Digital marketing for Riverhead, New York.
Search, advertising, website and reputation work for businesses in Riverhead, where the town is deciding who gets its publicly owned land and a residential cap is steering what gets built next.
Years experience
Clients served
Boutique agency, work directly with the founder
Public land, going private.
The instrument is a 2023 overlay. The Downtown Riverfront Overlay District, Local Law 3-2023, adopted on 22 March 2023, implements the town's Downtown Pattern Book and Riverfront Activation Plan, including the creation of the Town Square and an accessible river walk.
Town Square broke ground in December 2025 as a project of nearly $33 million, including $24 million from the federal RAISE grant program, covering green space, an amphitheater, a playground, walkways, a boutique hotel and mixed-use commercial space, with pedestrian connections from Main Street to the riverfront. The town's own schedule, reported in August 2026, places main Town Square construction in 2027 with opening in 2028. Those dates are projections.
The hotel on that site was approved in August 2026. The Town Board voted five to nothing to approve site plan and special permit applications for a five-story, 94-room hotel with about 8,800 square feet of specialty retail, restaurant and food hall space, a project that began as a concept including condominium units. Water and sewer district, county health department, architectural review and other approvals remained outstanding, and industrial development agency assistance had not been approved.
A second overlay governs the station area. The Railroad Avenue Urban Renewal Area Overlay District, Local Law 1-2021, provides for transit oriented development, names the Suffolk County Supreme Court complex and the rail station as key resources, and allows up to 60 feet on named frontages with a maximum floor area ratio of 3.0 where community benefits are provided.
Who builds there has already changed once. In March 2025 the Town Board voted four to nothing to rescind the 2022 master developer designation of the team that had proposed a five-story, 243-apartment building on the town-owned lot across from the train station.
The town put the same land back out in July 2026. Its request for proposals covers the roughly two-acre town-owned lot that now provides about 237 parking spaces serving the county court complex, with guidance of roughly 100 to 200 units. No outcome is on the record.
A much larger piece of land is being decided in court. A court dismissed 16 of 17 causes of action brought over the town's 2018 agreement to sell about 1,643 acres at the Enterprise Park at Calverton, with one tortious interference claim surviving, after the Town Board canceled that contract in October 2023. In March 2026 a judge ordered cancellation of the buyer's notice of pendency on roughly 1,644 acres. The buyer appealed and the town cross-appealed within the week.
Where this covers
- Calverton
- Aquebogue
- Jamesport
- Wading River
- Baiting Hollow
- Northville
- Laurel
- Mattituck
- Cutchogue
- Southold
- Flanders
- Riverside
- Hampton Bays
- Manorville
- Westhampton
What a full cap changes about the competition.
Downtown housing is close to a ceiling the town set for itself. As of July 2024 downtown had 268 apartments with a further 202 holding site plan approval, and a civic leader described the 500-unit residential cap in the Downtown Center-1 district as having effectively been reached. Town Board members supported exempting owner-occupied condominiums from that cap. Those are 2024 figures and that characterization is his, not a town count.
The surrounding market is smaller and less settled than the Nassau villages further west. Riverhead's census designated place records 14,993 residents, a median household income of $83,008, 23.2 percent foreign born and an owner-occupied housing rate of 60.9 percent.
It is also the county seat. Riverhead became the seat of Suffolk County in 1792, and the current courthouse at Griffing Avenue and Court Street was dedicated in August 1929, which is why a commuter parking lot across from the station also serves a court complex.
With the cap described in 2024 as effectively reached, what competes next downtown is whatever the town permits instead of more rental apartments, and the disposition of town-owned land decides who the new neighbors are. For a business already trading here that is an unusual amount of forewarning: the competitive set arriving over the next few years is being chosen in public, through a request for proposals and a board vote, rather than appearing as signed leases. The marketing question is which of those outcomes to prepare for, and a hotel approved for 94 rooms implies a different weekday street from 200 apartments on the same lot.
What we can show you today.
Sommers Marketing Group holds a 5.0 average rating across its Google reviews, and every engagement is run by Lee Sommers, with 19 years of agency experience behind it.
For a worked example of how that runs in practice, read our published case study on a podiatry practice that grew new patients 57.5 percent in three months.
What we actually do.
Seven service lines, run in-house by one strategist. Take the one you need or run them together as a single growth program.
SEO and content marketing
Rank for what buyers actually type. Technical fixes, on-page structure, Google Business Profile and content written to earn the click and the call.
