Real results for real businesses
Numbers do not lie. These case studies show what happens when Iowa businesses invest in a website built with strategy, not just design. Every result on this page is documented and verifiable.
Jump to case studies using the buttons below.
The Rental Guys
#1 on Google for Equipment Rental in the Quad Cities
The Challenge
The Rental Guys is a local equipment rental company in Moline, Illinois, serving the Quad Cities metro. They compete directly with national chains that have massive marketing budgets, dedicated SEO teams, and hundreds of location pages:
- United Rentals
- BigRentz
- EquipmentShare
- Titan Machinery
- Duke Rentals
- Pillar Equipment
When The Rental Guys came to Team 218, they did not have a website that could compete at that level. They needed a site that could go head-to-head with companies spending more on SEO in a month than most small businesses spend in a year.
What We Built
We built a new custom WordPress website from the ground up, designed specifically to compete in the Quad Cities equipment rental market. The strategy was not to outspend the national chains. It was to outstructure them.
1. Content Architecture
We built dedicated pages for each equipment category and rental type, structured with the exact search terms Quad Cities customers use when looking for equipment. Each page targets a specific intent rather than trying to rank one generic page for everything.
2. Technical SEO
- Custom JSON-LD schema markup for the business entity, service offerings, and geographic coverage
- Optimized title tags and meta descriptions for every page
- Clean URL structure and XML sitemap
- Fast load times on mobile
3. Local Search Signals
Every page includes geographic context that ties the business to Moline, the Quad Cities, and the surrounding service area - reinforcing The Rental Guys as the definitive local equipment rental provider in the market.
4. Industry-Specific Content
Rather than generic marketing copy, we wrote content based on what equipment rental customers actually search for - equipment specifications, rental guides, use cases, and comparison content that positions The Rental Guys as the knowledgeable local expert.
The Secret Weapon: Digger the Rental Dawg
You cannot outspend a national giant, but you can out-brand them. We collaborated with Coghill Cartooning and the team to develop Digger the Rental Dawg - a mascot that represents the strength, reliability, and good old-fashioned service that define this veteran-owned business.
| Brand Recall | Digger creates a visual anchor that sticks in the minds of local contractors and homeowners. When someone thinks "equipment rental in the Quad Cities," they picture the dawg. |
| Reduced Bounce | A friendly, recognizable face increases user trust and dwell time on the site. Visitors stay longer and explore more pages. |
The Results
Within 12 months of launch, The Rental Guys ranked #1 on Google for the most competitive equipment rental search terms in the Quad Cities market:
| "equipment rental quad cities" | #1 |
| "rental equipment quad cities" | #1 |
| "quad cities equipment rental" | #1 |
| "DooLittle Trailer Rentals" | #1 |
For "equipment rental quad cities," The Rental Guys ranks above every national competitor in the market:
| #1 | The Rental Guys (qcrentalguys.com) |
| #2 | Avenue Rental Inc |
| #3 | Rent-ACE QC |
| #4 | United Rentals |
| #5 | Pillar Equipment |
| #6 | Titan Machinery |
| #7 | Duke Rentals |
| #8 | BigRentz |
| #9 | Rexco Equipment |
| #10 | EquipmentShare |
Why It Matters
These are companies with corporate SEO departments, national ad budgets, and thousands of pages of content. The Rental Guys beat them with a smarter site, not a bigger budget.
This is what happens when a website is built with search strategy from the foundation up, not bolted on as an afterthought. The Rental Guys did not need to outspend the national chains. They needed a web team that understood how to outstructure them.
See the finished product live
Visit The Rental Guys website →Love From Levi
Building a National Nonprofit Platform from Iowa City
The Mission
At the age of 3, Levi was diagnosed with the most aggressive form of medulloblastoma, a pediatric brain cancer. His 13-month journey showed everyone around him how to find light in the darkest of times. Love From Levi was created to honor his adventurous spirit by spreading brightness to families facing pediatric cancer through the distribution of customized books and toys.
The organization is based in Iowa City, home to the University of Iowa Stead Family Children's Hospital, but Love From Levi is a fully independent nonprofit. Their mission is nationwide, and their website is the central hub that makes that reach possible.
