Silver Spring Subdivision, Glenwood, Iowa Website

Silver Spring Subdivision, Glenwood, Iowa Website

Henry ClarkPro Member
Developer · Member since 2020 · 4k+ posts · 4k+ votes

We developed a website for our second Subdivision development, Silver Springs.  Our first subdivision had a great location and sold out in 11 months.  Only 8 lots from 2 up to 20 acres each.  Had a great location, so was not concerned about the length of time to sale.  Our second location Silver Springs Subdivision has 18 lots and has a lot to offer, but not as close to town.  Truly a Country Subdivision.  We just sell the lots.  Planning on this taking us 5 years to sell, thus invested in a website to help market. 

Break the discussion down:

1.  Website cost.  We have had 3 websites.  Cost between $800 to $1,500 per month for the SEO to develop and maintain.  You could do for $zero and do yourself, but I like hiring out, for their experience.

2.  Google searches and rankings- We set this website up as a Business versus as an individual.  To increase ranking, we still need to add "Back links" with other groups, key on wording searches in our area, developed "Snippets" for easy AI clips from the site, used Google Map and other tools to get ranked higher.  Since there are only 18 lots, we will not get many Google Reviews.  So, we will need to get more testimonials than reviews.  Will revisit this in about 3 months.  It really takes about 6 months and up for you to get traction.

3.  Google ads- We are spending $250 per month for google ads.  The SEO is spreading this over the month on a per day basis.  Our community is only 10,000 and thus not a lot of repetitive internet searches.  Narrowed the ads down by zip code.  Will review in the future and possibly narrow down by which days of the week and what hours of the day.  Example:  Say Wednesday thru Sunday.  10 am thru 8 pm.  This is to cut down on bogus ad usage for bad searches.  May come back and do more than one Google campaign keying on different word searches.

4.  SEO developer did a good job of putting "Call to Action" on each page.  Basically, a button contact for our realtor.

5.  Our realtor has been doing You tubes for the Subdivision.  He will go back and put more "Call to Action" buttons.  This will link to the website, to drive more website activity and rankings.

Thus far we have sold 5 out of 18 lots since opening around July of 2025, which we are happy with.  We are doing the Website, due to the large dollars tied up in the investment, the quicker the sale, the faster the returns.  And to make sure we have covered all basis, that we can control in the Marketing realm.

Will come back in 2 to 3 months and review the progress of the website development and campaign.

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  • Anaheim Hills, CA · Member since 2026 · 8 posts · 3 votes
    6mo

    This is a really solid breakdown, appreciate you sharing the detail.

    A few thoughts that might help as you continue building this out:

    The snippet/AI optimization work is smart and a lot of people overlook it. As AI Overviews take up more real estate in search results, having your content structured to get pulled in there is going to matter more and more.

    On the backlinks, for a subdivision/land play specifically, local news coverage, county or regional land use publications, and even local farm/ag associations can be surprisingly effective. They tend to carry strong local relevance signals which is exactly what you need for a geo-targeted property like this.

    The Google Ads dayparting idea is solid. Wednesday through Sunday and limiting to daytime/evening hours is a reasonable starting hypothesis. One thing worth testing separately is intent-based segmentation. People searching "land for sale [county]" convert very differently than people searching "country lots near [city]." Running them in separate campaigns lets you see which intent is actually driving inquiries.

    One thing I'd add to your YouTube strategy: make sure the video descriptions include the full property address and target keywords, not just a link. YouTube is a search engine too and most people leave that SEO on the table entirely.

    Five lots in roughly 8 months on an 18-lot country subdivision is a solid pace. You're clearly thinking about this the right way.

  • Henry ClarkPro Member
    OP
    Developer · Member since 2020 · 4k+ posts · 4k+ votes
    6mo

    Thanks for follow-up.  

    SEO is working on several local backlinks for websites he maintains already, so we should get an initial bump,

    Google ads, I mentioned doing separate ads.  Something we have done on our Self Storage locations.  Will follow-up with him on that and the day/timing of ads.

    Linking Youtube videos to locations.  SEO is to work with Agent to update the Youtubes.

    This is our second country subdivision.  Our first one of 80 acres, we kept about 30 for our home area.  The rest sold out in 11 months.  Timing was right with interest rates also.  Just a great location and trees, pond/stream, walkouts, views, trees, boulders, etc.  

    Our largest issue will be to get reviews since this is a limited product offering (18 lots) over say 5 years.  Will get contractors and lot buyers to put in reviews.

    People like boulders and trees.  You can Value Add to country lots.

  • Anaheim Hills, CA · Member since 2026 · 8 posts · 3 votes
    6mo

    Love the progress, Henry! It sounds like your SEO guy has the fundamentals handled well. I tend to play in the deeper, more technical end of the pool these days, so I'm definitely not looking to step on his toes or steal the business, but if you ever hit a wall or just want a high-level second opinion, feel free to give me a shout. Always happy to help!

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