Michelle Lynne 0:02
Music. Welcome to design for the creative mind, a podcast for interior designers and creative entrepreneurs to run their business with purpose, efficiency and passion, because while every design is different, the process should remain the same. Prepare yourself for some good conversations with amazing guests, a dash of Jesus and a touch of the Woo, woo, and probably a swear word or two. If you're ready to stop trading your time for money and enjoy your interior design business, you are in the right place. I'm your host. Michelle Lynn, you
Speaker 1 0:48
Michelle, hey, hey, hey, welcome back to the podcast. This is designed for the creative mind, and I'm Michelle Lynn, and today we're diving into more marketing, specifically optimized hashtags, optimized captions on Instagram, specifically for interior designers. So whether you're tuning in from your studio, your car, or with a glass of wine in hand, I'm so glad you're here, because building a business by design doesn't happen by accident. So let's get started. As I had mentioned last week in last week's episode, or was it the week before? I don't know, in a recent episode of the podcast, I've been doing a deep dive into SEO for social media, specifically for Instagram, and it started because I had seen, heard, read, was told, I don't even remember, that you can SEO your hashtags. So with that, I started doing some research, went down a big old bunny trail, found out that you can also not just, not just your hashtags, but you can optimize your captions for your social media, specifically for Instagram, is what I'm talking about as well. So after some I don't want to say deep, deep diving, because Lord knows, I've got enough crazy business to be handling and a six year old and whatnot, but I learned quite a bit, and wanted to share it with you specifically. So this episode, you're probably going to want to take notes on as well. Let's start with SEO friendly captions for Instagram, because Google Now indexes Instagram posts, so making your caption search friendly can help boost visibility. I have four tips for writing SEO optimized captions.
Unknown Speaker 2:53
First one is to use keywords naturally. Think about what your potential clients are searching for, and then work those into your captions, such as luxury kitchen renovation,
Speaker 1 3:11
historic home remodel, or custom interior design. And that last one, custom interior design that surprised me, and I came up with that because you and I as designers know that it's pretty much customized for the client, but clients don't necessarily realize that every single project is customized for them. So if they're searching custom interior design, why aren't we putting that in there? Next place, important keywords at the start, the first line of your caption matters the most for engagement and for SEO. For example, here's I've got an example of what you should do and an example of what you shouldn't do and what you shouldn't do is what I was doing. So we're making some changes internally as well. What you should do is start your caption with something like this luxury kitchen renovation question mark. Here's how we transformed this outdated space into a chef's dream. Okay, that's how you should open your caption. How you should not open your caption is we had so much fun designing this kitchen. What's your favorite feature? Or what do you think? Okay, that's just, it's too vague for a search. And of course, that's probably how we were doing ours for a while. Third tip, mix in a location based keywords, because remember, I think last, I don't know, recently, we were talking about Google prioritizes local searches. So make sure you and. Include your city or your area in the captions whenever possible, and I knew this for my hashtags, but I don't think I was ever putting it in my caption. Here's, here's, here's how you could this historic. Let's say Austin home renovation blends classic charm with modern luxury. Who's ready for a kitchen refresh. So now you know where the designers located. You're more likely to come up in the Austin area. People searching. You're getting people's attention next. And this is the fourth tip for writing optimized captions in Instagram, use a call to action encourage engagement by asking a question or prompting followers to save or share the post. So instead of putting something like we had so much fun designing this kitchen, what do you think? What you would put instead is swipe to see this Dallas kitchen remodels before and after swipe to see three kitchens or three, three Dallas area kitchens we remodeled last year. Which style do you love the most? So if let me just tell you all. As I was going through all of this, I started to get that feeling of overwhelm, like, Oh, it's just more work. Are you feeling that way? Yeah, I get it. I totally do stick around until the end, when I sign off, because I've got a little something for you, and I'll, I'll tell you how you can get it that might make life a little bit easier in your overall marketing. Okay? Because, girl, I feel you. Girl, I feel you. I get it. I'm so overwhelmed sometimes that I just don't even want to do it. I just want to stick my head in the sand. So with that being said, let me add more to your plate. Okay, are you ready? Let's talk about optimized hashtags. Hashtags act as search keywords within Instagram, and what they do is they improve discoverability. How to optimize your hashtags for SEO? I've got five tips for you here. First is mix broad and niche hashtags, so it's basically what you're doing is you're taking a combination of popular and specific hashtags and combining those to reach the right audience. So for example, broad hashtags, hashtag interior design, hashtag home decor, hashtag, luxury homes, okay, those are broad. Those are global. You want to niche down. You can put traditional kitchen Dallas interior designer, so it would be hashtag, traditional kitchen, hashtag, Dallas interior designer, hashtag, historic home renovation. Okay, so you can see how that is hashtag traditional kitchen it's more niche of a kitchen versus just kitchen renovation. Dallas interior designer, of course, is going to be location, but it's niched compared to just hashtag interior design.
Michelle Lynne 8:23
Imagine trying to bake a cake without a recipe. You kind of know what the ingredients are, but you don't know how to put it all together. After lots of hard work and trying different combinations, all you are left with is a sticky situation and a stomach ache. Babe running an interior design business can feel exactly that same way. That is why I created the interior design business bakery. This is a program that teaches you how to bake your interior design business cake and eat it too. If you don't want to figure out the hard way, and you want guidance to follow a recipe that has already been vetted, someone that has already been there and done it, and will help you do it too. Then check out the year long mentorship and coaching program, the interior design business bakery. If your interior design business revenue is below 300,000 or if you're struggling to make a profit and keep your sanity, this is the only program for you. You can find that information at designed for the creative mind.com. Forward, slash, business. Dash, bakery, check it out. You won't regret it.
