SEO for Melbourne Painters

The Melbourne Painting Market in 2026

Melbourne's painting market is driven by the city's ageing housing stock, its extreme UV climate, and a booming property sector that creates constant demand for both residential repaints and commercial fit-outs. The city adds 100,000+ residents annually, generating new painting demand across residential developments, office fit-outs, and strata maintenance. Meanwhile, Melbourne's 60%+ housing stock over 30 years old creates a perpetual repaint cycle. The result is a market where demand is enormous — but most painters remain invisible online, losing leads to platforms like Hipages and Airtasker instead of building their own brand equity through search.

Victoria's painting industry generates over $2.8 billion annually, with Melbourne accounting for roughly 70% of that market. The sector splits cleanly into two worlds: domestic painting (house repaints, interior refreshes, investment property preparation) and commercial painting (office fit-outs, strata building maintenance, warehouse coatings, retail builds). There are approximately 6,500 registered painting practitioners in Victoria, but only around 800 have websites with any meaningful content. Google data shows Melbourne homeowners request 3-5 painting quotes before choosing, and overwhelmingly start their search online — yet most painter websites are single-page brochures with a phone number and an ABN. The opportunity gap is enormous.

The three segments with the strongest SEO opportunity for Melbourne painters are: residential repainting (Melbourne's ageing housing stock — 60% of homes are 30+ years old — creates constant repaint demand, and homeowners searching for "house painter near me" have near-immediate purchase intent); commercial and strata painting (body corporates managing multi-unit buildings run scheduled maintenance programs worth $20K-$150K+ per project, and they search for painters with commercial credentials and insurance); and specialty finishes (heritage colour matching, lead paint removal, decorative finishes, and Venetian plaster create premium niches with virtually zero SEO competition and $15K-$50K+ project values). Each segment has distinct search patterns, competitive dynamics, and content requirements.

Melbourne also has unique environmental factors that drive painting-specific search demand: the city's extreme UV exposure (among the highest in the world) causes paint to deteriorate faster than in most cities, creating predictable 7-10 year repaint cycles. Melbourne's coastal suburbs face salt spray damage, while the western suburbs deal with industrial fallout. The painter who creates content explaining "Why Melbourne's UV Destroys Exterior Paint Faster Than You'd Expect" captures research-stage traffic that generic painter websites completely miss. Similarly, Melbourne's booming apartment construction from 2010-2020 is now generating massive strata repaint demand as those buildings hit their first maintenance cycle.

Real SEO Examples: Who's Doing It Right (And Wrong)

Here's what's actually working in Melbourne painter search right now — and the patterns that keep most painters invisible despite doing excellent work.

Your First 30 Days: Step-by-Step Implementation

Melbourne's post-collapse market means trust signals come first — before content, before suburb pages, before anything else. Here's the priority order:

Keyword Research: What Your Customers Search

Melbourne painter searches cluster into four intent groups: service-type searches (highest volume), cost/pricing queries (highest purchase intent), suburb-level searches (highest conversion), and specialty queries (lowest competition, premium projects).

Service-Type Keywords (Where Volume Lives)

Keyword	Monthly Volume	Notes
painter melbourne	2,400	Broad head term — mixed intent, competitive
house painter melbourne	1,800	Strongest residential intent — homeowners ready to get quotes
interior painter melbourne	890	Year-round demand — not weather dependent like exterior
exterior painter melbourne	720	Seasonal peak Oct-Mar — Melbourne UV drives repaint cycle
commercial painter melbourne	580	Higher project values $20K-$150K+ — worth dedicated pages
painters near me	3,800	Local intent — Google Business Profile and local SEO critical

Melbourne-Specific Opportunities

Content Strategy: What Painters Should Publish

Melbourne's painting content landscape is a desert. Most painter websites have a homepage, an "About" page, and maybe a gallery — and that's it. The painter who publishes genuine, useful content about painting in Melbourne will dominate search for years because the competition simply isn't creating any. Here's the content strategy that fills that gap across both residential and commercial.