What We Built
We designed and launched lovefromlevi.com as a donated project, building a platform that serves two very different audiences: donors in the Iowa City and Coralville corridor who fund the mission, and hospital staff and families across the country who request books for pediatric patients.
1. Performance-First Design
Families navigating a pediatric cancer diagnosis are often browsing from hospital rooms on mobile devices with congested Wi-Fi. We built the site with a flat DOM hierarchy, prioritized global CSS over inline module styles, and optimized load times so the site works under real-world conditions, not just ideal ones.
2. Visual Design as Tribute
The design is not just aesthetic. Every visual choice ties back to who Levi was:
- The primary blue is a nod to Levi's favorite color and his love for Blaze and the Monster Machines
- The heart represents the love he gave
- The star represents his bright spirit
3. Frictionless User Paths
The two most critical actions on the site - donating and requesting a book - are persistent and accessible in one click from any page. When a family is in crisis, they should not have to hunt for a button.
4. Custom Order System
The hospital book order system is the engine of the organization's reach. We built a custom workflow using Gravity Forms with:
- Conditional logic that tailors questions based on the child's age and preferences
- Instant notifications to the fulfillment team when a request comes in
- Data validation to keep the process clean and reliable across all 41 locations
The SEO Strategy
This site needed to rank locally for donors in the Iowa City market while maintaining a national presence for families and hospital staff seeking pediatric cancer support resources.
| Local Signals | Custom JSON-LD schema reinforces Eastern Iowa geographic signals to capture the donor base in Johnson County and the surrounding corridor. |
| National Reach | Content targets terms like "pediatric cancer support nonprofit" and "customized books for children in hospitals," expanding the organization's digital footprint nationwide. |
Ongoing Partnership
We provide WordPress maintenance and care to Love From Levi at no charge. Security updates, plugin management, backups, and performance monitoring are all handled by Team 218 so that every dollar donated goes directly toward gifts for children, not website overhead.
Why We Did This for Free
Because we can. We have the skills to build something that helps families facing the worst experience of their lives, and the cost to us is time. The cost to them, if we did not, would be a website that does not work as hard as their mission deserves. That math is simple.
See the finished product live
Visit lovefromlevi.com →Sigourney Tree Care
"From Invisible to Online & Fast": Modernizing a 30-Year Legacy
The Backstory
Sigourney Tree Care is not a new business. For more than three decades, it has been a trusted fixture in the local community — offering everything from hazardous tree removal and stump grinding to landscaping, property management, and seasonal snow clearing. Current owner Zeb Webb has led operations for the past six years, building on a reputation earned long before he took the helm.
Despite that legacy, the business shared a problem common to many long-established local companies: a complete absence of digital presence. There was no domain name, no website, and no Google Business Profile. Word-of-mouth and traditional advertising had sustained the business for years — but Zeb recognized the market was shifting.
Reaching a younger demographic and competing with rivals like Exceptional Edge required more than reputation. It required visibility.
The Challenge
The project goals were clear but ambitious:
- Build a Brand from Scratch — Establish a professional online presence where none had existed before.
- Streamline Operations — Zeb didn't want a digital brochure. He wanted a tool to make lining up quotes faster, more efficient, and less reliant on back-and-forth phone calls.
- Establish Local Authority — Rank for high-intent searches like "Tree Removal" and "Snow Removal" in the Sigourney and Hayesville service area.
The Team 218 Solution
1. The "Fast Quote" Engine
Zeb's primary operational pain point was the friction involved in scheduling estimates — the back-and-forth calls, the unclear scope, the wasted drive time. The centerpiece of the new site addresses this directly.
We built a dynamic "Get a Quote" engine that allows prospective customers to:
- Select their specific service type (Tree Care, Lawn & Landscaping, or Snow Removal)
- Upload photos of their property directly from a mobile device
- Submit address and contact details in a single, streamlined form
2. Strategic Service Silos
To maximize search engine performance, services were not consolidated onto a single page. Following semantic SEO best practices, the site was structured into three distinct pillars, each with its own dedicated page:
- Tree Care — Removal, Trimming, and Stump Grinding
- Landscaping — Mowing and Property Management
- Snow Removal — Seasonal Contracts
This structure allows Google to index each service independently, increasing the likelihood of appearing when a local user searches for "snow removal near me" or "stump grinding Sigourney Iowa."
