Welcome to Media Matters, an interview series by Fublis where we explore the insights, challenges, and experiences of media professionals. In this series, we interview journalists, editors, writers, and media experts to gain deeper understanding of the evolving media landscape.
In this edition, we sit down with Ruchika Deshpande, founder of Archwhispers.com, an architectural blog dedicated to making design accessible and relatable to a broader audience. Ruchika shares her journey from a B.Arch student to establishing her own platform, exploring how her experience with various firms and publications helped shape her approach to architectural writing and content curation.
Join us as she provides valuable insights into breaking down complex architectural jargon, creating user-friendly content, and navigating the challenges of launching a successful digital platform.
Can you share your journey from a student of B.Arch to the founder of Archwhispers.com? What inspired you to share a blog?
Ruchika Deshpande: Well, as we all know, being a B.Arch student is pretty intense. I mean, my schedule, back then in Aayojan School of Architecture & Design, was pretty much about learning design principles, working tirelessly on design projects, thinking as per the end-user and yes, slurping coffee, lots & lots of it! But somewhere, I realized that I couldn’t just capture this endless creativity, built masterpieces & design vocab all in one unit! That’s what sparked the idea for archwhispers.com (yes, I had even decided the name that time). To be honest, back then, I just wanted to curate a personalized digital library for architects & architectural students to learn about design, to break the traditional jargon-filled explanations and find free inspiration to work sleeplessly.
Then, during my fourth year, I was introduced to an elective on ‘Architectural Journalism,’ where I realized that there’s still a strong disconnect between the architectural academia & the common, non-architects. Architecture & home-decor wasn’t just feeling relatable & accessible for all! In fact, most people were so used to the typical block, irregularly stacked & concrete spaces that they felt that it was they who had to ‘adjust’ to poorly designed homes. And somewhere, as a responsible architect, I had to change that!
So, encourage by my parents & fueled by my passion to write, communicate & share the importance of ‘cozy, well-designed’ homes with people, I launched my own platform, archwhispers.com this April. Plus, having worked with various renowned organizations like Tata Structura, Rethinking the Future, Whizzy Living, etc. I had a solid architectural writing portfolio & SEO management experience to promote architectural media digitally. So yes, this journey from a B.Arch student to the founder of archwhispers.com has allowed me to really pursue my passion, collaborate with endless designers, answer people’s queries and explore architecture to a whole new level!
How did your experiences with other publications and firms like Whizzy Living, Wooden Owl Design, and Wokefeel contribute to your skills and confidence as a content curator?
Ruchika Deshpande: Well, I personally feel that each of the above collaboration & experience has critically shaped me from an ‘architect,’ to an ‘architectural content writer.’ For instance, they’ve played a key role in breaking my rigidity and helping me blend to various home decor sub-niches, target audiences, tone requirements, design drafts, etc. They’ve also boosted my authority & expertise like anything and helped me work, within tight deadlines, on exploring different audience preferences, curating valuable content that beats AI, optimizing stuff for maximum visibility & engagement while analyzing the brand’s voice and value.
And can I be honest with you? I seriously lacked the technicals required to be a good content curator! Well you see, we don’t really dig deeper into various writing tools, SEO techniques, Google policies, Meta’s & codes while studying architecture. So frankly, thanks to these publications and firms, I really got a hands-on experience with the CMS, research, analytics, editing & re-writing stuff to be a good content curator.
For instance, Whizzy Living provided me a platform to curate content for common people, answer their decor doubts, write in a conversational tone and consider the client’s budget beforehand. It also helped me boost my SEO & Google policy understanding, which is really crucial to start a blog. Wooden Owl Design, on the other hand, was all about furniture, curating brochure text, compiling flyers and connecting with designers & common people for sales. This really helped me explore the lesser known facets of consumer psychology, anthropometry & building great connections, again very crucial to ace the subscriber count of any blog.
You see we learn all about analyzing architecture, new technologies & how to incorporate them or so in architectural schools. But, pitching these concepts to attract new clients, boost sales & build a solid digital footprint needs a hands-on experience. And I really can’t thank my previous firms & publications enough for that! They’ve been a lifesaver.
What is the mission behind Archwhispers.com and how do you aim to make architectural content more accessible to a broader audience?
Ruchika Deshpande: Technically, archwhispers.com drives on a simple, yet unequivocal mission to make architectural & interior design equally accessible & relatable for everyone. We basically believe, that since design holds immense power to shape our experiences, enrich our lives & determine our productivity, it shouldn’t be exclusive! So, we aim to break open this barrier & bridge the gap between the designers & clients using different tools & essentials like a clear and concise language, compelling visuals and practical DIY tips and advice. We also focus on answering real-life user challenges to queries we receive on our forums, LinkedIn, Quora, Pinterest, etc. Moreover, since we believe that good homes and interiors ain’t just for the rich, we try to include easy yet effective decor tips that will sync well with the upper middle class that’s still a majority in India. So if you see, our blogs are a good mix of luxury & budget ideas for more reach. Plus, well-structured content, bullets, tips & short paras are like compulsory in our office, to make the content readable for the teens & elderly alike.
