How Long Does It Take To Build An Interior Designer Website?

October 11, 2018 Michael Conway

How To Build An Interior Designer Website Fast

In my day to day conversations with Interior design professionals about marketing their firms online, I am almost always asked two questions.

#1 - What does an interior designer website cost?
(Redesigns start at $1,995 - A full site with copywriting and image editing starts at $4,995)

#2 - How Long Does It Take To Build an Interior Designer Website?
(When working directly with the decision maker, A redesign can be completed in 1-2 weeks, and a full website can be live in 4-6 weeks.)

Our clients are always telling us that, This is unusually inexpensive and incredibly fast.

If you conduct an online search for “How Long Does It Take To Build A Website?” you'll find results from six to nine months. Most search engine results came in at nine months and the reason stated for the long development time was due to the time needed for development and design issues when using the website builder and CMS, Wordpress. Another reason stated was waiting for clients to provide page content like photography and copy.

Building an interior design website today is a much different process than just a few years ago. Ten years ago, content management platforms like Wordpress made template based website design accessible. Unfortunately, with Wordpress, you still need to research plugins, write code to customize your site and manage templates by creating Photoshop files and then converting them to HTML. Wordpress customization is often tricky, requires experts and consequently, is time-consuming.

Much better website platforms have come along since the rise in popularity of Wordpress. Squarespace, Wix, Weebly, and Jimdo are all platforms that have gained popularity because they are easier to use and in some cases are more secure than open source content management systems like Wordpress. Having used all of these platforms in search of a better tool than Wordpress, I picked Squarespace as my companies primary website building tool. I find it gratifying that Wordpress, after seeing competition from more straightforward, easy to use systems has announced that they are now offering a drag an drop website builder like Squarespace. I build interior designer websites using the Squarespace, website builder.

So, How Long Does It Take to Build an Interior Designer Website?

The truth is tools, process, and communication are the reason for delays when building a website. Means-of-Production builds websites using Squarespace because it allows us to make a website in four to eight weeks. How? We do not need to write custom code, research plug-ins, create a Photoshop file, convert it to HTML and apply it to Wordpress.

Squarespace is a template-based platform that is intuitive and can handle photography without using a lengthy conversion process. Image galleries are built into templates allowing us to build photography based websites for clients in a much shorter timeframe. Templates help make website design a smoother and easier process. That being said, there are still factors that can slow down the process.

Learn How To Choose A Squarespace Template

Communication can help to alleviate delays along with setting realistic deadlines and sticking to them. Businesses need to consider and gather assets like photography, bios and supplied text to accelerate the website design and build process. Early discussion of direction, design, and functionality can also work to make the entire process smoother and more efficient.

What Are the Must-Haves For An Interior Designer Website?

An interior designer website that is awkward and difficult to navigate doesn't build trust. Your site needs to be user-friendly, inviting and inspiring to be successful. Here are some best practices and must-haves to make your interior design firm's website stand out from your competitors.

1. Have a plan – Decide what is essential for your readers to know about your business and process. Identify your audience, tailor your message and create a plan.

2. Interior design is visual – Gather your visual assets and organize your work by style to make browsing easier. Keep it simple. Squarespace offers gallery templates that can help you to organize your images.

3. Keep content relevant – Keep your content on message. Use pertinent industry keywords to help search engines find you. Your text can establish your brand identity and give readers a real sense of who you are, what you do and why they should work with your firm.

4. “About me” pages – Make your bios professional and personal. Clients are interested in relationship building, that's the point of inbound marketing; to build trust and relationships. Make sure to add a picture to place a face with the name!

5. Services – Not all clients are seeking a full home makeover. Make sure to specify all of the services you provide, from planning space to consultations, to full-service design. Also, make sure to let clients know if you offer both residential and commercial design services.

6. Focus on search Engine Optimization – Use relevant SEO keywords in your content, in alt tags, and photo descriptions. Make sure to include location information to help improve local search. Make sure to share your unique content on your other social sites like Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest to help build authority with the search engines.

7. Track your engagement and adjust – Using Google Analytics, or Squarespace Analytics can help you to see who is visiting your site, how long they are staying and what content they are engaging with. This allows you to continuously monitor and improve your content which in turn will drive more traffic and increase leads and sales.

What's included in a $4995 Squarespace Website?

Well, you get a website design, twelve pages of search engine optimized copywriting and all of your images edited in Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop. Most websites built at Means-of-Production are completed in under eight weeks. Here are the specifics on what is included in our website design services.

A design consultation that will help you choose a template that meets your goals and aesthetic.
Three template designs using your brand identity and the content from your existing website.
A call to go over your template options and design options.
A design using the style editor controls to change font and color choices.
Another call to review the design of the site and discuss changes.
A set of design revisions to change the look and feel of the website using the style editor.
Search Engine Optimized copywriting using keyword research to help the site get found online.
SEO formatting as well as page meta-descriptions and title tags.
Up to six top-level or sub-level navigation pages including about, services, our work, blog, and contact pages.
Up to six portfolio pages with up to sixty images edited in Adobe Lightroom or Photoshop, resized and added to the website with alternative tags for SEO.
We build a form to gather contact names and email addresses of prospects. Forms are great for lead generation.
A cover page is created to be used as a landing page with a form and thank you page that can be used to capture leads.
Three call-to-action buttons designed to encourage click throughs to your landing page, portfolios or process page.
Social media share and follow buttons throughout the website.
A website footer or two depending on the template. This will have your contact information, a description of the service area and logos of professional associations.
Redirection of your current domain name to the new website. This is often overlooked by my competitors.
To ensure your site is indexed, we will submit your XML sitemap on Google Search Console and request website indexing for SEO.

Organizing your assets, using the right tools (like Squarespace) and open communication can help to get your interior designer website up and running faster. Using these and other best practices can help your site get found online, develop trusting relationships, build authority and grow your interior design business both online and off!

Tips On Using Squarespace To Build An Interior Design Website

About Michael Conway and Means-of-Production

I'm the owner of Means-of-Production, a full service marketing firm that builds Squarespace websites for built environment firms. I design sites that help you get found online, attract better prospects, and capture leads. If you need help with a Squarespace site that you're working on click here to view my calendar and schedule a call. I am a Squarespace Specialist and Authorized Trainer. Together we can build a website that attracts the right clients and grows your business.