Marketing for architects, with a 20-point self-audit
Marketing for an architecture firm makes sure the right clients can find the firm and judge its work fairly before a shortlist is written. Clients look a firm up before they call, including the ones who were referred. This guide has a 20-point self-audit and a list of what to build at each firm size.
Why it matters
Why marketing matters for an architecture firm
Clients choose before the interview. By the time a client calls, whether a developer or a homeowner, they have looked the firm up and compared its work with other firms. Marketing gets the firm into the interview and confirms the client's decision afterward.
Architects get work by referral more often than by search, which leads some firms to treat marketing as optional. A referral still gets checked. The person who heard the firm's name at a dinner or on a jobsite goes to a screen next, and what they find supports the referral or weakens it. A firm with excellent work and a neglected website loses commissions it was never told it was considered for.
The standard is within reach. A current portfolio with professional photographs of finished work is enough to stand out in a region, as long as people can find it.
Self-audit
Score your firm in twenty questions
Give one point for each yes, and count a half yes as a no. The audit takes ten minutes, and the score shows where the firm is losing prospects.
The website
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1
The site shows its main content within 2.5 seconds on a phone, the mark Google's Core Web Vitals treat as a good load time.
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2
Each project page names the building type, location, size and your scope.
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3
A visitor can reach a project photo within two clicks of the homepage.
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4
The contact page gives a direct email address for a person, and it works.
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5
Something on the site has changed in the last ninety days.
The portfolio
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6
Your best project has professional photography, shot after occupancy.
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7
Each project page says what kind of client it was for and what problem the design solved.
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8
The strongest work appears first, and the weak work is cut.
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9
At least one project shows process, such as a sketch, a model, a detail or a site photo.
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10
Projects are dated, and the last three years are represented.
Being findable
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11
Searching your firm name brings up your site first, with correct contact information.
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12
Your Google Business Profile is claimed and current, and it shows your work.
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13
Each page has a unique title that says what the page is in plain words.
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14
Searching your city plus your building type puts your firm on the first page of results.
Presence and proof
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15
The firm posted publicly, anywhere, in the last thirty days.
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16
Your people are on the site with their names and roles.
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17
Awards and publications are listed on a page that is kept current.
Measurement
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18
You know how many inquiries came through the website last quarter.
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19
You know which project page gets the most visits.
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20
You ask each new inquiry how they found you, and you write the answer down.
Your score
What your score means
The four grades use the review stamps an architect puts on a submittal.
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17 to 20
Approved
The marketing works. Hold the schedule and keep photographing finished work. Put spare effort into publishing and relationships.
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12 to 16
Approved as noted
The foundation holds, and the firm is losing some prospects through the gaps. The gaps are usually in photography or in being found. Fix the items you marked no this quarter.
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6 to 11
Revise and resubmit
Prospects who hear your name find less proof than your reputation promises. Rebuild the portfolio site before any other marketing work.
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0 to 5
Rejected
The work may be excellent, and the firm is still hard to find and hard to judge. Start with one page that shows eight projects and a working email address.
By firm size
What to do at your firm's size
Solo practice
Build one excellent portfolio site and claim your Google Business Profile. Ask each inquiry where it came from. Build the site yourself if the budget is tight, using the steps further down this page. Skip paid advertising and the CRM, and spend any spare money on professional photographs of your best built project.
Two to nine people
Make photography a budget line and write up each project at substantial completion. Pick one channel, usually LinkedIn for commercial work or Instagram for residential, and post real projects on a schedule that one person owns. Start a simple email list of past clients and the contractors you work with, and send something worth reading a few times a year.
Ten to forty-nine people
Marketing belongs in someone's job description, in writing, with hours attached. Add sector pages to the website that match how the firm pursues work, such as healthcare or multifamily. Build proposals and qualification packages from the same project library as the site, so each project is written once. Pitch completed projects to local and trade press.
Fifty and up
A firm this size needs its marketing to be consistent across offices. That means one brand voice and a program of published articles with named authors. Plan business development and marketing together. Give the recruiting story the same care as the client story, because candidates read the site as closely as clients do.
By goal
Match the work to the goal
Winning first commissions
Proof and reachability matter most. Show eight strong projects with honest photography. Give a direct email address and reply quickly.
Moving up in project size
Document your largest relevant work in depth and show process and delivery. The portfolio should make the case that the firm can carry larger projects than it has been given.
Entering a new sector
Write one flagship project page in that sector and a dedicated page that uses the sector's terms. Contact the people who award that work directly. One project is enough to start with.
Recruiting talent
Name your people and show the studio. Write project stories that include how the work got done, because candidates read them closely.
Do it yourself
How to build the website yourself
A solo practice or a small firm with a clean body of work can build its own site. Wix Studio is our pick among the do-it-yourself platforms for its design-led templates, and it suits anyone comfortable learning a designer's tool. Standard Wix is the simpler path for someone who has never used a website builder. Both include hosting and SEO settings, and both let you connect your own domain. Expect a focused weekend to build the site and an evening a month to keep it current.
Start from a portfolio template built for architecture or photography, with a simple grid that puts images first. Pass over the generic business templates and their stock handshakes.
Cut the portfolio to your best eight projects or fewer. A short portfolio of strong work reads as confidence.
Prepare images before uploading. Use consistent proportions and a longest edge of about 2500 pixels, and leave out phone screenshots. A template can only look as good as the images in it.
Write each project page in plain words: building type, location, size, your scope and one problem the design solved. Clients are checking facts.
Fill in the SEO settings on each page. Write a unique title in plain language and a one-sentence description, and add alt text to each image. Connect your own domain with HTTPS on.
Publish, then test the whole site on a phone before telling anyone. Clients often look a firm up on a phone first.
A template has limits. A do-it-yourself site can be clean and current, and that is enough for a lot of small firms. A template cannot take the photographs or keep publishing when the studio gets busy. It also cannot position the firm against the other names on a shortlist. When the inquiries you get stop matching the inquiries you want, the firm's positioning needs work, and the website has done what it can.
Questions and answers
Questions architects ask about marketing
What is the most important marketing asset for an architecture firm?
The portfolio website is the most important marketing asset for an architecture firm, backed by professional photography of finished work. Other channels point back to it, and referrals get checked against it. A firm does better with one excellent site than with five neglected channels.
How much should an architecture firm spend on marketing?
The amount depends on the goal. A solo practice pursuing its first commissions needs a good site with professional photography, and time to keep it up. A firm entering a new sector needs sustained effort over several quarters. Spending nothing for years and then making one rushed purchase before a slow winter tends to fail. Old Plank Group builds portfolio websites for architecture firms at a fixed price starting at $1,500.
Do architects need social media?
It depends on who the clients are. A firm that works for developers and building owners gets value from a steady LinkedIn presence. For residential work, homeowners already look at architecture on Instagram. One channel posted consistently does more than four channels abandoned in March.
How long does marketing take to work for an architecture firm?
Commissions have long cycles, and marketing works on the same clock. A better website and portfolio help from the day they launch, because the firm stops losing the prospects who already look it up. New demand builds over several quarters as projects are published and the referral network sees the work.
Old Plank Group builds portfolio websites for architecture firms.
Work through the audit and fix the items you marked no. The list is written for that. If you want the website built for you, we build portfolio sites at a fixed price starting at $1,500.