Do you need one?
Does an architect need a website?
Architects get referred work, so it is a fair question. But architecture is chosen on shown vision, and even referred clients want to see your portfolio first. Here is the honest answer.
From £297, live in 7 days, on your own domain.
Do you need a website?
The honest answer
Does an architect need a website? If a steady flow of referrals keeps your practice as full as you want with the projects you enjoy, and you have no wish to grow, then perhaps not, though even a referred client may hesitate with no work to see. I am not going to pretend it is compulsory. But if you want to grow, win the projects clients choose on shown vision, or reach the many people who research architects online, then yes, and the reason is specific to how architecture is chosen. The real question is not “website yes or no”. It is “when someone is choosing an architect on the strength of their portfolio, can they see your work”, because architecture is a visual, personal decision, and without a portfolio you have nothing to enter into it.
Architecture is chosen on shown vision
The defining feature of architecture, for this question, is that it is chosen visually and personally. A client planning a significant building project, an extension, a new home, a conversion, is choosing someone whose vision and judgement they will live with, often literally, for years. So they choose on the work: they want to see an architect whose completed projects they admire and whose style suits what they are dreaming of. That decision is made by looking at portfolios, and increasingly the looking happens online.
If you have no website, you have no portfolio to be found or admired. The client researching architects finds practices whose work they can see, admires one, and commissions them, never knowing you existed. You are not losing on talent, you may be the better architect, you are losing because your vision was invisible when the client was choosing. That is the quiet cost of having no website for an architect: not fewer referrals, but missing the clients who choose precisely on the shown vision a website would carry, which for a visual profession is a large and growing share.
Even referrals want to see the work
The common reply is “my clients come by referral”, and it is valuable, referrals are the lifeblood of many practices. But notice what a referral now triggers for a personal, expensive project. The referred client, before committing to something as significant as an architectural commission, wants to see your portfolio and satisfy themselves your vision fits theirs. It is a big, personal decision, so they look even at a recommendation.
If that look finds nothing, the reassurance the referral was meant to provide is missing at the deciding moment, and even a warm recommendation can cool. So a portfolio site does not compete with referrals, it completes them, showing the referred client exactly why they were right to ask, and turning a recommendation into a commission. Without one, even your referred work rests on the client trusting your vision unseen, when a portfolio could have shown it.
When you can skip it, and why the small practice gains most
To be fair, if referrals keep your practice full with the work you enjoy and you have no wish to grow, a website is less urgent, though even then it reassures your referred clients. But the moment you want to grow, win the vision-chosen projects, or reach the researching clients, the calculation flips, because architecture is chosen on shown work, which a website provides and word of mouth cannot.
And it is often the small practice that gains most, because architecture is chosen on portfolio and fit, not practice size. A single project fee covers the build many times over. A small practice with a beautifully presented portfolio wins clients against bigger firms, because the client is choosing on the work they see and whether your vision suits theirs, which a talented small practice can convey as powerfully as anyone, sometimes more personally.
I build the site on spec and send it finished, so you see how well it shows your portfolio before you pay anything, from £297. You are not gambling on the idea of a website, you are looking at your own and deciding then. So the real answer is: not if referrals keep you full and content, but yes the moment you want to grow, because architecture is chosen on shown vision, and a website is where clients see it.
How it works
From message to live in four steps.
- 01
Message me
Tell me your trade and your town on WhatsApp. No forms to wade through, no call to book.
- 02
£99 to start
A £99 deposit gets your build going and comes off your quote. It covers some of the build time.
- 03
I build it, you see it
I build the whole site, framed around your work, and send it to you finished to look at.
- 04
Pay the rest, go live
Happy with it? You pay the balance, it goes live on your own domain, and it is yours to keep.
What you get
What an architecture site from me includes.
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Built on spec
I build it first and send it finished. You see the real thing before you decide, not a mock-up.
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Live in 7 days
From the go-ahead, your site is live within a week. No months of back and forth.
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On your own domain
It goes live in your name. You own the site and everything on it, with no lock-in.
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Genuinely fast
Static pages, no WordPress. Fast pages rank better and turn more visitors into calls.
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Found on Google
Built to be found in local search, with the plumbing done properly from day one.
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Looked after
Someone looks after it and changes it when you need. Two small edits a month, your listing kept current.
What it costs
A straight price.
From £297 to build it, first three months of Care included, then £49 a month.
You own the site outright and can stop the monthly plan whenever you like. Hosting is part of Care and Grow, so one of those keeps it online after the first three months, or you host it yourself. See the full pricing.
Common questions
Questions I get asked.
Does an architect really need a website?
If you want projects beyond your immediate referral circle, yes. Architecture is chosen on vision, shown through a portfolio, so without one online you have nothing to win the clients who research architects on their work. Even referred clients want to see your projects before committing to something so personal and expensive. You can coast on referrals, but a portfolio site is how you win the clients who choose on shown vision.
Isn't word of mouth enough for an architect?
Referrals are valuable, but architecture is a visual, personal choice, so even a referred client looks at your portfolio before committing to a major project. And many clients search directly for a local architect and choose on the work they see. Word of mouth alone leaves the referred with nothing to admire and misses the searchers entirely. A portfolio site reassures the referred and reaches the searching.
What architecture work am I missing without a website?
The clients who research and choose on shown vision. People planning a significant building project look for an architect whose work they admire, browsing portfolios before making contact. With no website you have no portfolio to be found or admired, so those clients choose an architect they could see, and you never know the project existed. Because architecture is chosen visually, being unseen online is especially costly.
I get architecture work by referral. Do I still need a site?
Referrals are worth having, but they lead to a look. A client recommended you, before committing to a personal, expensive project, wants to see your portfolio and satisfy themselves your vision fits theirs. If there is nothing to find, the reassurance is missing when they are deciding. A portfolio site shows the referred client exactly why they should choose you, and reaches the many who search directly.
When can an architect skip having a website?
If a steady flow of referrals keeps your practice as full as you want with the projects you enjoy, and you have no wish to grow, you could manage without one, though even referred clients may hesitate with nothing to see. The website matters the moment you want to grow, want the projects clients choose on shown vision, or want to reach the many who research architects online.
Is a website worth it for a small architecture practice?
Often especially so, because architecture is chosen on portfolio and fit, not practice size. A single project fee covers the build many times over. A small practice with a beautifully presented portfolio wins clients against bigger firms, because the client is choosing on the work they see and whether your vision suits them, which a talented small practice can convey as powerfully as anyone.
Tell me your town and I'll build you an architecture site on spec, so you can see it before you pay. Or read A Checkatrade alternative, see the full pricing, or get in touch.