.

Step #4: Upload a profile picture Homeowners are much more likely to respond if its a personal picture, team photo, or photo of the companies owner. If you want your logo to be present on your page, try watermarking the bottom right corner of your photos with your company logo.

Step #5: Upload photos of your projects.

Homeowners start with their idea books, so you want to make sure you have beautiful photos.

Houzz recommends you upload all of your photos for one client under one project. Save topic categorizing (i.e., kitchens, bedrooms, countertops, etc.) for your ideabooks.

Tip: Tell a story with this project.

Houzz has multiple types of photos you can upload: before photos, drawings, products, and the completed space. Use these categories to tell the story of your project. Give the viewer an inside look at the entire process. Set expectations and show results early. This will pay off.

Step #6: Add keywords to your photos This one is super important. This is how your images are going to be found. If you aren’t adding keywords and strategic titles to your project photos, the images aren’t searchable and therefore will not be found by potential clients. All written elements of the image are searchable.

Tip: Create a detailed title/name for your project.

In the title, you need to identify three things: the location, what it was, and the style.

Start with the location, something familiar the client can recognize—the city name or neighboorhood will work just fine. In brief, describe what the project was. Did you remodel their garage into a crafting studio? Call it: Garage Transformed Studio! Lastly, detail the style in one or two words. You’ve got this one covered, I believe in you.

Tip: Add text to your photos.

Once you pick the category for your photo, add more detail. For example, if you upload a photo to the “space” category, more specifically, specify what type of space.

Tip: Use describing words to define your images.

Homeowners aren’t searching for really specific things on Houzz, don’t overthink it. Go from left to right and enter a keyword everything you see. The word “door” is too broad, use “dark wood glass pane front door” instead.

Side note: don't waste time adding in variations of keywords. Houzz uses smart matching and will show your photo for any combination of your keywords. Thus, when a user searches “glass door,” “wood door,” or “front door,” your image will still show up.

Tip: Spend some time editing your product page.

Rotate sideways photos, shuffle images around, add extra keywords you might have forgotten by editing in bulk. Remember, you want to be as visually appealing as possible. As a result, sideways photos just look unprofessional.

Step #7: Get reviews from past clients and colleagues.

The number one thing clients want to see is reviews. In this case, be proactive and request them.

Houzz lets you request reviews from clients. Underneath “name,” click “get reviews,” enter their email and add a personal message.

One great thing about this feature is the message will be sent as a direct email from your email, not from Houzz. And another thing: Houzz keeps track of who you sent reviews to already and will automatically send a reminder after three weeks!

Tip: Save time and save your request as the default message.

Keep the bulk of the message the same and then personalize a few lines each time you request.

Don’t just wait until months have passed to request reviews, ask for feedback throughout the project, get the client thinking about it. Then, once the project is finished and you request their review, they will already know what to say.

Tip: Offer to write the bulk of the review for them and have them approve and post.

This is a good idea not only because it saves the client time but because you can add keywords specific to your brand/project. Remember, every piece of text on Houzz is searchable so this is a strategic way to integrate this into your profile.

Tip: Respond to reviews When you respond to reviews, both good and bad, you are showing that you care what your clients have to say. Keep in mind this response feature is not a direct message and is posted publically below the review for all to see. Click on “review,” then “post a comment.” This is also a great way to respond to negative reviews and give insight into what might have gone wrong and how you're going to fix this in the future. Thus, what could be viewed as negative into something positive!

— Spend some time on these steps to have a strong profile and presence on Houzz. All text on Houzz is searchable, the more text you use the more you’re gonna show up. Research what your customers are looking for and make sure you’re showing up for them.

We can help!

Optmira is an official Marketing Certified Partner for Houzz.

Let’s work together to improve your Houzz profile and reach more clients!

optmira marketing https://www.optmira.com/