SEO For Architects: Proven Strategies to Attract More Clients

by Venchito Tampon Jr | Last Updated on March 3, 2025

The best part of SEO for architects is that it meets your potential clients just at the right time when they are looking for architectural services—they search for them. 

While ranking for design-related keywords could be challenging with the tight competition from large media sites like ArchDaily, Houzz, and Dwell dominating the majority of style-based queries, there is still room for growth for anyone who can outsmart these guys. 

In this guide, we’ll cover strategies for helping architectural firms win more design projects using search engine optimization. 

 

SEO Strategies For Architects

Own Niche, Style-Specific Keywords

Most architecture firms make the mistake of solely targeting broad, highly competitive keywords like “architecture firm in [City’]”, which are dominated by large firms and directories. 

As you can see in the screenshot below, directories top Google’s first-page search results for the keyword “architecture firm New York.” Google’s intent may change in the future, but as of this writing, it favors more directory/list-type pages. 

 

This brings us to an SEO strategy of targeting style-based and niche-specific keywords, which has a higher chance of ranking for mid-level and starting SEO campaigns. 

Another reason for this niche-targeting is that you can capture high-intent buyers, as they generally search for very specific keywords related to their preferences in design styles. 

Start doing audience research by going through your sales calls or conversations. Collect all information about the types of questions, challenges, and design preferences they usually ask your team. 

Avoid being too conscious of search volume. Most targeted questions that your potential clients would ask may not have significant search volume on Ahrefs or SEMRush data, but there are higher chances that people are searching for these questions exactly on Google. 

Here are examples of keyphrases you can target for your architect SEO campaign—align them with your current service offerings:

• “Sustainable home architect in [city]” – for eco-conscious homeowners
• “Modern Mediterranean home design [location]” – for style-focused clients
• “Passive house architect in [city]” – for energy-efficient home seekers
• “Luxury villa architect in [region]” – for high-end clientele
• “Small space home design specialist in [city]” – for urban and compact living solutions

Create a dedicated landing page to target each keyword (1 to 1). Optimize pages by including the keyword in the SEO’s most prominent places—meta title, H1, first sentence, etc… 

Include information your target users seek to help search engines understand your page better. Adding FAQs to increase content depth and length helps your page appear on People Also Ask questions on Google’s SERPs. 

Smart Image Compression—Speeding Up Website Without Losing Quality

Architectural firm websites are heavily image-driven, showcasing high-resolution project photos, 3D renderings, and portfolio galleries. 

However, these large image file sizes often slow down website load times, negatively impacting user experience and website’s search rankings. As Google favors fast-loading websites to ensure users don’t pogo-stick (go back to search results to satisfy their searcher’s intent and needs), having slower pages with large image files can be a disadvantage. 

Here are practical recommendations for compressing images.

Before uploading photos to a website, you can compress files using specialized tools such as:

• For Mac—use ImageOptim, which helps remove metadata and compress images efficiently.
• For Windows—use Riot, which offers fine-tuned compression controls.
• Web-based—TinyPNG—to easily reduce PNG and JPEG file sizes by up to 50% without visible quality loss. 

After uploading, you can even optimize images at the server level:

• Implement Lazy Loading—to make images only load when visible on the screen, reducing initial page load time.
• Use a Content Delivery Network (CDN) to serve images from the closest server to the user, reducing load times globally. Use Cloudflare, BunnyCDN, or Fastly.

One image SEO best practice is to convert images to WebP or AVIF, which provides smaller file sizes (30-50% smaller than JPEGs without loss of quality), faster page speeds to improve SEO and reduce bounce rates, and better compatibility with modern browsers. 

Leverage “Image SEO” to Rank in Google Images

It is apparent in the architectural industry that your potential clients often search for inspiration before hiring a firm. They browse through Google Images for specific design styles, home layouts, or commercial spaces—these open up opportunities for your architectural brand to capture these visual searchers.

