5 Critical Elements for Optimizing Your A&E Firm’s Website Design
More than a visually stunning website is required for architects and engineering firms to attract developers, owners and top employees.
Your website must show your company certifications, your staff’s expertise, and past client projects that validate your credibility. Why? To help your current and new clients feel confident when referring you and engaging with your business. This confidence needs to permeate your brand identity and website…
Your website needs to make you look like the expert you are.
It must be intuitive, user-friendly, speedy, structured with best practices and SEO, provide answers and sell. Is it time your professional firm invests in elevating your online presence to attract the clients you want?
This post highlights 5 critical elements A&E firms should consider when rebranding and building their website. From informative content to compelling visuals, we examine strategies to make your website appealing, drive traffic, and increase leads.
1. Your firm needs a brand strategy.
Your brand is an extension of your business.
Are you ready to reposition or update your business?
Do you want to become the go-to DBE engineering subcontractor?
Do you need to close contracts faster?
Your professional service firm is an expert, but people have not noticed. You need a brand strategy. Strategizing is the first step to creating a trusted brand and professional website.
It’s critical to know your why, where you’ve been, and be confident in where you want to go and what services to offer before beginning any writing or design. Strategy conversations are non-negotiable.
Brand strategy uncovers foundational information:
Your story, values, needs and goals
Your ideal clients and their problems
Your services, processes and opportunities
Strategy creates confidence because it provides a game plan on how and when you will take actionable steps.
It’s time your business looks as good as you already are.
We help you get noticed as a trusted subcontractor online. How? By strategizing your desired outcome, designing your visual identity, and building a website that validates your expertise, streamlines your tech and builds your authority.
Get Your A&E Brand Plan
Our Power Plan strategy session is the first step to a thoughtful rebrand. It’s a deep-dive interview discussing your history, services, and points of engagement.
Afterward, we provide a PDF plan to propel your business forward, including industry and competitor research, clear marketing objectives, a website wireframe, our project process and schedule, an accurate quote, and a simple contract.
Get started with your brand strategy to optimize your A&E firm's website rebrand. Schedule a call to see if we’re a good fit.
2. Your website’s written content and structure are essential.
Brand strategy is first because it informs the next core element of an optimized website: page hierarchy and written content.
Well-written content and SEO (search engine optimization) are crucial for your website to get relevant search traffic (clicks).
To show up in search engine results pages (SERPS), a website needs high-quality, relevant content that helps people. After a user clicks on your website from SERPS, the messaging needs to resonate with them so they stay a while and take action.
Your website writing needs to position your A&E services as the solution to your client’s problems. Tell them how you will improve their lives — in 3 simple steps. Communicate your company information, certifications, and service offers. Guide them through overcoming their problems and create closure with your calls to action.
Let your past clients tell them you're the expert with 5-star Google reviews. Share your origin stories and your staff’s backgrounds. Information builds trust and gives clients the confidence to take action.
How to plan your site content writing and page structure
Your overall brand messaging and story come from your business strategy. But that writing needs to be appropriately grouped into pages, spliced into page sections, and broken down into section headlines, paragraph text and call to action (CTA) buttons.
Before any page writing begins, plan what pages need to be written. At Design Powers, we do this by creating a visual sitemap of the page structure. We call this the site navigation page wireframe.
Example of an A&E firm site navigation page wireframe
This infographic delineates the main pages in the primary navigation, sub-pages, and additional pages not in the primary navigation. It also shows a breakdown of sections per page. This is your site content writing plan based on the page structure. Now that you have your logistics plan, it’s time to break down your overall brand messaging into pages and sections.
How to write website page copy
A web page is a tool to organize your content into a logical order and experience.
Website content writing is similar to your high school English class’s outline. Not the entire essay, just the outline; You have an intro, main points, evidence, argument, and conclusion.
Every page is the outline — a map that guides your visitor through the site’s information in a digestible way. Think of your web pages as a 3-course meal while dining out at a nice restaurant…you get started with drinks, ease into an appetizer, decide on your main course, then the desserts, and pay the bill.
