SEO for Architects
Architecture is the least contested sector we have measured. Terms that would be a bloodbath in most trades sit almost unclaimed here, because practices have always relied on referrals. That will not last.
Nobody wakes up wanting an architect. They want a bigger kitchen. A loft they can use. To know whether the council will let them build it. The planning question comes months before the architect question. The practice that answers it is already the expert by the time anybody starts looking for a firm.
Get found before the project exists
Every architectural website competes for the same handful of terms at the bottom of the funnel, where somebody has already decided they need a practice. Meanwhile an enormous volume of searching happens upstream of that decision, asking questions you answer in your sleep, plus hardly anybody is there to answer them.
The questions come first
Do I need planning permission for this. What does permitted development actually allow. How close to the boundary can I build. These are searched constantly by people who do not yet know they need you.
Answering builds the relationship
Somebody who found a clear answer on your site has already formed a view about your practice before any contact. That is a considerably better starting position than arriving as one of three names on a list.
It is genuinely useful content
Planning rules are confusing, they change, plus they vary by authority. You know this properly. Writing it down is a public service that happens to be excellent marketing.
Cost questions work the same way
How much does an architect cost is one of the most searched questions in the sector and almost no practice answers it, which leaves the field open.
The full approach is in planning permission content for architects, which the cluster treats as the top-of-funnel lead magnet for this sector.
A page for every kind of project you take
Clients do not search for an architect in the abstract. They search for somebody who does their kind of project. A practice page listing everything ranks for none of it. Each of these is a distinct client with a distinct budget.
House extensions
The biggest homeowner search in the sector and the most common way a private client first engages an architect. Long research window before anybody makes contact.
See the guide → Core workResidential
The bread and butter of most independent practices, covering everything from remodelling to whole-house work for private clients.
See the guide → Very low competitionLoft conversions
Among the least contested terms in the whole sector. Clear, specific and searched by people with a defined project already in mind.
See the guide → High value specialismListed and conservation
A genuine specialism where the wrong practice is an expensive mistake, so owners search deliberately for somebody with the right experience.
See the guide → Biggest projectsNew build and self build
Fewer searches, far larger fees, plus a client who will read everything on your site before making contact.
See the guide → GrowingSustainable architecture
A distinct and growing search from clients who have decided the environmental approach matters before they choose a practice.
See the guide → If you do commercialCommercial
A completely different buyer searching completely different words. Worth targeting properly if you do commercial work, worth skipping if you do not.
See the guide → Start hereThe complete guide
The whole picture in one place. What it costs, how long it takes, why most architect websites are invisible and how to work out the return.
Read the guide →How many people search for an architect near you
These are real monthly search numbers for architect and architectural practice terms across the UK. Volumes are lower than most trades, which is exactly why the competition is thin and the terms are winnable.
Figures are rounded monthly UK search volumes for generic architect searches in each area. Famous architects, architectural history, career and degree research, unrelated technology job titles and one pub called The Architect are all excluded, so these show genuine client demand. Want your own patch pulled? We will do it free.
The least contested sector we measure
Keyword difficulty runs from 0 to 100. These are the scores on the terms that actually bring architects work, alongside two sectors for comparison.
Architect near me
One of the lowest difficulty scores on a commercial near me term we have recorded in any sector.
Loft conversion terms
Average difficulty across the whole group. Specific, high intent and almost entirely unclaimed.
Listed building terms
A high value specialism sitting at a difficulty most sectors would not believe.
Dentist near me
For comparison. Gym near me sits at 43. Architecture is in a different world entirely.
The reason is simply that the profession has always run on referrals, so almost nobody has done the work. That is a timing advantage rather than a permanent state of affairs.
Architects are chosen on their work
This is a considered, high value appointment where the client is assessing whether you are credible and whether you have done something like their project before. Four things answer that. Most practice websites underuse all of them.
- A gallery of images with no context
- Photographs named with camera file numbers
- RIBA logo in the footer, unexplained
- An about page listing qualifications tersely
- No client voice anywhere on the site
- Case studies with the brief, the constraint and the outcome
- Portfolio images named, tagged and indexed properly
- A page explaining what chartered status means
- Named architects with their experience and specialisms
- Client testimonials tied to specific projects
Worth remembering that architect is a legally protected title in the UK, which makes your registration a real differentiator rather than a formality. Covered in RIBA chartered status and SEO, project case study pages and architecture portfolio SEO.
What is included
You do not need to buy SEO, a website person, a maps person and a social person separately. It is all one job to us, on one monthly fee. Tap through to see what each part does for a practice.
Local SEO
The core of it. A page for each project type you take on, an area page for each place you genuinely work and a structure Google can follow. Given how thin the competition is here, this alone often moves a practice a long way.
Planning content
The distinctive part. Guides answering the planning and permitted development questions homeowners search months before appointing anybody. Nobody else in your area is writing these, which is precisely why they work.
Your portfolio
Most architectural portfolios are invisible to search: beautiful images with filenames like DSC_4471. We name, tag and structure them, then build proper case studies around the projects rather than leaving them as a gallery.
RIBA credentials
Chartered status given a real page that explains what it means and why it matters, along with named architects and their specialisms. Architect is a protected title and most practices waste that advantage.
Website management
Your site looked after rather than left alone. New project pages built, case studies added as work completes and enquiry routes made obvious rather than hidden behind a single contact link.
AI optimisation
People now ask AI assistants who to use for a listed building project or a loft conversion locally. We structure your content and credentials so those tools can read your practice and recommend it accurately.
Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn
Two posts a week on each. Architecture is the most visually rewarding sector on social, plus finished projects travel further here than in almost any other profession.
Four steps, then we keep going
We map the winnable terms
Which project types you want more of, where you genuinely work and which searches in your area are sitting unclaimed. In this sector that list is unusually long.
We build the planning content
The upstream questions first, because that is where the least competition and the longest relationship-building window sit.
We build project-type pages
A page per kind of work, your portfolio made searchable and your chartered status given the page it deserves.
We keep at it
An update every three weeks and a full audit every quarter, adding case studies as projects complete.
What would it take to cover the fee
Drag the sliders to your own numbers. Architectural fees on a single residential project usually cover a year of marketing several times over. This is a rough illustration to think with, not a promise of results.
Illustration only. Real results depend on your area, your competition and the work you take on. We do not guarantee figures.
Three ways practices win projects
Referrals alone
- The best work you get, when it comes
- Arrives on its own schedule, not yours
- Follows the last project rather than the next
- Rarely reaches new areas or new project types
- Quiet quarters simply happen to you
Larger practices
- Marketing budget and dedicated staff
- Own the broad national terms
- Rarely compete on specific project types
- Little genuine local or planning content
- Beatable on specialism and locality
Owning the searches
- Found before the project is even defined
- A page for every project type you want
- Planning content nobody else has written
- Portfolio and credentials doing real work
- Unusually cheap to win, for now
One clear monthly fee
No setup fee and nothing billed separately, including when you add a project type and need a page building.
- One service area
- A page per project type
- Planning permission content
- Portfolio and case studies optimised
- Website management and AI optimisation
- Quarterly audits and monthly reporting
- Everything in Local SEO
- Several areas covered
- More competitive project types
- Wider content programme
- For practices covering a region
- Everything in Growth
- National reach
- For larger practices
- Full commercial architecture targeting
- Priority support
Worth comparing against what local SEO typically costs before you decide.
Claim it while it is still cheap.
We build the planning content that catches clients before the project exists, a page for every kind of work you take on, plus a portfolio Google can actually read. One plan. One fee. No cost per lead.
Everything included in your plan:
One clear retainer. No setup fee.