3. The "Mirroring" Strategy (Local SEO)
Because the business operates out of Hayesville while serving the broader Sigourney area, alignment between the website and the Google Business Profile (GBP) was critical to local search performance.
Team 218 implemented a three-part Mirroring Strategy:
| Entity Verification | Guided the client through verifying their Google Business Profile to establish public visibility and trust signals with Google's local search algorithm. |
| Product Synchronization | Configured the GBP "Products" section to exactly mirror the website's service pages, reinforcing consistency across platforms. |
| Deep Linking | Every service listed on Google Maps links directly to its corresponding page on the website, creating a tight "trust loop" that search algorithms reward with improved local rankings. |
The Outcome
Sigourney Tree Care has transitioned from a word-of-mouth company with no digital footprint into an indexed, visible, and lead-generating competitor in its local market. The site is live and actively collecting quote requests.
By combining a mobile-first design with a frictionless quoting process and a coherent local SEO strategy, Team 218 helped Zeb Webb position his 30-year-old business for the next chapter of growth — leveraging three decades of community trust, backed by a digital infrastructure built to last another 30.
See the finished product live
Visit sigourneytreecare.com →Meyers & James Construction
50 Years of Craftsmanship - Finally Online
The Backstory
Meyers & James Construction has been a fixture in southeast Iowa since 1973. What began as a family-owned residential drywall operation grew steadily over five decades into a regional force in industrial construction - serving sectors as specialized as medical facilities, food production plants, and manufacturing operations. Through multiple generations of family leadership, the company built its reputation the old-fashioned way: show up, do the work, do it right.
By the time Carl Meyers contacted Team 218 in early 2025, the company had over 50 years of completed projects, deep regional relationships, and a highly specialized skill set that most competitors cannot match. What they did not have was a website.
In a market where industrial and commercial clients vet contractors online before ever picking up the phone, that absence was costing them opportunities they never knew they were losing.
The Challenge
Meyers & James serves a sophisticated target audience - industrial and commercial businesses making high-stakes hiring decisions for specialized construction projects. These are not impulse purchases. A plant manager sourcing a food-grade flooring contractor or a hospital system vetting a general contractor will research extensively before reaching out.
Without a website, Meyers & James was invisible to that research process entirely. Their competitors - Formaflo, Allen Blasting and Coating, CCS, Ziegler Industries, and others - had an online presence. Meyers & James did not. Every search was a lost opportunity.
The goal was not just to get online. It was to build something that could communicate 50 years of expertise to a discerning commercial audience and convert that credibility into contact requests.
What We Built
Before a single page was designed, Team 218 invested time in understanding the business - multiple meetings with the Meyers & James team covering the company's history, its service specializations, the direction leadership wanted to take it, and the types of clients they most wanted to attract. That foundation shaped every decision that followed.
1. Dedicated Service Pages
Rather than listing services on a single page, we built four dedicated service pages - one for each of the company's core offerings. Each page is written and structured to target the specific search terms industrial and commercial clients use when sourcing contractors, and to clearly communicate the scope, experience, and capability Meyers & James brings to each discipline.
2. Project Gallery
In industrial and commercial contracting, past work is the most powerful sales tool available. We built a project gallery that showcases completed jobs across the company's service areas - giving prospective clients visual proof of capability before they ever make contact.
3. Careers Page
Growth requires talent. We built a dedicated careers page with an application system so prospective employees can submit directly through the site - streamlining recruitment and signaling that Meyers & James is a growing operation with opportunities worth pursuing.
4. Contact System
A clean, direct contact form built for the way commercial clients actually reach out - no friction, no unnecessary fields, no pop-ups. Just a fast path from interest to conversation.