Schema Markup: Ready-to-Use Code

Schema markup helps Google understand that you're a painting business serving Melbourne. Here's the ready-to-use code — paste it into your homepage's <head> section:

<script type="application/ld+json">
{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "HousePainter",
  "name": "Your Painting Company Name",
  "url": "https://yoursite.com.au",
  "telephone": "+61-4XX-XXX-XXX",
  "email": "info@yoursite.com.au",
  "description": "Professional house and commercial painting services in Melbourne. Interior painting, exterior painting, heritage restoration, and strata building maintenance.",
  "image": "https://yoursite.com.au/images/team-photo.jpg",
  "priceRange": "$$",
  "areaServed": [
    {"@type": "City", "name": "Melbourne"},
    {"@type": "State", "name": "Victoria"}
  ],
  "address": {
    "@type": "PostalAddress",
    "streetAddress": "Your Street Address",
    "addressLocality": "Melbourne",
    "addressRegion": "VIC",
    "postalCode": "3000",
    "addressCountry": "AU"
  },
  "hasOfferCatalog": {
    "@type": "OfferCatalog",
    "name": "Services",
    "itemListElement": [
      {"@type": "Offer", "itemOffered": {"@type": "Service", "name": "Interior House Painting"}},
      {"@type": "Offer", "itemOffered": {"@type": "Service", "name": "Exterior House Painting"}},
      {"@type": "Offer", "itemOffered": {"@type": "Service", "name": "Commercial Painting"}},
      {"@type": "Offer", "itemOffered": {"@type": "Service", "name": "Strata Building Painting"}},
      {"@type": "Offer", "itemOffered": {"@type": "Service", "name": "Heritage Painting"}},
      {"@type": "Offer", "itemOffered": {"@type": "Service", "name": "Roof Painting"}}
    ]
  },
  "aggregateRating": {"@type": "AggregateRating", "ratingValue": "4.9", "reviewCount": "85"}
}
</script>

12-Month Content Calendar

Melbourne's painting demand follows clear seasonal patterns: exterior work peaks in spring/summer (October-March), interior work is year-round, and commercial painting often targets quieter business periods. Layer in Melbourne-specific triggers like pre-sale season, strata AGM cycles, and rental turnover periods:

Monthly Content Rhythm

Competitor Analysis Framework

Melbourne's painter market is one of the least competitive online. Here's how to find where you fit — and where the gaps are:

VBA Licensing & Trust as SEO Assets

Melbourne's painting industry has a persistent trust problem: unlicensed operators undercut registered painters, deliver substandard work, and disappear. Consumer Affairs Victoria regularly prosecutes unlicensed painters, and homeowner forums are filled with horror stories. The SEO consequence is clear: Melbourne consumers now actively verify painter credentials before making contact. Your VBA registration isn't just a legal requirement — it's the content that separates you from the hundreds of unlicensed operators competing on Gumtree and Airtasker.

In Victoria, painters performing domestic building work valued over $10,000 must hold a Domestic Builder (Painter) registration with the Victorian Building Authority. Your registration should appear on every page of your website — in the header or footer, linked directly to the VBA's "Check a Practitioner" tool so homeowners can verify with one click. Create a dedicated "Our Credentials & Insurance" page that includes: your VBA registration number and class, a direct verification link, your public liability insurance provider and amount ($10M-$20M recommended), WorkCover certificate details, and any additional accreditations (Master Painters Victoria, Dulux Accredited Painter, lead paint removal certification).

The content strategy extends beyond credentials display. Publish FAQ content addressing the questions Melbourne homeowners really ask: "How do I check if a painter is licensed in Victoria?" "What should a painting quote include?" "How to spot an unlicensed painter" "What warranty should I expect from a Melbourne painter?" Being the painter who answers these questions openly positions you as the transparent, professional choice in a market full of questionable operators.