How did you develop the necessary skills in content management systems, SEO, and website development?
Ruchika Deshpande: TBH, I must say that building, designing and publishing on archwhispers.com was really difficult for me at the start. But slowly & steadily I learned CMS through a combination of self-learning and experimenting with WordPress & Wix (90% was self-learnt & hands on). There are also many countless courses available on Udemy, Skillshare, etc. which I took advantage off. Moreover, I also reached out to various digital marketers & marketing enthusiasts, Mr. Syed Balkhi, being one of them to learn the potential pitfalls, UI UX basics, SEO techniques, etc. I also learned some basic HTML & CSS codes from a few of my I.T friends to solve my blog’s technical issues on my own. However, this website development journey was really a trial & error practice! I wrote so many website codes on my own, some worked, some didn’t. I improved the one’s that did, and brainstormed the one’s that didn’t, again and again, till I finalized the website design I’ve built today.
What strategies do you use to engage with your readers and ensure that your content remains relevant and valuable to them?
Ruchika Deshpande: We genuinely believe that each and every user has some basic understanding of home decor, color combinations and design, in general. So, we always collaborate with industry experts and influencers to provide authoritative, trending & designer-styled hacks content to ensure that our users always learn something new. We also conduct surveys & feedback meetings with some of our users from time to time. This helps us understand user preferences, interests, pain points and home decor doubts easily. In fact, we have a separate email form & Quora forum to answer & collect user questions easily. Moreover, at Archwhispers, we also incorporate interactive elements like polls, quizzes, and shop-item giveaways to encourage engagement and user participation.
Can you walk us through your process of simplifying complex architectural language into compelling narratives?
Ruchika Deshpande: Certainly. The process of simplifying complex architectural language into compelling narratives is as easy as removing architectural jargon – ‘juxtaposition,’ ‘paradigm,’ etc. and convert it to easier flesch reading content. Basically, I start by reading & understanding the underlying concepts, the architect’s perspective and reasoning and draw parallels between the same & everyday experiences. Like, what’s better than translating ‘the main circulation core staggers into a courtyard, a water pond, etc.’ into ‘this is how you’ll move from your living room to the bedroom. You’ll have a courtyard in between.’ It’s that easy! I also try to use examples, anecdotes, infographs, diagrams & bubble maps for more visual depth. At Archwhispers, I also try to connect directly to the reader’s hobbies and personal interests. Like, a person interested in DIY decor would obviously be interested in art & art forms. So, I also ask my team to add more of the art & hobby segment to make the content more compelling. Clarity, accuracy, attention to grammar & punctuation is another plus.
How do you decide the topics on your blog? And how did you get in touch with other writers who contribute to your blogs?
Ruchika Deshpande: At Archwhispers, we usually decide the blog topics from the trending Quora, Pinterest or Reddit questions and the suggestions we get on our blog’s comments & social media features. We also conduct an in-depth Google research and prepare sheets on trending queries, both in the Indian & US market, for better engagement. Similarly, our team members monitor the latest trends, developments, design tech, etc. and shortlist all the new topics that need more clarity & explanation. We also curate topics based on our own personal interests and areas of expertise. This helps us create content that we are genuinely excited about and that resonates with our audience.
Recently, we’ve also started welcoming guest writers, a few of whom we met at industry events, conferences & interior seminars. We also reach out to experts directly, and periodically announce open calls for guest posts on our website and social media channels. However, we’re a bit strict about the submission protocols and don’t entertain any plain, non-expert or bookish content just for the sake of it.
What were some of the biggest obstacles you faced when starting your blog and how did you navigate them?
Ruchika Deshpande: Well, with so much content already out there on the internet, I had a tough time finalizing my content voice, content structure & blog niche at the start. I literally focused on so many things – case studies, pets, landscape, uhhh! And that got a bit overwhelming for me! However, slowly and steadily, I found my purpose – just focus on complex concepts and translate them for implementation in everyday living. That’s it!
Moreover, just as architects struggle to get their first client, I, as an architectural writer, struggled to get my first reader. That’s when I had to learn onpage & off-page SEO strategies, and other technical CMS parts to grow better. Also, my working hours increased drastically! You see, back then, when I was working as an architectural journalist at a publication, I just had one job – write content, that’s it! But as a founder of archwhispers.com, I had to become a one man army – search ideas, prepare drafts, write edit & check content, create images, add copyrights, double-check the codes, promote the blog, etc. It really got on my nerves! So, I started planning my content calender rightly, outsourced tasks, set deadlines and was back on track!
