An architecture firm website can cost anything from a monthly subscription, if you build it yourself on a template, to tens of thousands of dollars for custom development with lots of features. What moves the price the most is whether it includes the brand, how many projects are uploaded, how many languages it has and which features it adds. As a reference, at LIS a portfolio website for a studio costs USD 1,390, including the first year of hosting and domain.
It's one of the questions I get asked the most, and it usually comes with a bit of embarrassment, as if asking about the price upfront were wrong. To me it's the healthiest question of all, because if you don't know roughly what a website costs you can't compare quotes or tell whether what you're being offered makes sense for your studio.
Why are prices so different?
Because very different things are sold under the name "website". A template with your logo on top and a website designed from scratch so the clients you want get in touch are called the same, but they have nothing in common in the work behind them or in what they do for your studio.
Before comparing prices, check what each quote includes, because the cheapest one is often the one that leaves out what matters.
What are the options?
Simplifying quite a bit, there are three paths, and all three can work depending on where your studio is right now.
1. Build it yourself on a template
Platforms like Squarespace, Wix or Cargo let you put a website together on a template for a monthly subscription. It's the cheapest option in money and the most expensive in time, because choosing the template, preparing the photos, writing the copy and making everything look tidy on mobile can take you weeks. It works if you're just starting out and have the time, although what I see a lot is websites left half done and never updated.
2. A portfolio website made by a designer or a studio
It's the middle ground, and what most small and mid-sized studios need: a website designed for your studio, with just the right pages (home, studio, projects, services and contact) and built so you can update it yourself afterwards. You pay once, usually in two instalments, and the price changes depending on who makes it and what it includes.
3. Custom development
When the website has to do more complex things, like showing available units in a building, connecting to a sales system or having a private client area, we're talking about custom development. It's the most expensive option and it makes sense for developers or large firms, but for a studio that wants to show its work and receive enquiries it's usually more than needed.
What changes the price the most?
The first thing is whether the website includes the brand. If your studio doesn't have a clear identity yet, the website will either cost more or come out weak, because the brand ends up being designed in a rush halfway through. That's why I always say brand first and website second, otherwise you end up paying twice.
The second is how many projects are uploaded and who uploads them. Getting the website with one project uploaded and a tutorial so you add the rest is not the same as asking for twenty projects with their descriptions. The third is languages, because if you work with clients abroad a second language is extra work, and the fourth is extra features, like a form that filters enquiries, a calendar to book meetings or a button to take payment for a consultation.
Something that often gets forgotten also matters: photos and copy. If your projects don't have good photos, it might make sense to invest in an architectural photographer first, because a beautiful website with dark photos won't bring you the clients you're after.
What does it have to include no matter what?
Beyond the price, there are things no quote should leave out:
- It has to look good on mobile, because that's where most people will see it.
- It needs basic SEO, meaning well-written titles and descriptions so Google understands what your studio does and in which city.
- You should be able to upload new projects yourself, without having to ask anyone every time.
- Contact details have to be at hand on every page, with an email or a form that works.
- The domain has to be registered in your studio's name, so if you ever change providers the website is still yours.
That last point sounds like a detail, but I've come across studios that lost their domain because it was registered to whoever built their website, and from one day to the next their address showed something else.
What costs come after launch?
Once it's live, the website has one fixed cost, the yearly renewal of hosting and domain, and then the time you spend updating it. If you update it yourself, that's the only fixed cost, but if every new project has to be uploaded by someone else, add that in, because it's exactly what makes so many studio websites stay frozen in 2020.
How much does a website cost at LIS?
I work with two fixed-price packages, so you know from the first message what you get and what it costs:
- Renovation, a new website with the brand you already have, in 5 weeks, for USD 1,390 in two payments, including the first year of hosting and domain.
- New build, a complete visual identity and portfolio website in 8 weeks, for USD 2,390 in two payments.
Both include a responsive website with basic SEO, your first project uploaded and a video tutorial so you can add the rest yourself. You'll find all the details in packages.
So, how much should you invest?
What I'd look at is not how much the website costs but how much one project is worth to your studio. If the new website brings you just one more project a year, or saves you the time you lose on enquiries that aren't a fit, it has usually paid for itself. That said, start with what you need today and add things little by little, because a simple website that gets updated does much more for you than a huge one that ends up abandoned.
And you, when was the last time you updated your studio's website?
Does your studio need a hand?
Choose based on where you are right now:Thanks for reading this far. If you'd like to know what your studio's website would cost, write to me and I'll tell you, no strings attached. I read everything.
Orne
