Hi there everyone!  I’m Robyn, your social media maven and I am going to be posting periodically with social media tips to help your business grow!  Keep an eye out for the subject line Social Media 101 and each one should give helpful tips and tricks to be successful in your social media!  This first one is going to be focusing on Houzz.com but future ones will cover various aspects of social media including how to automate your efforts!  I welcome your questions and will answer them in future posts, please send your social media questions to robyn@seotechmasters.com and I will answer them in the upcoming Social Media 101.  Remember, if you have a question, chances are many others do as well, so please ask.

For those of you in kitchen, bath, or construction, www.houzz.com is a place that you want to be!  Houzz gets your business the exposure that could help you to grow.   Houzz is the latest buzz in the interior design world.  It connects the customer with the professionals and has been described as a combination of a local review site, Angie’s list, and Pinterest.

I’ve done some research and found the tips for how to succeed on this platform.

How to succeed on Houzz.com

First and foremost, make sure that your profile is complete.  Include all information to reach you (your website url, phone number, and at minimum TEN photos).

After you do that, houzz uses an algorithm to determine how quickly you move up in ranks.  Once you know the steps, you should move up with ease.  The algorithm is based on:

1.        The quality of the photos

2.       Recommendations

3.       Keyword tags placed on photos

4.       Questions/answers

So… let’s examine each of those.

First of all, your photos need to be crystal clear, uncluttered, and show precisely what you do.  Make sure they are well lit and put a variety of angles and shot types.  For instance, do some wide angle views of an entire room/area.  Also, do some close ups of touches that you alone can offer.

Please hire a professional to do your photos if able.  If your bathroom photos have a reflection of someone using a cell phone to take the photo it will reflect poorly on your business. 

I’d like to show you some excellent photos.

Both photos are well lit, and show enough to get an idea of the scope of the project.  Both photos are from Capozzi Design Group in Chagrin Falls, Ohio.

Here is one more from Capozzi Design Group that shows a close up detail.  Clear, concise, and show off those things that you do well!

Now, on to recommendations.   These are basically the same as testimonials you already have on your website.  Same concept.  Ask your clients if they would put a recommendation on houzz for you.  The more you have the more visibility you will get.

Keyword tags… each time you upload a photo, you pick what category it fits into and you have space for keyword/tags. Use the terms you want to be found for.  The same keywords we use for your SEO.

Finally, questions and answers.  This is the part where houzz filters out those who aren’t engaging with their audience.  Each time a person clicks on a photo, they have the option of asking the designer a question.  It looks good for them to be answered in a friendly, helpful manner.  If any of you would like for me to ask you questions, please shoot me an email!

Stay active.  Upload photos often, answer questions, ask others for recommendations, like other pages, network together with other companies.

As a final note, make sure everyone can find you.  Put your houzz logo on your site (we can help with this!), share the link on facebook, twitter, and your blog.  Also, put a sign up at your business/showroom for people to find you on houzz.com, and put a link in every mailing/newsletter.

Until next time, best of luck to you, spread your wings and get social!

Robyn