What was the challenge?
An award-winning studio designing villas, hospitality and workplace interiors had a beautiful site with almost no text. Images had file names like "IMG_4521.jpg", project pages were slideshows, and the studio ranked for its own name only. Private clients searching "luxury villa architect Dubai" found directories and larger firms.
What was the strategy?
- 01
Turn project slideshows into stories with brief, approach and outcome
- 02
Make the portfolio findable in Google Images
- 03
Publish the studio's thinking in articles by its architects
What exactly was done?
4 moves, each with what was done and why it mattered.
- 01Content
Project stories
Rewrote 24 projects as stories: the brief, constraints, design approach, materials and result, with the lead architect named.
Why it mattered: Clients hire architects for how they think. Stories showed that and gave Google something to rank.
- 02Image SEO
Images that rank
Renamed and compressed 600 images, added descriptive alt text, served WebP and AVIF, and added ImageObject schema.
Why it mattered: Design clients often start in image search. Optimised images brought five times more clicks from Google Images.
- 03Authority
Articles by the architects
Published articles on designing for Dubai's climate, sustainable materials and villa planning, written by the studio's partners.
Why it mattered: Expert articles earned links from design publications and attracted clients who valued expertise over price.
- 04Conversion
A project brief form
Replaced the generic contact form with a short project brief: type, location, size, budget range and timeline.
Why it mattered: The studio spent less time on unsuitable enquiries and replied faster to the right ones.
What do I stand for?
Words make work findable
Google can't rank a slideshow. Projects need stories as well as images.
Qualify early
A studio's time is its product. The enquiry form should filter for fit.
About this case study
- This is an illustrative case study: a representative engagement showing how I approach SEO for this industry and the kind of results the approach is built to deliver.
- The business, figures and charts are illustrative, not a single client's verified data. For verified results, see my SEO case studies.
Architecture Firm SEO Consultant in Dubai
Project stories instead of image galleries, image search optimisation, and articles by the studio's architects.