Furthermore, I didn’t know anything about coding. I had to struggle so much just to add one button, one sharing link on the website. But then, I took help from different Udemy courses, literally lived browsing Youtube coding videos, wrote a lot of ‘wrong’ codes, learned from them and built my own knowledge base.
Also, let me tell you that building a blog requires consistent effort and dedication. Even I had my own share of panic-attacks, of days when I didn’t make money, of stressed days, of overworked days, but it all just falls into place when you get your first blogging revenue! As for obstacles, I face them even today, and will continue to face them in the future, perhaps! But, it’s important to stay motivated & continue writing for your loyal audience.
What does your schedule look like when planning for the content bank?
Ruchika Deshpande: At Archwhispers, we usually follow weekly and monthly content planning modules. Basically, we dedicate some time of the first week in researching trending architectural tech, trend & lifestyle topics for the next month. Then over 40% of the next week is spent on researching relevant keywords, both long-tail & short-tail, user questions and FAQs on those topics. In the third week, we prioritize topics based on the keyword difficulty, SERP statistics, reader interest, estimated wordcount, SEO potential, etc. We also divide our topics between our in-house and guest writers. Finally, in the last week, we assign the topics to the confirmed writers, plan the deadlines, solve any writer doubts and prepare content checklists for a steady content flow. We also spend over 20% of the time each week in content editing, social media scheduling, performance monitoring, etc.
However, we are a bit flexible with our content bank planning process and reserve some spillover time to adapt our blogs on real-time events, breaking news, etc. We usually have a surplus of 20–25 blogs in hand, but are okay with a little less or more when changing any SEO strategies, or redesigning the website for better UI or so.
What are your long-term goals for Archwhispers? What impact do you hope Archwhisper will have on the architectural community and general public?
Ruchika Deshpande: Despite being a relatively new & emerging platform, we, as a team, are proud that archwhispers.com has already shown significant progress, traffic & rankings as per the Google Analytics & indexing report. So within the next 2–3 years, we aim to build a vibrant online community, both within India & internationally, where architects, designers & even common people can discuss their design requirements, preferences, emerging technologies, etc. Next, we aim to make the lay person more aware about architecture, in general, as a profession, discussing how to convey ideas rightly, appreciating the effort behind thoughtful design and how architects are still really underpaid for the efforts they put in through various educative blogs and videos. We aspire to collaborate with renowned architects, designers, and industry experts to boost our authority & rankings on Google and be the best ever home decor magazine for common people.
By doing so, we believe that archwhispers.com might generate & inspire young minds to try their hands in architecture & design. Similarly, we can have a huge environmental & economic impact by discussing budget-friendly yet sustainable hacks for homes, bring in passive cooling strategies, reducing the need for artificial energy resources, etc. We also aim to be the go-to platform for budding architectural journalists to kickstart their journey, provide internships and help architecture & design firms market their projects. This way, we can really make architecture accessible for all.
What advice would you give to other architects who are interested in transitioning into blogging and content curation?
Ruchika Deshpande: I certainly believe that budding architectural bloggers should really concentrate on writing easy – It’s not about using fancy words & really tough sentences to show your expertise; you need to go easy, as if you are explaining things to a teen, to boost your readability. Also, intern with famous magazines, publications, showcase your work and establish yourselves as an author to land your first writing job. Besides, it’s very important to try your hands on various content formats. Like, if you feel blogging is not for you, you can still try project writing, research paper writing, vlogging or interview curation as a content curator. I also feel you must be more active; Like, drink that extra coffee, have an extra energy pill or whatever! But, you must always respond to all your reader’s questions, comments & strike a conversation with your subscribers to promote your writing. Last, but not the least, stay patient.
So, architectural journalism is an emerging field in India, and there’ll be days when you’ll face setbacks, fall short of money and all those anxiety attacks. But stay true to your profession, work on your skills, do better than AI & I am sure this profession will help you get all you need!
How important do you think it is for architects and designers to have a strong online presence and what tips would you offer for building one?
Ruchika Deshpande: Well, we all know how stagnant each and every profession has become in India, and let me tell you, architecture is no different! So, the key to be a successful & really experienced architect in 2024 is to build a strong online presence, either through social media, or through blogs, project features, etc. (yes, you can submit your projects on archwhispers.com) So, a powerful online presence not only boosts the architect’s visibility & authority, but also helps attract new clients and generate leads. In fact, it’s this strong brand identity that builds credibility among most people and gives them a gist of the architect’s style, design approach & perspective in no time! I also feel that it leads to better collaborations & partnerships; helping architects stay updated on the current technologies, trends & costs easily.
Thus, I personally invite architects & designers to showcase their expertise & write expert architectural, interior or landscape posts on archwhispers.com. Similarly, they can submit the best of their projects for a feature & advertise their work to our loyal reader base. They must also establish a strong presence on social media – tweet about new construction tech, add suggestions on Quora, get blogs written from us for your website, add your work in progress reels every now and then, and most importantly, respond to all comments!
