Blogging for Architects: How to Attract Clients & Build Your Reputation
Blogging is a must for architects!
Understand how blogging helps you attract ideal clients to your architecture firm
(and keep reading to get 101 blog topic ideas!) 
Imagine your ideal client is searching for something online. They want answers to their questions about designing their home - whatever those questions may be.
Now picture this: rather than landing on the local AIA, IDS, or NAHB chapter website, or going to your competitors, they go to YOUR WEBSITE!
What would it mean for your firm if your ideal clients landed on your website because you have great answers to the questions they are searching for online?
That would certainly mean more inquiries and more opportunities. It would also mean those clients are coming to you with the expectation that you are someone who can help them.
So, how do you make this imaginary future a reality?
In one word:…
Blogging!
Why Blogging?
Blogging is the ideal way to help potential clients during their research phase. For one, it will immediately put you in the running as a key contender for their architecture project.
In fact, many of our clients have found that by increasing the quality and frequency of their blog posts, they have increased the number of viable inquiries they get from their website, and that translates to better projects as well.
This might surprise you, but your clients are looking for you online. In our own research, we found that there were millions of searches each month for search terms related to finding an “architect near me.”
It still surprises us that many architects haven’t written a blog post in months, years, or worse, ever. We believe this comes down to uncertainty about the purpose of blogging.
We often hear, “What is the point of blogging? Most of my leads come through referrals.”
It’s a good question. The results from blogging may not be obvious, because, let’s face it, you probably haven’t looked at your website analytics in a while.
For architects looking to stand out and attract ideal clients and better projects, blogging is crucial to securing high-quality leads without spending huge sums of money on ineffective online or print advertising, and public relations.
It’s complicated to know the best methods for creating productive relationships.
Table of Contents
This article is a definitive guide to helping you make blogging to work for your architecture firm.
To help you navigate this article, we’ve provided an easy to use Table of Contents below. Click the red section titles to jump to specific topics.
- It’s no secret why so many people blog, the numbers tell the story
- Why your current blog is failing you
- Attract your ideal clients by understanding the sales funnel
- What are the different stages of the sales funnel?
- Create content for every stage of the sales funnel
- How to write for Awareness
- How to write for Consideration
- How to write for Conversion
- What topics should architects blog about?
- Archmark’s Content Master Plan
- Use Topic Clusters to Improve Your Blog Content
- How “topic clusters” help you build authority as an architect
- How to create topic clusters for architecture blogs
- 1. Start by defining your pillar topic
- 2. Next, start listing your cluster topics
- 3. Finally, make a list of sub-topics which will fall under your main cluster topics
- What are you waiting for? Write your first blog post today!
Download our 101 Blog Topics for Architects!
If you just want to get started with some quick inspiration and ideas for your architecture firm's blog, download your free 101 Blog Topics for Architects!
You'll find lists of topics and headlines to attract and engage your ideal future clients at the early stages of the sales funnel.
It’s no secret why so many people blog. The numbers tell the story!
You do not have to take our word for it. There are many studies about the effectiveness of blogging. Just look at these statistics…
- Businesses that publish blog posts get 55% more website visitors than businesses that don't. (HubSpot)
- 77% of internet users read blog posts. (Social Media Today).
- 44% of buyers say they typically consume three to five pieces of content before engaging with a vendor. (Demand Gen Report).
- Marketers who prioritized blogging received 13X more ROI than companies that did not in 2019. (HubSpot)
- 70% of people would rather learn about a company through blog posts rather than advertisements. (DemandMetric)
Why your current blog is failing you
Many architect’s blog sections are more like a “company newsstand,” with articles boasting about the latest awards, magazine publications, and successful projects.
Only featuring these types of blog posts is a mistake.
The number of times you’ve been featured in your local design magazine isn’t at the top of your perfect client's list of questions. Neither are your awards or your portfolio. Those things come into focus later.
It’s the architects that write blog posts for their prospects that first win their attention.