Optimize your images to increase their chances of being more visible in Google Images. Here are a couple of actionable tips:

• Upload keyword-rich file name—use  “modern-loft-architect-new-york.jpg” instead of “IMG_2345.jpg”.
• Write alt text that exactly describes the image (a good alt text is: “A modern loft-style home designed by [Firm Name] in New York, featuring sustainable materials and open-concept living.”).
• Embed on pages with captions that naturally contain keywords (e.g., “This award-winning modern loft design in New York was created to maximize natural light and space efficiency.”).
• Use structured image metadata.
• Add EXIF data (location, camera, project details) to help search engines understand image context.
• Upload your visual assets on Pinterest and optimize them further for Google Lens searches.
• Add branded watermarks and optimize descriptions so users can trace images to your website.

In addition to these essential image optimization techniques, you can also use visual assets to drive more backlinks to your website.

Do a reverse image search for your branded images, infographics, inspirational design photos, and other visual assets. See which publisher or webmaster has used any of these content pieces. Send emails to these publishers to ask for proper attribution of links.

Google Business Profile Optimization with High-Intent Keywords

Though potential clients in the architectural space would desire to look for specific firm websites, ranking on Google Map Packs brings you an upfront advantage of being the first seen on Google, as it sits on top of organic search listings. 

Here are hygienic ways to optimize your Google Business Profile for your architectural firm: 

• Claim and verify your Google Business Profile (you can now verify your business with a video recording to capture more details). 
• Complete the information in your GBP profile (primary category, additional categories, service areas, business description, contact details, and website). 
• Make sure your NAP (Business Name, Business Address, and Phone Number) is accurate and consistent with the NAP details on your website.
• Post high-quality content in GBP to send freshness signals to your profile. Upload before/after project images with updates about ongoing projects and industry trends. 
• Do review solicitations, especially from satisfied clients. The best time to ask for reviews is during the highest satisfaction period. 

By doing these tips, you will likely get ranking improvements for Google Map Packs with your Google Business Profile. 

 

Video SEO for YouTube and Google Search

One of the best ways to capture traffic for your architectural firm is leveraging video SEO to attract more potential clients from YouTube and Google searches.

 

As you can see in the screenshot above, there’s a YouTube video section for the term “best architectural styles for tropical climates”, which forms the blended search results for this query.  

Many potential clients search for design inspiration or insights into specific architectural styles and construction processes, and search results for these types of queries often showcase videos of walkthroughs, time-lapse projects, or design concepts that let searchers learn from the content visually. 

Here are a couple of tips to make video SEO work for your architectural firm: 

• Upload architecture walkthroughs with optimized titles. Use more descriptive, keyword-rich formats to rank higher in search—as you rank higher on YouTube search, you also get to rank in Google’s blended search results.
• Use timestamps to break videos into sections. This will help Google better understand your content while letting users jump to only relevant sections, increasing their watch time and engagement.
• Include keyword-rich descriptions and add links to your website, lead magnets, service pages, and your firm’s social media accounts. 
• Embed YouTube videos in related blog posts or landing pages. This would help improve user engagement on those pages, add more views to your YouTube videos (which helps increase its rankings in the platform), and help improve overall ranking improvements. 

Go to Google’s SERPs for every possible keyword to target, assess if it favors videos to show up for searchers, and create and upload those types of videos to attract additional traffic to your website. 

 

Create Cost Calculators

Costing is a big chunk of the decision-making process of most of your potential clients. Whether these other buying factors persuade you, there’s always a cost involved in every project. That said, leveraging it to create an interactive cost calculator can help you lead them to make the right decision to hire your architectural firm.

It also helps you capture leads at the research stage, enabling potential clients to understand pricing while subtly encouraging them to contact you for a more detailed consultation. 

 

Interactive cost calculators are also linkable assets that help you passively acquire new backlinks to your website—naturally, from other publishers. adding your resource to their own content works, making it easy to strengthen your backlink profile without doing much manual outreach. 

Here are a couple of ideas to help you ideate your cost calculator: 

• Custom Home Design Cost Calculator
• Home Renovation Cost Calculator
• Home Extension Cost Calculator
• Luxury Home Design Cost Estimator
• ADU (Accessory Dwelling Unit) Cost Calculator
• Office Interior Fit-Out Cost Calculator
• Retail Space Build-Out Cost Calculator
• Restaurant & Café Interior Design Cost Calculator
• Sustainable Home Design Cost Estimator
• Structural Engineering Cost Calculator

Next, optimize the cost calculator to target high-intent, cost-related keywords such as “home renovation cost estimator in [City]”. It is also best to include a strong CTA (or a section) to lead your visitors into booking a consultation or getting an exact quote from your team. 