- Local and organic keyword strategy
- Google Business Profile optimization
- On-page and technical SEO
- Content built to convert, not to pad word count
Paid advertising
Search, shopping and social ads managed to a cost per lead rather than an impression count, with spend you can trace to revenue.
- Google Ads search and Performance Max
- Meta and LinkedIn campaigns
- Landing pages built for the ad that sent the click
- Conversion tracking that ties spend to leads
Website optimization
The site is where the lead is won or lost. Speed, structure, clarity, and a conversion path that does not make anyone hunt for the next step.
- Core Web Vitals and page speed
- Conversion path and form design
- Mobile-first layout and accessibility
- Analytics and event tracking that reports honestly
Social media management
A consistent presence that sounds like you rather than a template calendar. Planning, production and posting handled, with reporting that goes past likes.
- Channel strategy and content calendar
- Post production and scheduling
- Community management and response
- Reporting tied to business outcomes
Email marketing
The list you already own is the cheapest revenue available to you. Segmentation, automation and campaigns people open instead of unsubscribing from.
- Welcome and nurture automation
- Segmentation and list hygiene
- Campaign design and copy
- Deliverability and performance reporting
Reputation management
Reviews decide who gets called. A steady, genuine flow of them, monitored across the platforms buyers actually check, with responses handled properly.
- Review generation systems that do not feel forced
- Monitoring across the major platforms
- Response strategy and handling
- Profile consistency across directories
AI tools and automation
Automate the intake, the follow-up and the busywork, and get visible in AI search while competitors are still arguing about whether it matters.
- AI search and answer engine visibility
- Lead capture and follow-up automation
- Workflow and CRM integration
- Practical tooling, not novelty
Who we work with.
Owner-run businesses and practices where the person making the decision is the person you talk to. If that is you, the work below is built for how you actually operate.
Get a Free Local Search Review- Healthcare practices: medical, dental, veterinary and specialty practices where patients compare before they call. See our healthcare marketing work.
- Professional services: law firms, accountants, financial advisors and agencies selling expertise. See our professional services marketing work.
- Home services: contractors and trades who win or lose on who shows up first in a local search. See our home services marketing work.
- Retail and hospitality: storefronts and independents where foot traffic and the map pack decide the week.
- Everyone else: the full list of industries we have built programs for. Browse all industries we serve.
How we start.
A look at where you actually stand
We audit your current search footprint, your profile, your site and what your competitors are doing. You get the findings whether or not you hire us.
A plan ranked by impact
Fixes ordered by what moves the number soonest, with a clear monthly figure before you commit and no long-term lock in.
Execution, and honest reporting
The work gets done by the person who scoped it. Monthly reporting shows leading indicators from month one so you are never waiting blind.
Common questions.
Is downtown Riverhead still adding apartments?
Its capacity is limited by a 500-unit residential cap in the Downtown Center-1 district. As of July 2024 downtown had 268 apartments with another 202 holding site plan approval, and a civic leader described the cap as having effectively been reached. Town Board members supported exempting owner-occupied condominiums from it.
Which communities around Riverhead does this page cover?
Riverhead and the surrounding area: Calverton, Aquebogue, Jamesport, Wading River, Baiting Hollow, Northville, Laurel, Mattituck, Cutchogue, Southold, Flanders, Riverside, Hampton Bays, Manorville and Westhampton.
How long does local SEO take to show results?
Map pack and profile changes can move within weeks. Organic rankings for competitive commercial terms usually take longer. We report on leading indicators from month one so you are not waiting blind.
Do you require a long term contract?
No long term lock in is required. We scope the engagement to your goals and give you a clear monthly number before you commit.
What does the first month look like?
An audit of your current search footprint, a prioritized plan with the fixes ranked by impact, and then execution against that plan with monthly reporting.
Do you work with businesses outside this area?
Yes. The team is based on Long Island and a lot of the work is local, but the services are not geographically limited.
Let us look at your Riverhead search footprint.
A free review of how your business currently shows up in search, the map pack and AI answers, with the specific fixes ranked by what would move first.
Prefer to call?
631-496-1600. Monday to Friday, 9am to 6pm ET.
One business day response
Every reply comes directly from Lee, no auto-responders, no junior intake.
Schedule your free consultation
A few details help Lee come prepared with a useful answer specific to your business, not a generic pitch.