Local SEO Playbook: Winning Painting Jobs in Your Area

Melbourne's painting market segments geographically in ways that create distinct SEO opportunities. A heritage painter in Boroondara faces completely different competitors than a new-estate painter in Wyndham — and homeowners in each area search for fundamentally different things.

Build area-specific landing pages targeting Melbourne's key suburbs and regions. "Painters in Boroondara: Heritage Homes, Period Colours & Lead Paint Specialists" or "House Painter Bayside Melbourne — Coastal Exterior Specialists." Each page should reference the specific painting challenges of that area: Boroondara's heritage overlay homes requiring period-appropriate colour schemes, Bayside's salt spray exposure demanding marine-grade coatings, the western suburbs' newer estates needing first repaints after 10-year builder warranties expire, and inner-city apartments requiring body corporate approval processes. This hyper-local knowledge is content that platform-reliant painters cannot replicate — and it's exactly what homeowners search for when they type "painter [my suburb]."

Your Google Business Profile needs Melbourne-specific optimisation. Primary category: "Painter" or "House Painter." Add every relevant secondary: "Commercial Painter," "Interior Designer." Upload 50+ project photos — before/afters organised by service type (interior, exterior, commercial, heritage) and tagged by Melbourne suburb. Post weekly with project updates: "Complete exterior repaint — Edwardian home in Hawthorn, Dulux Weathershield in Colorbond Surfmist" — every post with suburb and product references strengthens your local relevance. Manually list every suburb you service rather than setting a radius; Melbourne's irregular council boundaries make radius targeting unreliable.

The Cost of NOT Doing SEO

Technical SEO Checklist

Painter websites face a common technical challenge: before/after galleries and project photos are essential but destroy page speed if unoptimised. Here's the Melbourne painter checklist:

Google Business Profile Checklist

For Melbourne painters, the Map Pack is where 40-50% of painting enquiries originate. Your GBP needs to demonstrate quality work and local expertise:

Frequently Asked Questions

How much does it cost to paint a house in Melbourne?

Interior painting for a 3-bedroom Melbourne home typically costs $4,500–$9,000. Exterior painting ranges $5,000–$15,000 depending on size, storeys, and surface condition. Expect $35–65/m² for interior walls and $45–80/m² for exterior. Heritage homes with lead paint removal and detailed cornicing can exceed $25,000. Commercial painting is quoted per square metre, typically $25–55/m² for office interiors.

Do painters need to be licensed in Victoria?

Yes. In Victoria, painters performing domestic building work valued over $10,000 (including labour and materials) must hold a Domestic Builder (Painter) registration with the Victorian Building Authority (VBA). Commercial painters should be registered and hold adequate public liability insurance (minimum $10M–$20M). Always verify a painter's registration at vba.vic.gov.au before hiring.

How long does it take to paint a Melbourne house?

A standard 3-bedroom interior takes 4–7 days. Exterior painting for a single-storey home takes 5–10 days depending on preparation. Melbourne's weather is a factor — exterior painting is best scheduled October through April. Heritage homes with extensive prep can take 2–4 weeks.

What's the difference between domestic and commercial painting?

Domestic painting covers houses, apartments, and residential properties — typically smaller jobs with premium finishes. Commercial painting covers offices, warehouses, strata buildings, retail fit-outs, and industrial facilities — involving larger crews, after-hours work, higher insurance, and project documentation. Many Melbourne painters specialise in one or both.

How long does SEO take for Melbourne painters?

Expect initial ranking improvements in 3–5 months, with qualified leads building from month 4–6. Painting has a shorter research cycle than building — homeowners typically decide within 2–6 weeks. Most painter websites are thin on content, so well-optimised pages rank faster than many other trades.

Should painters focus on Google Ads or SEO?

Both, but SEO delivers better long-term ROI. Google Ads for painters cost $15–45 per click in Melbourne, and leads stop the moment you stop paying. SEO builds a compounding asset — a well-optimised site can generate 20–50 organic leads per month. Start SEO first, layer in Google Ads for immediate leads while organic builds.