Think about it, your prospects often do months of research before choosing an architecture firm, and during that time, they are looking for ideas, information, and insights online. They are researching, educating themselves, and doing their own due diligence to understand the process.
They have many questions, and they turn to the internet for answers. Your blog needs to answer their questions to catch their eye.
Attract your ideal clients by understanding the sales funnel
Imagine having prospects come to you, not because they are considering different options, but because they are convinced that you are the best choice, without ever having spoken with you. For many of the architects we work with, this is exactly how they have won some of their best projects.

To get there, you need to understand the business development cycle that all clients go through when finding, choosing, and hiring an architect. Marketers refer to this cycle as the sales funnel.
Understanding the different stages your prospects go through before purchasing your services helps you to attract the right prospects and convince them that you are the best choice for their project vs other architects.
What are the different stages of the sales funnel?
Understanding the sales funnel and how you can use it starts with grasping the three key stages:
1) AWARENESS - At this stage, your prospect is beginning to search for solutions to a problem they are trying to solve. Primarily, they are gathering information and educating themselves about what’s involved. It could be as simple as “We need a bigger, nicer home for our family,” or “We need to design a world-class dining experience for our restaurant customers.”
2) CONSIDERATION - At this stage, your prospect is looking for a deeper level of information about the solutions they are considering. They may need consultation to define the specific realities of what they are trying to achieve.
They will also want to know more about you, your expertise, qualifications, and the process or approach you’ll take when helping them.
3) CONVERSION - At this stage, your prospect is confirming the details and ready to make a decision. Typically, this stage aligns with a proposal that you provide to help them clarify and understand the details of working with you.
How to write for Awareness

The goal with the awareness stage is to attract your readers attention. For prospects at this point, you might seek to answer the common questions people typically ask when first contacting you.
We often hear complaints that prospects go to a contractor first. If that’s the case, writing a blog post that presents the benefits of contacting you first can help attract them to your firm.
Another way to attract clients is to give them ideas and inspiration for their project. While this is often better approached using social media; blog posts about design trends and related topics are fantastic for increasing traffic to your website and showing prospects how you align with their needs regarding form and function.
How to write for Consideration
During the consideration stage, the goal is to write blog posts that showcase:
- your unique viewpoints about your industry,
- your expertise and know-how, and,
- your approach or process.
These all demonstrate how you can help your prospects with their projects.
A great way to build rapport and respect with prospects at this stage is to be transparent about how things work in your field.
Architecture can be a complicated and long process for clients. Helping them understand what they’re embarking on positions you as a trusted resource and guide through that process.
How to write for Conversion
For the conversion phase, the goal is to convince your prospects to choose your firm over other architecture firms.
At this point, they’re looking more closely at what you have done for others, and this is why case study articles are so important.
These articles allow you to show off your expertise, experience, and talents by sharing your successful projects. When combined with client testimonial quotes, these articles can be very convincing, helping to instill confidence and credibility for your architecture firm.
To learn more about the different types of content to include in your blog, read our article
Content Marketing for Architects Starts with Three Essential Topics.
What topics should architects blog about?
When it comes to blogging for architects, one of the biggest mistakes we see firms making is creating a blog full of your latest awards, new hires, staff promotions, recent project wins, and other content.
We’ve all met someone at a networking event who monopolizes the conversation and only talks about themselves the entire time. This is not how you want to approach your blog.
Of course, it’s perfectly okay to share highlights and news about your firm, but you need to balance that type of content with content your prospects would search for and find interesting as well, otherwise it’s of no value to you.
At Archmark, we’ve developed a simple reference tool that guides the type of content your prospects are looking for. We refer to it as the Content Master Plan.
Below is a sample of the topic categories you’ll want to share at every stage of your sales funnel.
Archmark’s Content Master Plan
| SALES FUNNEL STAGE | TOPICS | GOALS |
|---|---|---|
| Awareness | Answering questions | Awareness |
| Design inspiration | Alignment | |
| Architecture trends & Firm News | Attraction | |
| Consideration | Architect’s insider insights | Rapport |
| Unique value proposition | Respect | |
| Ask the architecture expert | Relationship | |
| Conversion | Solving client problems | Confidence |
| Process & what to expect | Credibility | |
| Projects & experience (case studies/testimonials) | Certainty |
If you’re looking for more blog topic ideas for architects, download our Guide to 101 Blog Topics for Architects.
