How Lemon Fridge Went From Invisible on Google to Capturing Homeowners 6 Months Before Competitors

We started with three weeks of research before touching anything. Ran a full business deep dive, forum pain analysis across HardwareZone and Reddit, and competitive audit of the top 7 interior design firms in Singapore. The findings changed the entire strategy. The research revealed that 66% of homeowners experience renovation regret, with 43% regretting insufficient storage and 38% regretting budget overruns. CASE logged 962 renovation complaints in 2024 with $728,000 in prepayment losses. Homeowners were terrified. They did not need another pretty portfolio. They needed proof they could trust someone.

Mapped the complete homeowner decision journey from trigger event (BTO keys collection, resale purchase, life stage change) through to designer selection. Identified 47 keyword clusters across three stages. Awareness stage: "HDB renovation ideas", "BTO renovation cost", "condo interior design Singapore". Consideration stage: "how to choose interior designer", "interior designer vs contractor", "renovation budget calculator". Decision stage: "best interior designer Singapore", "Scandinavian interior design firm", "interior designer reviews". Each cluster got content that answered the exact questions homeowners were asking at that stage of their research.

Built a content strategy that addressed the trust crisis head-on. Instead of showcasing portfolio images (which every competitor already did), the content explained renovation costs transparently, documented the design process step by step, and addressed the fears homeowners expressed on forums. Articles like "What Your Interior Designer Will Not Tell You About Renovation Costs" and "How to Protect Your Deposit When Hiring a Designer" positioned Lemon Fridge as the firm that educates rather than sells. This leveraged founder Renee Lim's UX background. Her approach to design started with user research and customer understanding, and the content reflected that methodology.

Rebuilt the Google Business Profile with project photos, service area targeting across key Singapore districts, and a systematic review generation process. On Instagram, shifted from pure portfolio posts to short testimonial-style videos where homeowners described their renovation experience in their own words. These videos served double duty: social proof on Instagram and embeddable content for the website case studies. The combination of honest educational content on Google and authentic customer stories on Instagram created two acquisition channels reinforcing each other.

Within 5 months, Lemon Fridge ranked on page 1 for 31 renovation-related keywords. Not vanity keywords. Terms like "BTO renovation cost", "how to choose interior designer Singapore", and "HDB renovation ideas" that homeowners actually searched when starting their research. The content captured them at the research stage, months before they contacted any designer. By the time they booked a consultation, they had already read the pricing guide, watched the process videos, and understood the firm's approach. They showed up informed instead of anxious.

Consultation-to-project conversion rate doubled. Not because the sales pitch improved but because the leads changed. Homeowners arriving through organic search had pre-qualified themselves through the content. They understood the pricing range ($28,750 for a 3-room BTO, $40,000+ for larger projects), they had seen the Scandinavian portfolio and liked it, and they already trusted the process because the content had addressed their biggest fears. The consultations became collaborative design conversations instead of trust-building exercises.

Cost per qualified lead dropped 40% compared to the previous Instagram-and-referral-only approach. More importantly, the content kept working. A blog post published in month two continued generating consultations in month six. Unlike paid ads that stop the moment you pause spending, or Instagram posts that disappear from feeds within days, the organic content accumulated search authority over time. Each new article strengthened the others, creating a compounding asset instead of a recurring expense.