When writing a website page, you must do three things:
MAKE IT INFORMATIVE BUT BRIEF
You don’t want too many pages and too much information per page — it causes decision fatigue. Content must be clear and concise, grabbing your visitors right from the headlines.
The brain wants to use as little energy as possible to download information and solve its problem. So chunk your words into mini sentences and paragraphs. Write in bite-sized conversational portions.
TAKE ADVANTAGE OF TEXT FORMATTING
Use your text formatting bar to spice up your copy and create personality. Use short lists (bulleted or numbered), parenthesis, bold and italicized words to emphasize, and ALL CAPS for attention. Don’t underline text unless it’s a link.
Good formatting makes copy easier (and more fun) to read, which helps your readers remember you. It adds zing and zest to your page copy. Words should be linguistically satisfying, so add sprinkles of delight with *gasp* text formatting!
USE THE CORRECT HEADING STRUCTURE
You need to use headings and subheadings to structure your writing.
HTML heading tags define the headings (H1) and subheadings (H2–H4) and differentiate this critical content from the rest. The correct heading structure is from a top-down hierarchy.
There should only be one H1 per page (the main subject) followed by an H2, then H3. Keywords inside the heading tags make the page more relevant and help match your content to a searcher's intent. This SEO-friendly structure increases readability for search engine bots and humans.
Heading tags typically have a visual hierarchy (H1 is styled with the most prominent text), but headings should never be solely used for styling purposes. Do not repeat identical headings on multiple pages because this will cause duplicate content flags. Do not stuff keywords into headings, and keep them brief.
The main takeaway with website copywriting is that your writing should be in service of building relationships with the people reading your words. Word-by-word, they get to know, like, trust, and work with you!
What pages does your A&E firm’s website need to include?
Include the main pages: Home, About, Services, FAQ, and Contact. Don’t forget your legal pages (privacy policy, terms of service, cookies policy, accessibility statement, disclaimer).
Want to highlight your team? You might also need team bio pages. Are you looking to hire staff? You need a careers or employment page. Or perhaps a waitlist sign-up page for potential new hires.
Want to showcase your work? You need a project, portfolio, or case studies page (and the individual project pages). Need to automate booking and manage appointments? You need an online appointment scheduler and a booking page.
Want to show up in organic SERPS (search engine results pages)? You need to write helpful blog posts and create content.
Consider creating pages for internal use only, like a style guide or password-protected client pages. For any page you create, think of the intent.
3. Show your team, services, and projects with custom brand photography.
A cohesive set of quality on-brand photos is what every business needs to market its business. After you’ve gotten your brand strategy and website writing dialed in, the following core element of an optimized website is custom photography.
Your writing informs the visual content. You’ll know what images you must shoot based on your page content. You could opt for stock or illustration, but custom photos are always the best because people want to see who they’ll interact with. You need to show you’re approachable and professional.
Planning a photo shoot around speaking to your target market makes your photos more likely to resonate with the right people. The goal is to make people look forward to hiring you!
When shooting images for a website, you must do three things:
PLAN AND SCHEDULE AHEAD
Making decisions pre-shoot day is crucial. Minimally you must plan the date, time, location, photographer, outfits, colors, and posing expressions. You might also need to plan hair & makeup artists, fashion stylists, and models.
The color of your clothing, hair and makeup is essential. Pick colors you look best in. For clothing, choose solid colors and avoid busy patterns.
Prepare 3-5 professional business casual outfits that make you feel confident because this will translate to your photos. Don’t overdo it with jewelry, hair and makeup because you want people to focus on your face to connect with you. Keep it simple and sophisticated.
On the day of your shoot, consider working with a professional hair and makeup artist to ensure you look great. Pre-plan your outfits with multiple accessory options so you are ready to go on shoot day and know precisely what to wear in each shoot location.
If this sounds like a lot, that’s because it is. At Design Powers, we create a photoshoot guide PDF with clothing color options, a detailed shot list, and posing guidance with examples for our clients. We also attend photoshoot day to assist the photographer and ensure we get the best-posed shots that work well on your website (mobile, tablet, and desktop device views).
