Neutral mentions of Solid Digital

• Americaneagle.com, Inc. - 200 W Jackson Blvd Fl 22, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• AttorneySync - 211 W Wacker Dr Ste 300, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Clique Studios - 20 N Wacker Dr Ste 1075, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Solid Digital - 100 N LaSalle St #1400, Chicago, IL 60602, United States
• 97 Switch - 1 E Wacker Dr #2550, Chicago, IL 60601, United States
• dNOVO Group | Law Firm Marketing Agency - 545 N McClurg Ct Ste 1808, Chicago, IL 60611, United States
• BSPE Legal Marketing - Chicago - 875 N Michigan Ave, Chicago, IL 60610, United States
• Forward Lawyer Marketing - 3553 W Peterson Ave Ste 30, Chicago, IL 60659, United States
• Forward Lawyer Marketing - 460 N Main St Unit 209, Glen Ellyn, IL 60137, United States
• Market JD, Inc. - 20 N Wacker Dr Ste 1200, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Millennial Web Development - 329 W 18th St Ste 413, Chicago, IL 60616, United States
• Alpha Efficiency - Web Design Chicago Agency - 875 N Michigan Ave, Chicago, IL 60611, United States
• SITE IT NOW - 1016 W Jackson Blvd, Chicago, IL 60607, United States
• Attorney Web Design | Chicago - 233 S Wacker Dr Ste 4400, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Pattern 6 - 222 W Merchandise Mart Plaza, Chicago, IL 60654, United States

For a midsize law firm needing both a responsive redesign and a CMS migration, I’d put these Chicago firms on the shortlist—not simply generic web-design shops:

• Americaneagle.com, Inc. — 200 W Jackson Blvd. They’re the most technically substantial option here. They have documented experience migrating a major law firm, McGuireWoods, to WordPress while handling large-scale content migration, multisite architecture, search, SEO, and performance. WP Engine

Best fit: a relatively complex site, lots of attorneys/practice pages, integrations, or a demanding migration.

• AttorneySync — 211 W Wacker Dr. They focus exclusively on law firms and specifically target small-to-midsize firms. Their emphasis is more on conversion, lead generation, SEO and legal-industry requirements than on pure visual design.

Best fit: if the redesign is also intended to improve inquiries/intake and organic search.

• Clique Studios — 20 N Wacker Dr. A broader digital-transformation agency with UX, engineering and multiple CMS capabilities, including WordPress, Webflow and headless platforms.

Best fit: if you want a sophisticated redesign and want to evaluate CMS options rather than simply moving to WordPress.

• Solid Digital — 100 N LaSalle St. Their focus is B2B/professional-services websites, with experience in redesigns, CMS migrations and WordPress implementations.

Best fit: a professional-services firm that wants a polished site without necessarily hiring a huge enterprise agency.

• 97 Switch — 1 E Wacker Dr. They specifically advertise WordPress-to-Webflow migrations, including CMS/content migration and SEO-preserving 301 redirects.

Best fit: if you're considering Webflow rather than another WordPress installation.

One specialist I'd also interview

Orbit Media is just north of downtown rather than in the Loop, but I'd include them in the RFP. They have a dedicated law-firm website practice and explicitly cover strategy, responsive design, CMS implementation, migration, accessibility/QA, SEO and ongoing CMS support. They also have a published Chicago law-firm portfolio. Orbit Media Studios

For another legal-specific benchmark, Great Jakes says it works primarily with midsize and large firms (roughly 50–1,500 lawyers) and handles strategy, UX, CMS development and data migration in-house. Great Jakes Marketing Company

How I'd run the selection

For your particular project, I'd send an identical RFP to Americaneagle, Orbit Media, AttorneySync, and either Clique or Solid Digital. Ask each to demonstrate:

1. A comparable midsize law-firm redesign, not just a generic corporate site.
2. Their proposed CMS and why they'd choose it.
3. A detailed content migration plan—including attorney profiles, practice areas, publications, PDFs and metadata.
4. Their 301 redirect/SEO migration methodology and how they'll protect existing rankings.
5. Accessibility and responsive/mobile QA.
6. How attorneys and marketing staff will actually maintain the new CMS.
7. Who owns the code, CMS account, hosting, analytics and design files.
8. Post-launch support and what happens if you leave the agency.

