So today I want to sit down and share something I actually do almost every week for my clients — keyword research for interior design websites using Semrush. This is not some theory I read somewhere. This is exactly what I do when a client comes to me and says, “Raj, I have an interior design website, but nobody is finding me on Google.” So let me walk you through it, the same way I did it just now, sitting with my laptop, coffee beside me, and ChatGPT open in one tab and Semrush open in another.
Step 1: I Start With ChatGPT, Not Semrush
A lot of people think keyword research starts directly in a tool like Semrush. But honestly, I like to start somewhere simpler — ChatGPT. I just typed a simple question: “best interior designers in New York.” Nothing fancy. And within seconds, I got a list of websites, one of them being a studio-type website ranking right at the top.
Now here’s a little trick I use, and I want you to remember this one. I picked that top-ranking website and asked ChatGPT directly, “Why did you consider this one to rank first?” I just wanted to understand the reasoning behind it before jumping into numbers and data.
The answer I got back was interesting. ChatGPT told me it was mainly because of third-party ranking and review data — basically trust signals, reviews, and how well-known the studio was in luxury and residential design circles. Good insight, but honestly, too much data to sit and read line by line. So I decided to go straight to the source — their actual website.
Step 2: Checking The Competitor’s Website Directly
I clicked on the website link and copied the domain. This is where the real work begins. I opened Semrush, went into the Domain Overview section, and let it load. While it was loading, I just sat back for a second, because this is the part where you actually see what’s happening behind the scenes of a website that’s doing well.
Once it loaded, I saw a nicely built website. I clicked on their blog section to check something important — are they consistent with posting? Because Google likes fresh, regular content, especially for a site trying to rank locally. I noticed their latest blog was from December 29, 2025. So they were still active, not a dead website just sitting there.
Step 3: Checking Their Traffic Numbers
Next thing I did was set the location to worldwide inside Semrush and checked their organic traffic. In the past one month, this domain got around 2,300 visitors. Not bad at all for a niche like interior design. The authority score showed 28, and I also noticed something newer — the AI visibility section, which shows how often the site gets mentioned in AI-generated answers, along with their top organic keywords.
This is the real gold, honestly. Because if a website like this is getting decent traffic, then their top keywords are basically a roadmap for you.
Step 4: The Actual Keyword Research Part
So here’s what I did next, and this is the exact process you should follow if you’re building or growing an interior design website. I clicked on “View Details” under their top organic keywords, and I let it load. There were genuinely a lot of keywords showing up — things like “office interior design,” “interior design office,” and many more variations around that space.
Now, Semrush gives you the option to filter by keyword difficulty and by search volume. I intentionally skipped the SERP features filter this time because I only wanted the plain organic keywords, nothing else mixing into the data.
I sorted the list from highest keyword difficulty to the lowest, and there were about 10 pages of keywords in total. Then I flipped it — sorted from easy to difficult instead. This is where the real opportunity sits. When a keyword shows zero keyword difficulty but still has decent volume, like one I found with 200 monthly searches and another with 480, that’s basically Google telling you, “Barely anyone is targeting this properly, you can jump in and grab it.”
I also checked the country-wise filter, because ranking for a keyword that’s searched in your target country matters more than a global number that looks impressive but doesn’t convert.
Why This Matters For Your Interior Design Website
If you’re running an interior design website, this process is honestly your starting point. You look at what’s already working for a competitor, you check their consistency, their traffic, and then you dig into the keywords they’re ranking for — especially the low-difficulty, decent-volume ones. Those are your quick wins. Once you start ranking for those smaller keywords, Google starts trusting your website more, and slowly you climb up to the tougher ones too.
I’ve done this same process on makemoneyraj.com and with clients across different niches, and interior design is no different — the fundamentals stay the same. It’s just about knowing where to look and what to filter out.
Want Me To Do This With You, Live?
If reading this made you think, “okay this makes sense, but I want someone to actually sit with me and do this for my own website” — that’s exactly what I do in my 1-on-1 coaching calls. We go through your website together, figure out where you’re losing rankings, and build a proper keyword and content plan so your site actually starts growing on Google instead of just sitting there.
👉 Book a 60-minute 1-on-1 call with me here
We’ll talk about your website, your niche, and how you can either rank higher or start monetizing your blog properly. See you on the call.