HIRE THE RIGHT PHOTOGRAPHER
Photography rates can be pricier than you might imagine for business portraits, but they are an investment that should have a return.
Ask your network for recommendations for photographers who do headshots and brand photos. You need a good headshot and a package of great photos for your website pages and to market within your social media.
Ask the photographer if you’ll be getting images with basic retouching. Make sure you are getting digital high-resolution files of your photos. We can recommend photographers we’ve worked with before in the DMV area.
Ask your photographer for location recommendations and if they shoot on location, in-studio, or both. The background will communicate to your audience. Make sure the location communicates your comfort zone: In a home, an office space, a cityscape, in the city streets, in a neighborhood, or in nature.
Work with your photographer to plan out your locations in advance. You want everyone on the same timeline and schedule on shoot day. Creating a shoot-day itinerary is never a bad idea.
SELECT, EDIT, AND OPTIMIZE
After you get your photos from the photographer to review, list all your favorite shots.
Narrow your list down to the essential photos. The amount depends on your package purchase and/or how many photos the photographer will edit (adjust lighting, cropping and compositing several images together) and retouch to achieve flawless results.
After editing the photos and getting high-resolution files, the photos must be optimized for the web (reducing the file size), so they load fast and have searchable file names.
Project and Portfolio Photos
Showcasing your expertise through past projects is sure to WOW your clients.
Engineering, architect and interior design firms with excellent photography and complementing website copy will connect with visitors. Your portfolio will influence your chances of being hired, having your work featured by a prestigious establishment, or winning an industry award.
It’s impressive to have photos of many stages of your process — from concept to completion. Renderings and real-life examples strike the right balance.
Your portfolio should be easily accessible. Depending on the number of project pages and metadata (categories, tags, photo sources, additional details) to be included, gathering and creating content can be time-intensive.
4. A professional visual brand identity strikes interest and promotes trust — in an instant.
Your visual identity is the visible representation of your brand. It equates to the quality of your services. You need to look like the expert you are graphically.
An effective visual identity communicates who you are and what you do. It’s laser-focused on giving clients the value they’re looking for. Graphic elements speak your brand's tone without saying words; think of it like body language. The perception is subconscious and has a colossal influence.
How you present your business online is how it’s perceived. Your digital identity is how people remember you. The visual expression determines how they feel about you and if they want to keep browsing.
Your brand should be recognizable and likable. When people like your brand and website design, they’re engaged and stay on your page longer. This gives you a better chance at connecting with them.
Your visual identity is a symbol of your brand that doubles as a psychological weapon to sell your services — and be loved for it.
To build name recognition, consistently applying your branding style to all communication channels is essential. Highly branded content stands out and attracts visitors. You want your brand colors, fonts, and logos to be associated with a good experience so they return and revisit your website.
Reliable correspondence and marketing, whether via email campaigns or social media, should include your design to establish trust and familiarity. Communication style, both written and visual, should remain consistent and adhere to the same brand direction.
Is your current firm’s logo and branding unattractive and embarrassing? Does it convey trust? Is the design style stale and not converting? It’s time to rebrand.
5. Your website design and user experience impact clients' perception of your A&E firm.
A user-friendly website should have intuitive navigation and excellent design to allow visitors to navigate your website effortlessly, enhancing their overall experience.
When optimizing a website, you must consider three things:
CONTENT ORGANIZATION AND NAVIGATION
Effective content organization is critical to providing a seamless browsing experience.
Categorize your services, projects, and resources logically. Clear headings, subheadings, text formatting, and whitespace can aid in content organization and make information digestible for visitors.
Intuitive navigation is a must for a successful website. Visitors should be able to quickly locate the information they need without getting lost or frustrated. Well-organized navigation menus, breadcrumbs, and search functionality can significantly improve the user experience. It is also vital to ensure that your website's navigation is consistent across all pages, allowing users to understand how to navigate your website quickly.
BRANDED VISUAL ELEMENTS
Visual elements capture visitors' attention and convey your brand's identity. High-quality images, videos, and graphics can showcase your engineering firm's projects, expertise, and achievements.