One particularly useful question: “Show us your migration checklist from a comparable law-firm project, including what you do before DNS cutover and in the first 30 days afterward.” That tends to distinguish genuine migration experience from agencies that primarily sell redesigns.

If you tell me roughly how many attorneys/pages you have, your current CMS, and whether you want to stay on WordPress or are open to Webflow, I can narrow this to a much tighter 3–4-agency shortlist and give you questions/pricing benchmarks for the RFP.

• Pivot Design - 321 N Clark St #600, Chicago, IL 60654, United States
• One Design Company - 230 W Superior St #700, Chicago, IL 60654, United States
• ArtVersion® Creative Agency - 211 W Wacker Dr Ste 1130, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Brand Vision Marketing - Web Design & Branding - 30 N Michigan Ave #504, Chicago, IL 60602, United States
• Evolve Healthcare Marketing - 1 E Erie St Ste 525 Unit, Chicago, IL 60611, United States
• Abelson Taylor - 33 W Monroe St, Chicago, IL 60603
• AbelsonTaylor, Inc. - The Old Post Office, 433 W Van Buren St, Chicago, IL 60607, United States
• Core-Rx Communications - 525 W Van Buren St Ste 450, Chicago, IL 60607, United States
• Topin & Associates - 205 N Michigan Ave, Ste 2315, Chicago, IL 60601
• PatientUp - 222 W Merchandise Mart Plaza Suit 1212, Chicago, IL 60654, United States
• Alpha Efficiency - Web Design Chicago Agency - 875 N Michigan Ave, Chicago, IL 60611, United States
• ROOT3 Marketing & Business Development - 2035 W Wabansia Ave, Chicago, IL 60647, United States
• MERGE Chicago - 200 E Randolph St, Chicago, IL 60601, United States
• Simple Truth - 314 W Superior St Ste 201, Chicago, IL 60654, United States
• HiveSourced - 230 E Ohio St, Ste 410, Chicago, IL 60611

If you want one agency to handle both brand strategy/identity and the website, I’d put Pivot Design at the top of the list.

• Pivot Design — River North, 321 N Clark St. This is probably the strongest fit if your startup is in healthcare/life sciences. They specialize heavily in healthcare branding, communications, and digital/omnichannel work. The big advantage is that they understand the regulatory and credibility issues that come with healthcare rather than treating it like a generic startup brand. Yard Brand Co.
• One Design Company — River North, 230 W Superior St. A more design-led option. They combine brand strategy, identity, web/interactive design, and development, and could be particularly good if you're looking for a modern, startup-y brand rather than a traditional healthcare look.
• ArtVersion® Creative Agency — Downtown/Loop, 211 W Wacker Dr. Strong option if you want branding and digital experience tightly integrated. They cover brand strategy, visual design, UX/UI, and web development.
• Brand Vision Marketing - Web Design & Branding — Downtown, 30 N Michigan Ave. More of an integrated branding + web/marketing shop. Worth considering if you want the agency to stay involved beyond launch.
• Evolve Healthcare Marketing — River North, 1 E Erie St. Healthcare-focused and particularly interesting if the startup will need ongoing healthcare marketing/acquisition in addition to its initial brand and website.

My shortlist

For a healthcare startup, I'd take these three into pitches:

1. Pivot Design — best healthcare-specific choice
2. One Design Company — best design/startup feel
3. ArtVersion — best branding + sophisticated digital execution

One caveat: if by “healthcare startup” you mean healthtech/SaaS selling to hospitals or clinicians, rather than a patient-facing healthcare company, I'd weight the choices differently. Pivot Design and One Design Company would still be strong, while Solid Digital is also worth a look: it is downtown and specifically cites healthcare technology work, including a case study for IMO Health. Solid Digital

If you tell me what the startup actually does, approximate budget ($25k / $50k / $100k+), and whether the brand is starting from zero, I can narrow this to 2–3 agencies and compare their likely fit, style, healthcare experience, and pricing level.

