Your Website’s First Impression: Is It Making the Right One?

You won the pursuit. In the debrief, the client mentioned that they had already decided you were the frontrunner before you walked into the room. Your website made the case.

When they were doing an internet search, they found a project showing how you’d solved the same challenge for a comparable client. By the time they picked up the phone, they were not calling to see if you could do it. They were calling because they wanted to hear about how you did it for other clients, and how you could apply that same expertise to their problem.

That is what happens when your website works for you instead of against you. The question is, would a prospect looking at your site hire you on the spot? Your website is often the first place potential clients and recruits go to learn about your firm. It shapes how they see you before you ever meet them in person.

Three Ways to Make Your Website Work More Effectively

Research suggests that visitors read roughly 28 percent of the words on any given webpage. You need to make a great first impression, and it has to land fast. Here are three key tips to make your AEC website work more effectively for you.

1. Curate, Do Not Collect

A site that speaks to everyone ends up reaching no one in particular. Clarity about the outcomes you achieve is what converts visitors into clients. If website visitors have to dig to find evidence that you speak their language, many may not bother. Do not make them dig for what matters most.

First, identify what kind of audiences you’re trying to reach and consider how your portfolio appeals to their interests. For example, a K-12 client should be able to find education work within two clicks, see photography of students and teachers using the spaces you designed, and read about challenges you solved that mirror their own. If they have to scroll past convention centers and corporate headquarters, your structure is getting in the way of your own best interest.

Second, curate your website so you’re leading with the work that aligns with the kind of work you want to get. Feature the work that signals what you want to win next, and consider whether less significant projects belong on your website at all.

The Strategic Shift Instead of “Does this represent everything we can do?” ask, “Would the client we most want to attract immediately see why we are the right fit?”

Try This Pull up your portfolio page and count how many clicks it takes for someone interested in your priority sector(s) to find relevant work. If it takes more than two, you might benefit from rethinking the structure of your website.

2. Align Your Site with Your Ambitions

If you want to win larger projects with more sophisticated clients, your site needs to match the caliber of clients you want to attract. A homepage with many elements but no clear hierarchy leaves visitors unsure where to start. A page that looks like a template, features weak photography, or buries key information might lead prospects to lose interest and slip away.

This is not about flashy design for its own sake. Instead, align your online presence with the caliber of work you do and highlight the real value clients are paying for. If there is a gap between how you see your firm and how your site presents your work, prospects will simply move on.

Look for opportunities to reveal personality, not just competence. For example, a leadership page that shows who your people are and what they care about, not just what projects they have done, can be dynamic. Project narratives that explain your thinking, not just your specs (size/program/location/client), show how you approach problems. Your point of view on design, sustainability, or community impact can set you apart from firms with similar portfolios. These are chances to be memorable and compelling.

The Strategic Shift Instead of “Does this represent what we have done?” ask, “Does this signal what we want to do more of and are capable of doing next?”

Try This Show your homepage to someone outside your firm and give them a couple of minutes to review it. Ask what impression they have of your firm. Their answer reveals whether your site is impactful or missing the mark.

3. Tell Stories, Not Just Show Work

Many websites default to the same format: a grid of images, a list of services, bios of principals. The format is not wrong, but it’s not going to set your firm apart from the pack. When the structure itself provides no distinction, your content has to carry more weight.

Photography matters for prospects who are deciding if your firm is the right fit. You can write the most compelling project description, but a low-resolution or poorly composed photo will lose the visitor’s attention entirely. Images with people weave stronger narratives than empty spaces ever can.

The opportunity lies in how you frame the story. Pages that list only square footage and completion dates let the facts speak for themselves. Pages that explain the challenge, your approach, and the outcomes let your thinking shine. A mixed-use development can be presented as “450,000 SF mixed-use project with ground-floor retail” or as “a neighborhood anchor that transformed a vacant lot into a community hub.” One version documents scope. The other reveals how you create impact.

The Strategic Shift Instead of “What should we include?” ask, “What story do we want people to take away?”

Try This Review your project pages. Flag any images that are low-resolution or poorly composed, any project missing a compelling description, and any page where the narrative is unclear.  These are reasons why your website could fall flat to potential clients who spend only minutes browsing for information about your firm.

Skyline Summary

• The 28 percent of words visitors actually read should tell them exactly who you work with and why you are the right fit
• Lead with the kind of work that you want to win next
• A site that reflects where you are going will attract clients who want to go there with you
• Invest in strong imagery and stories that shape how prospects evaluate your firm before they ever reach out

Keep building influence!