Marketing for architects means getting your firm in front of people already looking for a project and convincing them before the first contact. The shortest path goes through Google Business Profile, a portfolio site that loads fast on mobile and Instagram as a showcase. In October 2026, the search “architecture firm” had a top-of-page bid between R$2.75 and R$12.90, and 56% of the sites of firms that Google Maps shows first had neither Google Tag Manager nor Google Analytics.
The numbers in this guide were measured by Ciclicko in October 2026. Where there is a sample, we state it.
What we measured in architecture firms
In October 2026 we surveyed the 60 profiles that Google Maps shows first in São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Belo Horizonte for the search “architecture firm”. Of the 60, we could read the site of 50. Mobile speed was measured with PageSpeed on a sample of 8 sites.
| What we looked at | Result |
|---|---|
| Profiles analyzed on Google Maps | 60 |
| Average Google rating | 4,86 |
| Median reviews per profile | 29,5 |
| Profiles with fewer than 20 reviews | 35% |
| Profiles with 100 reviews or more | 7% |
| Profiles without a website | 13% |
| Profiles with a social network instead of a website | 5% |
| Sites without Google Tag Manager and without GA4 (50 read) | 56% |
| Sites with a Google Ads tag (50 read) | 10% |
| Sites with a WhatsApp link (50 read) | 46% |
| Sites with structured data (50 read) | 70% |
| Median mobile LCP (8 sites measured) | 15.45 s |
| Median mobile PageSpeed score (8 sites) | 55,5 |
Three takeaways come out of this table.
The rating doesn’t separate anyone. With an average of 4.86, almost every firm at the top has a near-perfect score, and clients look at something else to decide. What changes from one profile to another is the number of reviews and what they say. One third of the profiles have fewer than 20.
The website is the weak point. On the 8 sites we measured, every one took more than 2.5 seconds to show the largest element on the mobile screen, and the median was 15.45 seconds. On an architecture firm’s site, that element is usually the big portfolio photo.
More than half don’t track where clients come from. With no GA4 and no Google Tag Manager on more than half of the sites, the firm doesn’t know whether the quote request came from Maps, Instagram or a referral who searched the name before calling.
How much an architecture click costs on Google
The architecture industry has an average bid of R$4.89 in our CPC survey by industry, with a range from R$1.95 to R$7.82. That is the bid Google estimates for the top of the page in October 2026, not what each company pays.
| Search | Searches per month | Top-of-page bid (min. to max.) |
|---|---|---|
| architect | 90.500 | R$1.92 to R$7.57 |
| architectural design | 8.100 | R$1.63 to R$6.50 |
| architecture firm | 6.600 | R$2.75 to R$12.90 |
| interior designer | 40.500 | R$2.03 to R$7.85 |
| interior design project | 1.000 | R$1.90 to R$6.64 |
“Architect” has huge volume, but it mixes students, competitions and curiosity. “Architecture firm” gets fewer searches and has the highest bid on the list, because people who type it are usually choosing who to hire. And “architect price per m2” shows up with only 10 searches a month. Clients don’t look up the price per square meter on Google, they ask the firm directly.
One curious detail from the same Keyword Planner. The search “marketing for architects” has 140 searches a month and a bid of R$8 to R$20. Whoever sells marketing to architects pays more per click than an architect would pay to reach their own client.
Is it worth advertising on Google Ads?
It is for firms that already have a fast site and can track contacts. The ad appears on searches like “interior design project” or “architecture firm” plus a neighborhood or city, and leads to a service page, not the homepage. Only 10% of the 50 sites had the Google Ads tag, a sign that few firms at the top of Maps measure what ads bring in. The flip side is that a 15-second site wastes every click. Before turning on a campaign, a free Google Ads audit helps you see whether the account and the page are ready.
Google Maps: where clients compare firms
Google Business Profile is free and shows up before websites when someone searches for an architect near home. For digital marketing for architects, it is the lowest-cost channel and the first one that should be in order.
- Choose the right primary category, such as “Architect” or “Interior designer”, and list the services you actually offer.
- If you receive clients at the office, keep the address. If you only work at the client’s home, remove the address and use the service area.
- Upload photos of finished projects, with file names that describe the room. Use renders only if they are labeled as design concepts.
- Ask every client for a review at the end of the project and reply to each one.
- Check your hours, phone number and website link, which must match what is on the site.
A note on photos. 68% of profiles reached 10 photos, which is the maximum our Google query returns. Having 10 or more has become the industry minimum, not a differentiator. What sets you apart is photos that show the type of project you want to sell.
