Architecture websites almost all look the same: a gallery of renders and a contact form.
The problem is that a client on their first project does not compare renders. They do not know what they are buying — and they choose the practice that explains it first.
What an architecture site actually needs
The process, stage by stage, in plain language. What happens from the first meeting to the permit and site supervision. What you deliver at each stage, how long it takes, what they have to do in the meantime. That is the page that converts, not the gallery.
What is in the price and what is not. Architecture, structure, services, approvals, verification, site supervision — which are yours and which get contracted separately. Nearly every misunderstanding starts here.
A portfolio per project type. Detached house, apartment building, interior, commercial, industrial. A client who wants a house is not looking at a shopping centre.
Plans, not just renders. Renders sell emotion, plans sell competence. An informed client looks at both; an uninformed one learns by looking.
Who handles the permit. The most frequent question and the one least often answered on a site.
The pricing model. Per square metre, per project, or a percentage of build cost — say which, even without a figure.
Realistic timelines. Designing a house takes months, not weeks. An honest timeline filters out the clients who would have left after two weeks anyway.
The integrations that matter
A form with file uploads. Planning certificate, cadastral plan, site photos. Without attachments the conversation moves to WhatsApp and gets lost.
An optimised gallery. Renders are large files by nature. Without compression a portfolio of 30 projects will not open on a phone.
Booking for the first meeting. With the duration and the documents to bring.
Common mistakes
Renders only. It looks good and says nothing about how you work.
No explanation of the process. The biggest missed opportunity in the field.
Uncompressed images. An architecture portfolio easily weighs 40 MB.
No pages per project type. "House design Chișinău" is a real search that a generic gallery does not answer.
What we build
A prerendered site with a stage-by-stage process page, a portfolio per project type and optimised galleries. A form with document uploads. The pricing model explained. Romanian and Russian. Structured data for a design practice.
Questions
Why is a gallery not enough?
Because a client on their first project cannot judge the quality of a render. They can judge whether they understood what is about to happen. The process page does that.
Should I publish renders or plans?
Both. Renders attract, plans convince. A portfolio with both shows the projects actually exist, not just their images.
Do I have to state a price?
The model, yes. The figure, not necessarily. "Per square metre, depending on complexity" is enough to stop wasting the time of people looking for something else.
Are separate pages for interiors and houses worth it?
Yes. They are different clients, different budgets and different searches. A shared page appears in neither.