It’s essential to balance visually appealing elements and website performance. Optimizing image sizes and appropriate file formats can improve website loading speed while maintaining visual appeal.
CALLS TO ACTIONS AND CONVERSION GOALS
Strategically placed CTAs can guide visitors towards desired actions, such as filling out a contact form or requesting a quote. CTAs should be visually distinct and easily recognizable, using persuasive language to encourage visitors to take action.
By optimizing the design and placement of CTAs, A&E firms can increase conversions and generate valuable leads.
An optimized website design should focus on converting visitors into leads or clients. Firms can achieve this by incorporating persuasive copywriting, compelling visuals, and strategically placed CTAs.
A well-designed landing page can guide visitors through the conversion journey, offering valuable resources or incentives in exchange for contact information. By analyzing user behavior via search analytics, firms can continuously refine their website design to maximize conversions.
Website Design Case Studies: Two engineering consultant firms in the Washington DC area
To further illustrate the impact of optimized website design, let's explore 2 case studies of engineering firms that have achieved outstanding results through their website redesign efforts.
CASE STUDY #1: FMC & Associates
FMC & Associates, a leading specialty engineering consulting firm that provides construction material testing and inspections and third-party testing services in the Washington DC metro area, witnessed a significant increase in website traffic after revamping its website design.
Implementing a modern mobile-responsive design, improving navigation, and showcasing their projects through visually stunning images enabled FMC to engage visitors and convert them into leads. The incorporation of clear CTAs throughout the website further streamlined the conversion process.
View FMC & Associate’s website case study.
CASE STUDY #2: FMC Structural Design Group
FMC Structural Design Group is FMC & Associates’ sister company. They provide structural design and engineering consulting in the Washington DC metro area. They specialize in structural engineering, repair and restoration services for architects and developers.
FMC Structural experienced a boost in brand awareness and client acquisition after optimizing its website design. They successfully showcased their expertise in various engineering disciplines by reorganizing their content and enhancing visual elements.
The addition of an extensive categorized project portfolio lets visitors explore their projects in a more immersive way. As a result, FMC Structural has increased website engagement and received positive feedback from staff and existing clients.
Prioritize website design optimization to attract potential clients
Focus on the 5 critical elements that go into an optimized website design to create a website that not only impresses visitors visually but also drives traffic and increases conversions.
By incorporating brand strategy, messaging, photography, identity and web design into your site, you can elevate your firm's online presence and establish a strong foundation for business growth in the digital realm.
Use the opportunity to showcase your expertise and attract clients through an optimized website design.
I hope you enjoy reading this blog post and found it helpful!
Schedule a call if you want Design Powers to help your A&E firm design a beautiful brand identity and build an optimized website. We guarantee it will get you more business.
FAQS
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A brand strategy can help an A&E firm improve its online presence by providing a clear roadmap for defining its identity, target audience, and unique value proposition. It helps the firm understand its core values, ideal clients, and competitive advantages, allowing it to craft messaging and visuals that resonate with its audience. By aligning the website design with the brand strategy, the firm can create a cohesive and memorable online presence that attracts the right clients and builds trust.
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Well-written content is essential for a website's success because it not only helps improve search engine visibility but also engages and informs visitors. By providing high-quality, relevant content that addresses the needs and interests of the target audience, an A&E firm can attract organic traffic from search engines and keep visitors on the site longer.
Optimizing content for search engines involves using relevant keywords, structuring content logically, and providing valuable information that answers users' questions. This combination of SEO best practices and user-focused writing helps improve the website's visibility and effectiveness.
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Custom brand photography plays a crucial role in enhancing a website's appeal and attracting potential clients to an A&E firm by providing visual representations of the firm's expertise, team, and projects. Unlike stock photos, custom photography allows the firm to showcase its unique personality and professionalism, making it more relatable and trustworthy to visitors.
By planning and executing a photo shoot that aligns with the brand strategy and website content, the firm can create compelling visuals that resonate with its target audience and differentiate it from competitors. Custom photography helps humanize the brand, establish a connection with visitors, and encourage them to explore further and take action.
