Decorating is a repeat-business trade — do a good job and customers come back, and refer you to their friends. But to grow beyond your existing network and fill your diary consistently, you need new customers finding you through Google.
This guide covers what local SEO involves for painters and decorators, what it takes to rank well in local search, and whether the investment makes sense for your business.
Why Google Is the Best Source of New Decorating Leads
Word of mouth is still valuable, but it's slow and unpredictable. Google connects you with people who are actively looking for a decorator right now — not someone who might need one eventually.
Searches like "decorator near me," "painter and decorator Merthyr Tydfil," "interior decorator Cardiff," and "wallpaper hanging service South Wales" happen every day. The decorators in the top three results on Google Maps win the majority of those enquiries. Local SEO is how you get there.
What Local SEO Involves for a Decorator
Google Business Profile
Your Google Business Profile is the foundation. A well-optimised profile for a decorator includes:
- Primary category: "Painter" or "Painting" is the main category available — use it
- Services listed individually: interior painting, exterior painting, wallpaper hanging, feature walls, commercial decorating, coving and cornicing, wood staining and varnishing
- Photos of completed work: decorating is a highly visual trade. Before-and-after shots of rooms, feature walls, and exterior paint jobs are compelling and persuasive.
- Service areas: every town and area you cover
- Description: include your location, main services, and any specialisations (e.g. commercial work, heritage properties, period homes)
Add new photos of completed jobs regularly — even a couple of phone photos per month keeps your profile looking active and current.
Reviews
Decorating is an intimate trade. Customers are having a stranger in their home, often while they're living there. Reviews are how they decide whether to trust you.
A decorator with 40 genuine reviews averaging 4.9 stars will win over a competitor with none almost every time. The specific things customers mention in decorating reviews — tidiness, punctuality, attention to detail, how well the site was left — are exactly what future customers want to know.
Build review collection into your workflow. After every job is completed and the client is happy, send a text with your Google review link: "Really glad you're happy with how it's come out — if you have two minutes, a Google review would mean a lot. Here's the link."
See the full guide on how to get more Google reviews.
Website With Service and Location Pages
Many decorators operate without a website, or with a very basic one. This is a significant competitive opportunity — because if your competitors don't have proper websites and you do, you have a substantial advantage in search rankings.
A decorator's website should include:
- Service pages: interior decorating, exterior decorating, wallpaper hanging, and commercial decorating each deserve their own page
- Location pages: "Decorator in Merthyr Tydfil," "Painter and Decorator Aberdare," "Interior Decorator Cardiff" — each page targets a specific local search
- A photo gallery: high-quality photos of completed rooms, exterior work, and feature walls
- Testimonials: genuine customer quotes on your homepage and service pages
- Clear contact details: phone number at the top of every page, click-to-call on mobile
If you don't have a website yet, our Managed Starter Websites service gets you professionally set up from £50/month with domain and hosting included.
Citations and Directory Listings
Consistent listings across directories tell Google your business is legitimate and established. For decorators, prioritise:
- Checkatrade
- TrustATrader
- Bark.com
- Yell.com
- MyBuilder
Every listing must use your exact business name, address, and phone number. Inconsistencies reduce Google's confidence and suppress your local rankings.
Commercial Decorating — A Higher-Value SEO Target
If you do commercial decorating — offices, retail units, schools, hotels — it's worth targeting these searches specifically. Commercial clients tend to be repeat customers with larger project values, and they often search differently: "commercial decorator Cardiff," "office painting contractor South Wales," "school decorating contract."
A dedicated commercial decorating page on your website, with relevant portfolio examples and content about your commercial experience, can attract a higher-value client type that many decorators overlook.
What Results Should a Decorator Expect From SEO?
Months 1–3: Profile and website optimisation, citation building. Rankings begin moving for less competitive searches.
Months 3–6: Regular appearances in the Local Pack for your primary area. 5–10 additional organic enquiries per month.
Months 6–12: Consistent first-page rankings across your service area. 10–20+ organic enquiries per month depending on competition and coverage.
Is SEO Worth It for a Painter and Decorator?
With average decorating jobs ranging from £300 for a room to £5,000+ for a full house, the maths works clearly. Local SEO from £200/month generating four additional jobs per month at an average of £600 each returns £2,400 — a 12× monthly return.
For decorators who also do commercial work or larger domestic projects, the return is even more compelling.
The key advantage over paid advertising: once your SEO rankings are established, the leads keep coming without paying per click. Ads stop generating results the moment you stop paying. Rankings don't.
For a fuller comparison, see SEO for tradespeople — is it actually worth it?.
Getting Started
Priority order for a decorator starting SEO:
- Set up and fully optimise your Google Business Profile
- Get a professional website live with service and location pages
- Start collecting reviews consistently after every job
- Build citations across trade directories
- Add regular photos of completed work to your profile
For decorators in South Wales who want to build a consistent pipeline of work from Google, get in touch with NC Digital. Our local SEO service is built for tradespeople — clear, jargon-free, and focused on generating real enquiries.