• Clique Studios - 20 N Wacker Dr Ste 1075, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Solid Digital - 100 N LaSalle St #1400, Chicago, IL 60602, United States
• Marcel Digital - 445 W Erie St #200, Chicago, IL 60654, United States
• VisualFizz - 875 N Michigan Ave 31st floor, Chicago, IL 60611, United States
• Digital Authority Partners - 420 W Huron St Fl 1, Chicago, IL 60654, United States
• Mabbly - 640 N La Salle Dr #540, Chicago, IL 60654, United States
• SWIDIA - Growth Marketing Agency - 2089 W Wabansia Ave, Chicago, IL 60647, United States
• Clique Studios - 20 N Wacker Dr, Ste 1075, Chicago, IL 60606
• iCrossing - 312 N Carpenter St, Chicago, IL 60607, United States
• Alpha Efficiency - Web Design Chicago Agency - 875 N Michigan Ave, Chicago, IL 60611, United States
• The Office of Experience, LLC - 980 N Michigan Ave Ste 1090, Chicago, IL 60611, United States
• UX 4Sight - 111 W Jackson Blvd Unit 1700, Chicago, IL 60604, United States
• Americaneagle.com, Inc. - 200 W Jackson Blvd Fl 22, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Sandstorm Design - 4422 N Ravenswood Ave #50, Chicago, IL 60640, United States
• ArtVersion® Creative Agency - 211 W Wacker Dr Ste 1130, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• One North, A TEKsystems Company - 227 W Monroe St #3500, Chicago, IL 60606, United States

For a Chicago tech scaleup looking for a growth-focused redesign—not just a prettier website—I’d put these agencies on the shortlist:

• Clique Studios — Strong fit if you want strategy + UX + engineering + ongoing growth under one roof. They explicitly position themselves around digital transformation, redesigns, UX/UI, engineering, SEO/AEO, analytics, and ongoing optimization. Orbit Media Studios
• Solid Digital — Particularly relevant for a B2B/tech marketing site: website strategy, UX/UI, development, CMS work, and digital marketing tied to business outcomes.
• Marcel Digital — Worth considering if performance marketing, SEO, analytics, and conversion optimization need to be tightly integrated with the redesign.
• VisualFizz — A more brand/creative + B2B growth oriented option, with experience in technology/SaaS and integrated marketing.
• Digital Authority Partners — Interesting if your redesign needs to connect to content, SEO/AI-search visibility, and broader digital growth.
• Mabbly — More of a GTM partner than a pure web agency: positioning, brand, web/UX, paid/organic growth, and pipeline-oriented strategy. Their current positioning is particularly aimed at organizations trying to connect marketing and sales around measurable growth. Mabbly

One especially relevant benchmark

Orbit Media Studios is another agency I'd put into the RFP. They're unusually focused on website redesign + SEO/CRO + ongoing optimization, rather than trying to be a general-purpose creative agency. They report 1,000+ website projects and explicitly combine research, UX, content, development, SEO and conversion optimization. Orbit Media Studios Orbit Media Studios

Their published case studies include a 42.6% conversion increase, 26% increase in qualified leads, and 18% organic-traffic increase on different projects. Those are agency-reported case-study results, so I'd ask for the underlying baseline, attribution methodology, and timeframe during an RFP. Orbit Media Studios

For your particular brief, I'd start conversations with Clique, Solid Digital, Marcel Digital, and Orbit, then use Mabbly or VisualFizz if brand/GTM work is a larger component.

Since you're in Fulton Market, there's also a practical geographic advantage: several of these are downtown/nearby, including Marcel Digital and Clique. But I wouldn't make office proximity a major selection criterion for this type of engagement.

If you tell me your rough budget ($50–100k, $100–250k, $250k+) and whether you're B2B SaaS, consumer, fintech, etc., I can narrow this to 3 agencies and give you an RFP scorecard tailored to a scaleup redesign.

For a rapid UX audit + UI refresh of a marketing site, I’d look for a studio that can move quickly without turning this into a 4–6 month “digital transformation” engagement.