Speaker 1 9:45
Okay. Second is use location specific hashtags that helps with local discovery. So for example, hashtag Houston interior designer, hashtag Scottsdale luxury homes. Hashtag. Dad, San Diego kitchen remodel like whatever that looks like. But you are bringing your location into the hashtags, I live in Dallas, Fort Worth. I live in Dallas, Fort Worth. Okay, I don't live in Dallas proper anymore. We moved in July this last summer. But that's neither here nor there. What I suggest is, instead of just putting Dallas interior designer, for those of you who live here, but also if you're in a major city, take a look at the suburbs that you work in as well. Locally, I put hashtag Brisco interior designer, hashtag, Colleyville interior designer, hashtag, University Park interior designer. Okay, so you can get even more granular next include terms that potential clients might search for. So what I mean by that is incorporate service based hashtags, hashtag, full service interior design, hashtag, custom home styling, hashtag, kitchen remodel experts. And I'm sure that I have been guilty in the past of telling y'all and I've done it myself. You get 30 hashtags, use them all up. Well, just because they're there doesn't mean that you need to use them. Keep reminding myself of that. When it comes to the cookies in my cabinet, just because they're there doesn't mean I need to eat them. But what I mean by this with the hashtags is keep it clean with 10 to 20 well researched tags instead of stuffing 30 generic ones. And then, of course, test and adjust for all of these. Instagram has an insights feature that will you can see which hashtags bring in the most. So go and re search and refine accordingly, because if you strategically optimize your captions and your hashtags, y'all your Instagram posts can contribute to your overall SEO strategy, but it will bring in organic business. Even though the algorithm changes, you can now do your search ability through SEO by all of the stuff that we just talked about, I we still get a lot of reaches from Instagram. It works. And heck, it's going to be working a lot better now that I know what to do, right? So ML interiors group, watch out. So here's a here's a sample Instagram post. I wrote this up and I so here me and chatty G. Chatty G is what I have nicknamed chat G, p t, what I did is I took my notes, dropped them into chat G, P T, and asked chat E, G to write an Instagram post based on this content, and also to cap, you know, catch if I missed anything. And so they rewrote the post that I had suggested, but here's what it is. It doesn't matter how I got there. Here's what it is. This would be the post Dallas, Texas luxury kitchen remodel. That's the first line. Next line is from outdated to outstanding. This Dallas kitchen renovation was all about blending timeless elegance with modern functionality, we reworked the layout, added custom cabinetry and incorporated high end finishes for a space that's as beautiful as it is functional. Next line, love the transformation. Save this for inspo. Next line, thinking about a kitchen remodel in Dallas, let's chat. Okay, that caption front loads the keywords like Dallas kitchen renovation and it has that call to action to boost engagement. Now the hashtags, listen are going to be a mix of broad and niche hashtags. You ready? Hashtag Dallas interior designer, hashtag kitchen remodel, hashtag luxury kitchen design, hashtag, modern, traditional. Hashtag, custom home design, hashtag, Texas Homes. Hashtag, full service interior design, hashtag, interior design experts. So hopefully, hopefully that gives you some inspiration, some things to think about, and didn't overwhelm you. If it did overwhelm you, just, well, I was going to say just, just turn, turn this podcast off, but I've got something for you, so hang out with me for another minute, because that's a wrap on today's episode. If you loved what you heard, don't keep it to yourself. Share it with a fellow interior designer who could use a little bit of inspiration. Okay. Oh, and and reviews. Reviews really do help wherever you are listening. I would. Certainly appreciate that, but let's keep the conversation going. DM me on Instagram, okay, at designed for the creative mind, or tag me. What's your biggest takeaway from this episode? And if you DM me the word bundle on Instagram, I'm going to send you the link for an email marketing and social media bundle specifically for interior designers. Now it's nine bucks. Okay, it's nine bucks, but you're going to learn how to craft email sequences. I think we've talked to about email sequences recently. If not, we'll have an episode on that here soon, but we're going to talk about how to nurture your email list year round with the set it and forget it approach, how to research and create content that's working right now for your ideal clients on Instagram and Facebook. Okay, the the bundle is going to show you how to find what works for your audience. Plan out a content calendar and post with consistency. So it's, it's it's all it's all there for you. So remember, success doesn't happen by chance. It happens by design. So keep designing your business with intention, and if you ever need a hand, I've got coaching and mentorship programs ready to meet you wherever you are, okay, but you've got this and I'm here to support you every step of the way. Don't forget, DM me the word bundle on Instagram. I'll send you the link for that bundle and tell me what your biggest takeaway was from today's episode. All right, see you on the next episode.
Michelle Lynne 16:40
Hey, y'all, if you love the show and find it useful, I would really appreciate it if you would share with your friends and followers, and if you like what you're hearing. Want to put a face with a name and get even more business advice, then join me in my Facebook group, the interior designers business launch pad. Yeah, I know it's Facebook, but just come on in for the training and then leave without scrolling your feet. It's fun. I promise you'll enjoy it. And finally, I hear it's good for business to get ratings on your podcast, so please drop yours on whatever platform you use to listen to this. We're all about community over competition, so let's work on elevating our industry one designer at a time. See you next time you.
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