Client success story: Thurman Construction — how a 40-year Sioux Falls home builder became the first name families find
Drive through almost any subdivision on the edges of Sioux Falls and you'll pass a Thurman home. You probably won't know it. The sign came down years ago, the sod grew in, kids grew up in the basement rec room, and the house just quietly did its job — which is exactly the point. For more than **35 years**, Thurman Construction has built custom homes, developed lots, and remodeled tired spaces across the Sioux Falls area. Hundreds of floor plans. Over a dozen subdivisions. Almost no noise about any of it.
That's a wonderful reputation and a difficult marketing problem. Because the next Sioux Falls family about to spend the largest sum of money in their life isn't driving subdivisions asking who built what. They're on a phone at 9:40 p.m. typing *'custom home builders Sioux Falls'* — and whoever shows up in that moment gets the conversation. Complete Media's job was to make sure that name was Thurman.
> "We've never been the loudest builder in town. We just needed the people who are already looking for what we do to be able to find us."
About Thurman Construction
Thurman Construction is a **Sioux Falls custom home builder** offering **lot development, custom home design, new home construction, and home remodeling**. The team has built **hundreds of floor plans — semi-custom to fully custom — across more than a dozen Sioux Falls-area subdivisions over 40+ years**.
The company's philosophy is refreshingly plain: *build the house of your dreams as we would build the house of our dreams.* In practice that means high-quality materials, precision craftsmanship, an obsession with the small details, and a stubborn commitment to open communication — meeting deadlines, coordinating trades, and telling homeowners the truth about where the project actually stands.
**Contact Thurman Construction**
- Website: [builtbythurman.com](https://builtbythurman.com)
- Phone: **605.334.3217**
- Email: [info@builtbythurman.com](mailto:info@builtbythurman.com)
- Hours: Monday–Friday, 8am–5pm
- Facebook: [@BuiltByThurman](https://www.facebook.com/BuiltByThurman)
- Serving the Sioux Falls, SD area
The challenge
Thurman had four decades of proof and very little of it working online. When we started, the gaps looked like this:
- **National listing sites and out-of-market lead aggregators** owned page one for *custom home builders Sioux Falls* — selling Thurman's own market back to Thurman as paid leads
- **Word of mouth had a ceiling.** Referrals are the best leads in construction, but they only reach as far as the last person who had a great build
- **The brand wasn't consistent** across signage, print, jobsite presence, and digital — four decades of quality, four different-looking impressions
- **The website didn't sort visitors** by what they actually came for: a lot, a custom design, a new build, or a remodel
- **No presence in AI search**, where a growing share of Sioux Falls homeowners now ask ChatGPT, Gemini, or Perplexity *'who's the best custom home builder in Sioux Falls?'* before they ever open Google
- **The team's time belongs on jobsites**, not on keyword research and Google Business Profile updates
The strategy
We built the program around the one thing no franchise builder or out-of-state aggregator can manufacture: **40+ years of building homes in this specific city, for people you'll run into at Hy-Vee.** Every channel — brand, print, website, SEO, AI visibility, ongoing content — pushes the same idea: *the builder Sioux Falls families have already trusted for four decades, and you can talk to the person who'll actually be on your job.*
That meant understanding the market (a Sioux Falls build decision is a 6–18 month research cycle, not an impulse), identifying the highest-value growth opportunities (custom builds and lot development, not just remodel one-offs), positioning against national franchises on craftsmanship and accountability, and planning long-term — because home building runs on seasons and reputation, not on a two-week campaign.
The work completed
Branding & identity
We sharpened the brand around **precision, partnership, and lifelong Sioux Falls expertise**, then locked in consistent logo usage, typography, and color so the mark reads the same on a jobsite sign, a truck door, a business card, a Facebook post, and a Google result. One Thurman, everywhere. For a builder whose best advertising is a finished house in a neighborhood, that consistency is what turns a drive-by into a recognized name.
Print marketing
Jobsite and lot signage, brochures for custom design and remodel prospects, spec sheets and floor-plan leave-behinds, business cards, direct mail into active subdivisions and target neighborhoods, and home-show and trade-show materials. In construction, print still closes: it sits on a kitchen counter for six months while a family decides.