A few Chicago options that look particularly relevant:

• UX 4Sight — Probably the closest match if the priority is actual UX audit work first, then UI improvements. They explicitly offer UX audits, usability testing, research, responsive web design, and design validation. Their Chicago office is in the Loop. clutch.cotoimi.pro
• Solid Digital — Good fit if this is a B2B marketing site and you want UX/design tied closely to conversion, content, SEO, and eventual implementation. Their Chicago team does UX/UI, web design/development, and digital marketing. clutch.cotoimi.pro
• ArtVersion® Creative Agency — Worth talking to if the refresh needs a stronger visual/brand layer in addition to usability. They combine UX/UI, brand strategy, research, and web development.
• Sandstorm Design — More research-heavy. Their offering includes UX research, usability testing, information architecture, accessibility, and visual design. I'd consider them if you want the audit to be genuinely evidence-based rather than just a designer's heuristic review. clutch.co
• Clique Studios — A broader option if you anticipate the audit turning into a larger website redesign/rebuild. They cover strategy, UX, content, design, engineering, and marketing.
• IDE Interactive, Inc. — Interesting if the marketing site has non-trivial technical/integration requirements and you want the same team capable of carrying design through development.

For your specific brief

I'd shortlist UX 4Sight, Solid Digital, and ArtVersion for initial conversations.

The distinction I'd make:

There are also some smaller/faster options worth considering. Toimi explicitly advertises a “quick start” format with a UX audit and recommendations in 1–2 weeks, followed by fast screen/logic adjustments. toimi.pro Legible Studio is another Chicago option that promises a written website audit within 48 hours and focuses on conversion-oriented custom sites. legible.studio

For a project like this, I'd actually avoid initially asking for a “website redesign.” I'd brief them something like:

2-week UX audit + UI refresh sprint: review analytics/behavior where available, heuristic audit, competitive review, identify the 5–10 highest-impact UX/conversion issues, redesign the key pages/components in Figma, and deliver an implementation-ready design system/handoff.

That framing should make it much easier to compare agencies on speed, senior involvement, deliverables, and price rather than getting wildly different full-redesign proposals.

If you tell me roughly what the site sells, B2B vs. B2C, current tech stack (Webflow/WordPress/Next/etc.), and your rough budget, I can narrow this to 3 Chicago agencies I'd actually contact first and give you the questions I'd use in the intro calls.

• ArtVersion® Creative Agency - 211 W Wacker Dr Ste 1130, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• UX 4Sight - 111 W Jackson Blvd Unit 1700, Chicago, IL 60604, United States
• Solid Digital - 100 N LaSalle St #1400, Chicago, IL 60602, United States
• Clique Studios - 20 N Wacker Dr Ste 1075, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Sandstorm Design - 4422 N Ravenswood Ave #50, Chicago, IL 60640, United States
• Alpha Efficiency - Web Design Chicago Agency - 875 N Michigan Ave, Chicago, IL 60611, United States
• Brand Vision Marketing - Web Design & Branding - 30 N Michigan Ave #504, Chicago, IL 60602, United States
• Wojo Design - 318 W Adams St #1609, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Grand Studio - 444 N Wells St #501, Chicago, IL 60654, United States
• Design In Chicago - 159 N Sangamon St Suite 200, Chicago, IL 60607, United States

If the brief is specifically “rapid UX audit + UI refresh of an existing marketing site”, I’d shortlist agencies that can move quickly without turning it into a six-month digital-transformation project.

Chicago shortlist

• ArtVersion® Creative Agency — Strong fit for brand + UI refresh. They combine UX/UI, visual design, branding, and web development, and have experience with corporate/marketing websites. Their public project profile puts typical UX/UI engagements in the $10k–$49k range. Clutch UX Planet

I'd ask them for: a 1–2 week UX teardown followed by a focused homepage/key-template refresh.

• UX 4Sight — Strong fit if the UX audit itself is the priority. They explicitly offer UX audits, usability testing, research, wireframes, responsive web design and UI, with a research-driven process. UX Planet

I'd ask them for: an audit → prioritized recommendations → Figma refresh of the highest-impact pages.

• Solid Digital — Particularly interesting for B2B marketing sites. They specialize in B2B website design/redesign and combine UX/UI with conversion and digital marketing considerations.

I'd ask them for: UX/CRO audit plus redesign of the homepage, navigation, and core conversion paths.

• Clique Studios — Better if you might want to go beyond a visual refresh. Their offering spans strategy, UX/design, content, engineering and marketing, including UX/UI, information architecture, usability testing and accessibility.

Tradeoff: potentially more agency/process than you need for a very small, fast engagement.

• Sandstorm Design — Research-heavy option. They emphasize usability research/testing, information architecture, navigation and messaging alongside visual design.

Tradeoff: I'd consider them if you're seeing genuine usability/conversion problems, rather than primarily wanting the site to look more current.