This free downloadable guide features 101 blog topic ideas organized according to the three sales funnel stages to help you plan your content and write articles your prospects are genuinely interested in reading.
Use "Topic Clusters" to Improve Your Blog Content
Topic Clusters are essentially groups of sub-topics related to a main topic (also known as Pillar Content).
Using topic clusters will help you build yourself up as an expert around those main topics. This tactic also makes you more visible to Google searches.
How topic clusters help you build authority as an architect

The idea of topic clusters is to create authority by thoroughly covering a main topic, and related or similar topics, so search engines and your future clients see you as the expert on that specific main topic.
For example, if you’re a residential architect, think about all the topics that fall under your primary service. Though you may not be an expert in kitchen countertops, the prospects searching for topics around kitchen countertops are likely interested in remodeling their kitchen. They may even be interested in a major renovation of their existing home, or exploring the idea of a new custom home build.
Topic clusters allow you to explore a topic fully and that, in turn, helps you grow your online reputation for that topic. There is also the clear benefit of attracting prospects who may be searching online for answers to problems they didn’t realize architects can help them solve.
How to create topic clusters to help plan architecture firm blog articles
Creating topic clusters can start with simple brainstorming and it’s something you can add to and update over the long-term.
To get started, grab a whiteboard, notebook, or Google doc and start writing down ideas that come to mind. A great place to start are the questions that prospects and clients ask you all the time.
Next, start to organize your topics into your clusters. Whether you use sticky notes, columns of lists, or Mind-mapping to visually organize and cluster topics, these steps will help you pull it all together:
1. Start by defining your pillar topic
When defining a pillar topic, you don’t want to select a random topic. You want to ask yourself, "What services do I provide?" or, “What do I want my firm to be known for?” Perhaps it’s custom residential architecture, or tropical modern coastal home design, or luxury vacation home design.
Whatever you choose as your “pillar” topic, make sure it reflects the core expertise and experience that every other topic will fall under.
For our example, we will use the pillar topic “residential architect.”
2. Next, list the cluster topics that come under your pillar topic
What are the main topics that fall under your pillar topic? If we take the example of residential architecture, these cluster topics might include:
- Kitchen design
- Bathroom design
- Home remodels
Keep in mind that these main topics — your cluster topics — should help you cover your pillar topic as much as possible.
3. Next, brainstorm a list of sub-topics that address specifics related to each of those cluster topics.
Now you’ve pulled together a few cluster topics you’d like to explore in your architecture firm’s blog; it’s time to get specific with your sub-topics as these will inspire headlines for writing "authority articles" for your firm's blog.
Here's a quick starter list of sub-topics to spark ideas for you:
- How to choose an architect
- Sustainable home design trends
- How to design a new energy-efficient home
- Sustainable construction materials
- Energy-efficient home design inspiration
- What to expect when you hire an architect
- Sustainable, residential interior design
- Our favorite sustainable furniture companies
- Your guide to sustainable interior design
- Top sustainable flooring choices and why
- Sustainable commercial design
- Your guide to corporate sustainability
- 10 benefits of sustainable commercial builds
4. Finally, when you put it all together, you'll have a content plan that looks something like this
Sample Pillar Topic: Residential Architect Pillar
What are you waiting for? Write your first blog post today!
Now that you understand why blogging is so important for architects and, most importantly, how to write a blog post that gets attention, you can start working on a blog that will bring great clients your way.
Get a jumpstart on ideas for your architecture firm's blog — click below to get our Archmark Guide To 101 Blog Topics for Architects!
If the idea of blogging for your architecture firm feels overwhelming, we understand. And, the Archmark team is here to help!
To learn what are the
10 Questions an Architecture Firms Need to Ask Before Hiring a Web Design Agency
click here.
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