- Julie Meyers, Meyers & James Construction
The SEO Strategy
A website without search visibility is a brochure with no distribution. We built Meyers & James to be found.
| Schema Markup | Custom JSON-LD structured data defines Meyers & James as a verified construction entity with specific service offerings and regional coverage - giving search engines the precise signals needed to surface the site for high-intent queries. |
| GBP Optimization | We audited and optimized the Google Business Profile to align with the website's service structure, strengthening local search signals across the Keokuk and southeast Iowa market. |
The results are already visible. Meyers & James now ranks at or near the top of Google for "food grade flooring contractor" and "general contractor Keokuk" - competitive terms in a specialized market where industrial clients are actively searching for exactly what this company provides.
The Outcome
Meyers & James Construction entered 2025 with 50 years of hard-earned reputation and no digital presence. They now have a professional platform that reflects the scale and sophistication of their operation - one that can be found by the industrial and commercial clients they want to reach, and that communicates their depth of experience the moment someone lands on it.
Five decades of craftsmanship deserved a website built to the same standard. That is what we built.
See the finished product live
Visit meyersandjames.com →Solon Area Community Foundation
Bringing 40 Years of Community Impact Online
The Backstory
The Solon Area Community Foundation has been investing in the Solon, Iowa community since 1981. Through scholarships for local students, funding for community projects, and support for local organizations, SACF has quietly shaped the fabric of small-town life in eastern Iowa for over four decades.
The foundation's work is woven into the community — from supporting youth education to funding the kinds of local projects that make a small town worth living in. But for all that history, SACF had no website. No digital presence of any kind.
In a world where people search before they give, that absence meant donors couldn't find them, prospective scholarship applicants had nowhere to go, and the story of four decades of community investment was being told nowhere at all.
The Challenge
Community foundations run on trust. A donor considering a gift — whether $25 or $25,000 — wants to know the organization is legitimate, transparent, and doing real work in the community. Without a website, SACF had no way to establish that trust with anyone who hadn't already heard of them through a neighbor or a local event.
The challenge wasn't simply getting online. It was building something that felt as trustworthy and community-rooted as the organization itself — warm enough to reflect the human side of their work, credible enough to earn a first-time donor's confidence, and functional enough to accept contributions directly.
What We Built
Team 218 built the Solon Area Community Foundation's website from the ground up. Every decision — from the visual tone to the site structure — was made with one question in mind: will a first-time visitor feel like they've landed somewhere they can trust?
Mission-Forward Design
The site leads with SACF's story and community purpose, not organizational jargon. Visitors immediately understand what the foundation does, who it serves, and why it matters — before they're ever asked to give.
Online Donation Portal
For the first time, community members and donors can contribute to SACF directly through the website. The giving portal is simple, secure, and frictionless — built so that the moment someone decides to give, nothing gets in the way.
Scholarships & Projects
The site gives SACF a platform to highlight their scholarship programs and funded community projects — making their work visible and giving prospective applicants and donors a clear picture of the impact their support makes.
- Linda Linderbaum, Secretary, Solon Area Community Foundation
The Outcome
For the first time in over 40 years of operation, the Solon Area Community Foundation has a digital home that reflects the depth of their community impact. Local residents and prospective donors can now find SACF online, learn about their work, and contribute directly through the site.
Four decades of quiet community investment finally has a place to be seen.
See the finished product live
Visit solonareacf.org →More case studies coming soon
We are currently documenting results from additional client projects. Check back for detailed case studies covering web design, SEO, social media, and WordPress repair across Iowa and beyond.
In the meantime, see real client feedback on our testimonials page or browse our full portfolio.
Want results like these?
Every case study on this page started with a business owner who decided their website should work harder. Tell us about your goals and we will show you what is possible.
No deposits. No long-term commitments. We deliver results first.
Call or text 319-333-0815 or email team@team218.com.
Let's Build Something Great Together!
Thank you for your interest in Team 218. We appreciate your commitment to open and meaningful communication. To keep our interactions productive, we kindly ask that you avoid sending promotional materials, marketing content, or uninvited solicitations. Your cooperation helps us focus on what truly matters—building something remarkable together.
"*" indicates required fields