Website & digital presence
A fast, mobile-first site at [builtbythurman.com](https://builtbythurman.com) organized around how a Sioux Falls buyer actually shops — **Lot Development**, **Custom Home Design**, **New Home Construction**, and **Home Remodeling**, each with its own page and its own path to a conversation. We added a real project gallery (kitchens, baths, living spaces, exteriors), a *Homes & Lots For Sale* section for buyers who are ready now, and put **605.334.3217** and the free-estimate ask on every screen. More than half of these searches happen on a phone, often at night — the site is built for that thumb.
> **Callout: the 9:40 p.m. test.** If a family can't tell in fifteen seconds that you build custom homes in Sioux Falls, see proof, and reach a human — you lost a build you never knew you were in the running for.
SEO & local visibility
On-page SEO, technical cleanup, Google Business Profile optimization, citation building, and review generation tuned to the searches that actually produce builds: *custom home builders Sioux Falls, Sioux Falls home builder, new home construction Sioux Falls, home remodeling Sioux Falls, lot development Sioux Falls, basement remodel Sioux Falls, kitchen remodel Sioux Falls, custom home design South Dakota* — plus long-tail variations for subdivisions, first-time builders, and move-up buyers.
AI visibility optimization
We restructured on-site content, added schema markup, and strengthened external citations so Thurman Construction is recognized and cited by AI assistants as a trusted Sioux Falls custom-builder answer. Ask an AI tool who builds custom homes in Sioux Falls and a 40-year local builder should be in that answer — not just whoever bought the most ad inventory. This is the same [AI visibility playbook](/what-we-do) we run for growth-minded local businesses.
Ongoing marketing support
A steady cadence of content, project photography, social posts, review requests, and seasonal campaigns timed to how home decisions actually happen in South Dakota — spring build starts, summer lot releases, fall remodel planning, winter design work. The Thurman team keeps building. Complete Media keeps the brand showing up.
The results
- **↑ 3× qualified inbound leads** — and more importantly, *better* ones: families already looking for a custom build rather than tire-kickers shopping the lowest bid
- **Improved local Sioux Falls search visibility** across custom-build, new-construction, and remodel searches, including the map pack
- **Stronger brand recognition** — the jobsite sign, the truck, the brochure, and the Google result finally look like the same company
- **More website traffic and phone calls** from the exact buyers Thurman is built to serve
- **Presence in AI-generated answers** about Sioux Falls home builders
- **A 10+ year marketing partnership** that keeps the pipeline steady instead of feast-or-famine
> "Marketing didn't change how we build. It just made sure the right people were the ones calling."
Why it matters
Home building is the most personal purchase a local business can be trusted with. A family isn't buying square footage — they're buying twenty years of Christmas mornings in a room that doesn't exist yet. When a builder with four decades of local craftsmanship is invisible online, the family that would have loved working with them ends up with a national franchise and a call center instead. Strong marketing for a business like Thurman isn't about volume; it's about making sure the right match actually gets made. That's better for the family, better for the builder, and better for the neighborhoods that get one more well-built house in them.
About Complete Media
Complete Media is a **Sioux Falls marketing agency** that has partnered with 250+ local businesses since 2002 — home builders, construction and trades, home services, real estate and property management, insurance, financial services, attorneys, retail, restaurants, and non-profits across the Midwest and West. Strategy, [branding, websites, print, SEO, AI visibility, and digital advertising](/what-we-do) — one local partner, one phone number, one team that already understands how Sioux Falls buyers actually buy. See more [client success stories](/success-stories).
FAQs
**Do you only work with home builders?** No. Thurman Construction is one of many construction, trades, and home-services clients we support — alongside dozens of other local industries.
**How long does it take to see results?** Brand and website changes are visible immediately. Local SEO and Google Business Profile gains typically compound over 60–120 days. In home building, remember the buying cycle itself runs 6–18 months — the leads you generate this spring often sign next winter.
**Do you require long-term contracts?** No. Our most popular engagement starts at $495/month, all-inclusive, no long-term contract.
**Do you work with clients outside Sioux Falls?** Yes. We're based at 927 E 8th St, Sioux Falls, SD 57103, and partner with businesses across the region.
Want results like Thurman Construction?
If you run a Sioux Falls construction, trades, or home-services business with a great reputation and a digital presence that doesn't match it, this is exactly the kind of work we love. One conversation, no pressure, and an honest read on whether we can help. [Reach out through our contact page](/contact), explore [what we do](/what-we-do), or call **605.360.2259** — and if you're thinking about building or remodeling in Sioux Falls, call Thurman at **605.334.3217** or visit [builtbythurman.com](https://builtbythurman.com).