These cost calculators position your architectural firm as a thought leader in your industry by providing free tools—interactive tools people can use—and this has immense value in the buyer’s decision-making process. 

 

Link Building for Architectural Firms

We’ve somehow proven (time and time again) that tremendous results can be expected when link building is done right—see our case studies.

In architectural firms, link building will make your website more competitive to rank in Google’s SERPs. These links help optimize your site’s crawl budget, build your site’s domain authority (helping you rank for more competitive keywords), generate more leads from referral traffic, and provide many other benefits your brand must take advantage of. 

Whether you’re starting new in link building or have been trying to build backlinks to architectural firms, here are actionable and practical link building tips:

• Shy away from Fiverr backlinks that only cost you pennies to get hundreds of links.
• Quality matters. See to it you’re only getting the right types of backlinks—relevant ones from websites with an Ahrefs Domain Rating of 25 or above and at least 1,000 organic traffic (or higher). 
• Invest in creating linkable assets to help you earn passive links via ranking for informational keywords.
• Get links only from relevant architecture directories, such as Architizer, The American Institute of Architects (AIA), and the RIBA Directory.
• Find and reclaim unlinked mentions, particularly for publishers and other content creators who used your visual and video assets. Reach out to them and ask them to credit links with you as their sources.
• Pitch unique case studies or design trends to A-list architecture and design magazines (one exposure with a link can immensely increase your firm website’s domain authority).
• Offer expert insights through an expert commentary-type digital PR campaign, where you send inputs to journalists looking for external advice for the content they’re writing about.

Getting these links should be enough to impact your firm’s search rankings. 

Build Topical Authority Through a Localized Blog Strategy

One of the reasons for building your blog is to capture search traffic from people not ready to hire your firm immediately. 

Given that most people would spend weeks or even months researching their options, comparing different firms, and educating themselves about the design and construction process before making a decision. 

 

Publishing blog content tailored to these making stages lets you capture leads and build initial trust with these people (as you provide upfront value before rendering services). 

To build topical authority, you need to publish informational content around topics your potential clients would be interested in consuming. Create content around these concerns and position your firm as the go-to expert in the industry.

Here are a couple of topics to help you get started with your blogging strategy: 

• Signs You Need an Architect for Your Home Renovation
• Architect vs. Interior Designer: Which One Do You Need?
• Understanding the Architectural Design Process: A Step-by-Step Guide
• How to Budget for an Architect: Costs, Fees, and Hidden Expenses
• What Questions Should You Ask Before Hiring an Architect?
• How to Find the Best Architect for Your Project in [City]
• Do I Need an Architect for a Small Home Addition?
• The Benefits of Hiring an Architect for Your Custom Home
• When to Hire an Architect vs. a Draftsman: Key Differences
• What Does an Architect Do? Breaking Down Their Role in a Project

Focusing on topics that draw people closer to their buying decision process helps you capture search traffic by ranking these pages for informational queries. 

Once you identify and schedule topics in your editorial calendar, the next step is to write, optimize, and promote these blog contents.

We have a couple of guides on these topics, but let me give you the ones essential to make them rank for their target keywords (and help build your site’s topical authority):

• Include primary keywords in the title (H1), first 100 words (or first sentence), H2 heading, image file names and alt text, and URL slug—these basic SEO elements will help Google understand your page’s topic.
• Write engaging meta titles and click-worthy descriptions (though meta descriptions aren’t a ranking factor, they do help get more clicks). 
• Link to other relevant internal blog posts or service pages. 
• To enhance the credibility of your page’s content, include external links when you source credible insights and sources (e.g., links to architecture magazines, government permit guides, etc.).
• Keep paragraphs short for better readability (as users skim content these days).
• Use bullet points and bold texts to highlight key information.
• Add a call to action (CTA) in your blog posts to guide readers through the next stage of your service journey. 

As soon as you rank for informational keywords, make it a habit to check your Search Console (or Ahrefs) to see improvements in content depth, new LSI and secondary keywords to include in your content, and other things to re-optimize your content—and rank for more keyword variants. 

 

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