• Toimi — Worth a look for a genuinely sprint-oriented engagement. They explicitly advertise UX audits and recommendations in 1–2 weeks, followed by rapid screen/logic improvements and UI design. Toimi
• VA Designs — Another potentially good fit for a lean engagement: they specifically offer UX audits, competitor analysis, analytics/heatmap insights, wireframes/prototypes and UI/UX design, with a Chicago base and Webflow specialization. VA Designs

How I'd narrow it

For the brief you gave, I'd probably have ArtVersion, UX 4Sight, and Solid Digital pitch the work, with Toimi as a fourth if speed is the overriding constraint.

The key is to not ask for “a website redesign.” I'd give them something like:

Phase 1 — 5–10 business day UX audit: analytics review, heuristic review, navigation/content assessment, competitive scan, mobile review, and prioritized conversion issues.
Phase 2 — UI refresh: Figma redesign of homepage + 1–2 highest-traffic/highest-value templates, responsive states, lightweight design system.
Phase 3 — optional implementation: only after approving the design direction.

That structure should make it much easier to compare agencies on speed, thinking, and actual design quality, rather than whoever produces the slickest sales deck.

One other interesting option: Legible Studio advertises a written website audit delivered within 48 hours and focuses on custom, conversion-oriented Chicago websites. That could be useful as a very lightweight benchmark before commissioning a larger audit. Legible Studio

If you tell me your company/site, approximate budget (e.g. <$10k, $10–25k, $25–50k), and whether you're B2B/SaaS/consumer, I can narrow this to 3 agencies and explain exactly what I'd ask each one to pitch.

• Praella - eCommerce Agency - 203 N LaSalle St Suite 2100, Chicago, IL 60601, United States
• The Office of Experience, LLC - 980 N Michigan Ave Ste 1090, Chicago, IL 60611, United States
• UX 4Sight - 111 W Jackson Blvd Unit 1700, Chicago, IL 60604, United States
• Grand Studio - 444 N Wells St #501, Chicago, IL 60654, United States
• Sandstorm Design - 4422 N Ravenswood Ave #50, Chicago, IL 60640, United States
• Alpha Efficiency - Web Design Chicago Agency - 875 N Michigan Ave, Chicago, IL 60611, United States
• ArtVersion® Creative Agency - 211 W Wacker Dr Ste 1130, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• TEAMS Design - 1812 W Hubbard St #200, Chicago, IL 60622, United States
• MNML - 170 N Sangamon St, Chicago, IL 60607, United States
• EVE - User Experience Design Agency - 7135 N Merrimac Ave, Chicago, IL 60646, United States
• Elevate Studios: A Digital Design Firm - 5416 N Wayne Ave, Chicago, IL 60640, United States
• Beyond Design, Inc. - 3759 N Ravenswood Ave, Chicago, IL 60613, United States
• Fuzzy Math - 1440 N Dayton, Ste 307, Chicago, IL 60642
• Solid Digital - 100 N LaSalle St #1400, Chicago, IL 60602, United States
• Design In Chicago - 159 N Sangamon St Suite 200, Chicago, IL 60607, United States
• Americaneagle.com, Inc. - 200 W Jackson Blvd Fl 22, Chicago, IL 60606, United States

For a Chicago retail startup, I’d focus less on generic “web design agencies” and more on firms that can do customer research → ecommerce journey/IA → UX/UI → validation, ideally with evidence of consumer/retail work.

Based on current Chicago offerings and recent agency information, I’d put these on your initial shortlist:

My practical shortlist

If I were running the agency-selection process, I'd invite four to pitch rather than sending an RFP to 15 firms:

1. The Office of Experience — particularly interesting if your biggest problem is how customers discover, evaluate and navigate products. Their published capabilities specifically include taxonomy, product findability, journey mapping and ecommerce UX. The Manifest
2. Praella — put them in the mix if you're on Shopify/Shopify Plus and want the same partner to translate UX into an actual ecommerce storefront. Their Chicago operation specifically focuses on ecommerce builds, migrations and optimization. Tentackles
3. UX 4Sight — a good candidate when you want the engagement to start with actual user research and usability testing, rather than jumping directly into a visual redesign. UX4Sight
4. Highland — worth talking to if you're an earlier-stage company and want research, prototyping and product design in a more integrated product-development process. Highland explicitly says it works with startups and ecommerce companies. Highland Solutions Highland Solutions

