An architecture practice does not sell by volume. One commission, a private residence, a mixed-use scheme, an office fit-out or a new school building, can keep the studio busy for months and account for a big slice of the year's fees. That is why visibility works differently for you. The aim is not to attract crowds but to be found by the right clients, developers and project managers at the moment they start looking for an architect or engineering consultant.
Once you have decided to act, the next question is which plan to choose. Traffic Engine offers five. This guide helps you decide based on your size, your ambitions and the competition in your area, using the prices on the offer page and nothing else.
The five plans at a glance
Every plan starts the same way: a Visibility Audit at €690, then a one-time setup at €1,500, with the audit fully deducted if you go ahead within 30 days. Every plan runs on a 12-month commitment with a measured review at three months, a dated report each week and results you can follow in your own Search Console. What differs is the intensity and how much protection you get from competitors.
| Plan | Positioning | Per month | Year one (setup included) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Presence | Entry seat, steady baseline visibility | €1,100 | €14,700 |
| Momentum | Growth seat, the most common choice | €1,900 | €24,300 |
| Flood | Intensive seat | €3,500 | €43,500 |
| Momentum Exclusive | Growth, sector locked | €3,900 | €48,300 |
| Flood Exclusive | Intensive, sector locked | €5,900 | €72,300 |
These are Traffic Engine's own prices. They make no claim about what other providers charge, and the offer page also lists them in pounds, dollars, Canadian dollars and dirhams.
Presence: for the practice that needs to be findable
Presence suits a sole practitioner or a small studio of two or three people that wins most of its work through referrals and wants to stop disappearing when a prospective client looks up architects in the area. The goal is to be found consistently by people who check you out online before they get in touch, and to show up for your core specialisms.
It is the right call if your pipeline is already reasonably full, if you cannot take on many new commissions, or if few competing practices in your area are visible. It is also a cautious way to begin: twelve monthly payments of €1,100 come to €13,200 before setup, a figure most practices can weigh against a single residential commission. The trade-off is reach. Presence keeps you on the map, but in a city where rival studios are already well established, it may not be enough to win the larger briefs.
Momentum: for the practice that wants to grow
Momentum is the plan most clients choose, and it fits most established architecture and engineering firms. You have a team, a portfolio and a reputation, and you want new clients to find you: homeowners planning a build, developers, companies expanding their premises, schools and healthcare operators.
Run the numbers from the value of a commission rather than from the monthly fee. Think about what a typical project brings in fees over its life, then ask how many extra commissions a year would cover the €24,300 first-year investment. For most practices the answer is a small number, and because one good project often leads to the next, the return tends to extend well beyond the first job. Our guide on payback on a visibility investment sets out the full reasoning.
Flood: for wide ambitions in a crowded market
Flood is the intensive seat. It is built for a firm that covers several disciplines (architecture, structural engineering, project management, interior design), works across several cities, or faces heavy competition in a large metro area. It also suits an engineering consultancy aiming for larger projects, where a single contract changes the shape of the year.
Flood requires the capacity to respond. If more enquiries arrive, you need people who can qualify them and prepare proposals without letting quality slip. Before choosing it, ask whether your organisation is ready. Our guide on how much an architecture firm should spend on visibility helps you set the right level.
The exclusive plans: locking your sector
Traffic Engine caps every sector at 3 standard seats per area, each with its own positioning. For an architecture firm, that means two rival practices in your area could also be working with Kolonell. Momentum Exclusive and Flood Exclusive remove that possibility: no other architecture firm in your area can sign for the length of your commitment.
This option only exists while the sector is empty. As soon as a first standard seat is signed in your area, exclusivity is withdrawn. It makes sense for an ambitious practice in a market with a strong pipeline of projects, where a visible competitor would cost you major commissions. To understand why a serious provider limits its client list, read our guide on limited seats per sector.
How to decide in practice
- Your capacity: how many new commissions could you accept this year without letting existing clients down?
- The value of a project: the higher it is, the faster a bigger plan pays for itself.
- Local competition: if several rival practices are already highly visible, Presence may not be enough.
- Sector availability: if your area is still empty, this is the only window in which exclusivity is on the table.
If you are still unsure, the Visibility Audit settles it. It measures where you stand against other practices, assesses the potential of your area and recommends a plan, with the report delivered within 48 business hours. See the plans in detail and check availability in your sector, or try your own figures first in the payback calculator.