The full step-by-step is in how to optimize your Google Business Profile, and how to ask for a review without making the client uncomfortable is in how to get Google reviews.
Architecture website: a portfolio that loads on mobile
In marketing for architects, the website is where Maps, ads and Instagram lead, and it needs to show your work within seconds. The most common problem we found is the portfolio photo. It is beautiful, weighs several megabytes and stalls the first screen.
What fixes it, in order:
- Compress the first image on the page and size it to how it appears on screen.
- Load photos below the first screen only when the visitor scrolls.
- One page per service (residential, commercial, interiors), each with three or four projects.
- A visible WhatsApp button. Only 46% of the 50 sites had a WhatsApp link.
- Names of the lead architects and their CAU registration number (Brazil’s Council of Architecture and Urbanism).
Google explains the loading metric under Largest Contentful Paint (LCP). The target is to stay under 2.5 seconds on mobile. If the site already exists and is slow, Ciclicko’s website optimization starts with exactly that diagnosis.
Structured data is in better shape than the rest. 70% of the sites had schema, and 48% of the 50 run on WordPress, where a well-configured SEO plugin already marks up the page.
Instagram for architects: the showcase that confirms the choice
Instagram for architects works as proof. People find the firm on Google or through a referral, open the profile and decide whether the style matches theirs. Rarely does the first contact start from a post.
What tends to work in the feed:
- Before and after of the same project, with the floor plan of the problem that was solved.
- A carousel explaining a design decision, like why the kitchen became an island.
- Behind the scenes on site, with measuring, finishes and handover.
- Answers to questions clients ask in the first meeting.
The carousel format that gets read to the end is covered in Instagram carousels. In the bio, put the city and the type of project, plus the website link, not a link aggregator.
Only 6% of the 50 sites had the Meta pixel. If you advertise on Instagram without the pixel, you can’t show the ad again to people who visited the portfolio.
What the CAU Code of Ethics says about promoting your work
The CAU/BR Code of Ethics and Discipline, approved by Resolution No. 52 of 2013, does not prohibit advertising. It asks that, when promoting their work, architects consider the truthfulness of the information (item 3.2.8) and not claim authorship of work they didn’t do (item 3.2.9). Item 5.2.12 asks for co-authorship to be recorded on each project.
In practice, this becomes three precautions in marketing for architects:
- A project done as a team or with another firm appears with credit.
- A render of an unbuilt project is presented as a design, not as a finished building.
- No invented numbers of projects or square meters.
This summary does not replace reading the code. If in doubt, check with the CAU in your state.
How to know where your clients come from
Without measurement, every digital marketing decision for architects becomes a guess. In the survey, 30% of the sites had Tag Manager and 22% had GA4. The rest didn’t even record how many people clicked on WhatsApp.
The minimum worth setting up is the WhatsApp click, the form submission and the phone call, each as an event in GA4. With that, you can cross-check against your Google Business Profile and see which channel brings quote requests. The starting point is Google Tag Manager, and if you advertise, you need Google Ads conversion tracking set up.
Partnerships in marketing for architects
People who work on the same project as you can refer your firm. “Móveis planejados” (custom-built furniture) had 74,000 searches per month in the survey, almost double “interior designer”. Someone searching for custom furniture may not have a design yet, and the furniture store is the one that talks to that person first.
Custom furniture stores, builders and stone workshops are natural partners. Both sides of the topic are in marketing for custom furniture and marketing for construction companies.
Frequently asked questions
How do you market an architecture firm on a small budget? Start with your Google Business Profile, which is free, with the right category, photos of finished projects and reviews. Then make your site fast on mobile. Ads come last.
Can architects advertise on Google and Instagram? Yes. The CAU Code of Ethics asks for truthfulness in promotion and respect for authorship. Check the details with the CAU in your state.
How much does a click cost for an architecture firm on Google Ads? In October 2026, the estimated top-of-page bid for “escritório de arquitetura” ranged from R$2.75 to R$12.90. The sector averaged R$4.89.
What should architects post on Instagram? Before and afters of projects, design decisions explained in carousels, behind the scenes of construction and answers to first-meeting questions.
Does digital marketing for architects work without a website? It works worse. Clients want to see a portfolio, and 13% of the firms at the top of Maps had no website in our survey. A fast site puts you ahead.
Where to start
The free Google Business Profile audit compares your firm’s profile with three competitors in your area and shows what to fix first. It arrives as a PDF on WhatsApp, with no password required.