From 5 Visitors a Month to Turning Away Projects
How a design-build firm in a resort lake community went from invisible online to more qualified leads than it could take on.
A Design-Build Firm Built on Referrals
Our client is a design-build firm specializing in custom waterfront homes and architect-led construction in a resort lake community. For years, the business had grown entirely on referrals and word of mouth. The website existed mainly as a portfolio, and it had never functioned as a lead generation channel: roughly 5 organic visits a month, and zero keyword rankings of note.
Altus was engaged to build an SEO and GEO campaign from the ground up, with the goal of turning the website into a real source of qualified project inquiries rather than a digital business card.
Starting From Zero
Building a Visibility System From the Ground Up
Our SEO program was built around the way custom-build clients actually search, then layered with the local authority signals that convert that visibility into calls.
We identified the highest-value terms across custom home building, remodels, and waterfront construction in the firm's market, and used them to structure new site pages rather than bolting keywords onto existing ones.
We rebuilt the Google Business Profile completely and layered in hyper-local landing pages, since a large share of high-intent traffic in this category comes from map pack visibility, not organic blue links alone.
We launched a content calendar of long-form, authoritative pieces around project types, materials, and the custom build process, each with a clear, low-friction path to inquire.
Planned Goals vs. What Actually Happened
| Metric | Baseline | Current (7 Months) | vs. Goal |
|---|---|---|---|
| Organic Traffic | 5 per month | 6,347 per month | Up 510% |
| Top 3 Keyword Rankings | 0 | 691 | Up 299% vs. goal |
| Top 10 Keyword Rankings | 0 | 992 | Up 71% vs. goal |
| Qualified Leads per month | Near 0 | 7 to 12 (GBP calls) | Exceeding goal |
The Trajectory
GEO Wins
Alongside the SEO campaign, Altus ran a parallel Generative Engine Optimization program so the firm would be named in AI-generated answers, not just findable in search results. Here's where that stands.
Qualified Inbound, Zero Paid Ads
Every lead came through organic search, AI citations, or Google Business Profile, with no paid acquisition. In the seven months since launch, the firm has fielded qualified inquiries for new builds and remodels across its service area, with several already converted to signed projects and more in active estimating or consultation. The firm went from manually hunting for work to selectively choosing which projects to take on.
What the Firm Said
"I do think that's the correlation there, because even the years before that, we weren't saying no as much."
— A partner at the firm
"Definitely, since we started improving our website, we've gotten a lot more inquiries."
— A partner at the firm
Ready to Outgrow Your Current Lead Flow?
Altus Marketing builds SEO and GEO systems for small businesses that generate more leads than you can handle.
Get a Custom Quote