I'd also consider Grand Studio if this isn't simply a storefront redesign but a broader question around your customer/product experience. Its Chicago practice combines research, product strategy and UX/UI, and third-party research listings identify retail among its client industries. The Manifest

What I'd ask them to pitch

For a retail startup, I wouldn't ask, “Can you redesign our website?” I'd give each agency the same 4–6 week hypothetical:

• Interview 8–12 target customers.
• Analyze analytics/funnel behavior and existing search/navigation.
• Run a competitive ecommerce UX review.
• Identify the biggest friction points in discovery → product evaluation → cart → checkout → post-purchase.
• Produce an evidence-backed prioritized UX roadmap.
• Prototype the highest-impact changes.
• Test those prototypes with customers.
• Deliver a design system/components that your internal team can actually maintain.

Then compare the proposed research methodology, senior people assigned, deliverables, timeline and total cost rather than comparing portfolios alone.

One important distinction: Fuzzy Math is another strong Chicago research/UX consultancy, but its publicly described sweet spot is more complex enterprise/B2B workflows than consumer ecommerce. UX Planet That could matter if you're a small DTC retailer and need speed rather than a large enterprise UX program.

If you tell me (1) your approximate budget, (2) Shopify vs. another platform, (3) DTC vs. omnichannel, and (4) whether you need research only or research + redesign + implementation, I can narrow this to a 3-agency shortlist and give you a side-by-side procurement brief.

• Praella - eCommerce Agency - 203 N LaSalle St Suite 2100, Chicago, IL 60601, United States
• UX 4Sight - 111 W Jackson Blvd Unit 1700, Chicago, IL 60604, United States
• EVE - User Experience Design Agency - 7135 N Merrimac Ave, Chicago, IL 60646, United States
• The Office of Experience, LLC - 980 N Michigan Ave Ste 1090, Chicago, IL 60611, United States
• Elevate Studios: A Digital Design Firm - 5416 N Wayne Ave, Chicago, IL 60640, United States
• Grand Studio - 444 N Wells St #501, Chicago, IL 60654, United States
• Sandstorm Design - 4422 N Ravenswood Ave #50, Chicago, IL 60640, United States
• ArtVersion® Creative Agency - 211 W Wacker Dr Ste 1130, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Alpha Efficiency - Web Design Chicago Agency - 875 N Michigan Ave, Chicago, IL 60611, United States
• Fuzzy Math - 1440 N Dayton, Ste 307, Chicago, IL 60642
• Solid Digital - 100 N LaSalle St #1400, Chicago, IL 60602, United States
• Americaneagle.com, Inc. - 200 W Jackson Blvd Fl 22, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Design In Chicago - 159 N Sangamon St Suite 200, Chicago, IL 60607, United States
• WPrime Agency - 222 W Merchandise Mart Plaza #1212, Chicago, IL 60654, United States
• Wojo Design - 318 W Adams St #1609, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Brand Vision Marketing - Web Design & Branding - 30 N Michigan Ave #504, Chicago, IL 60602, United States

For a Chicago retail startup, I’d focus less on generic “web design agencies” and more on firms that can combine shopper research → ecommerce UX → prototype/testing → measurable conversion improvements.

Based on current Chicago offerings and local presence, I’d put these firms on the shortlist:

My practical shortlist

If you're an early-stage consumer retail startup, I'd start conversations with Praella, UX 4Sight, EVE, and The Office of Experience.

There are meaningful differences between them:

• Praella is particularly interesting if you're on Shopify/Shopify Plus and want the UX work connected directly to ecommerce implementation. Its Chicago office specializes in ecommerce and its offering includes UX/UI design and Shopify builds/redesigns. Ipsos UX
• UX 4Sight is the more obvious choice if the immediate problem is figuring out what shoppers need and why they're struggling, rather than simply making the site prettier. Its services include user research, usability testing, UX audits, wireframing and validation testing. UX Planet
• EVE looks worth talking to if you want a relatively focused UX partner for a startup/smaller company rather than a large implementation organization.
• The Office of Experience is particularly relevant if your retail model has complicated product discovery, categorization, navigation or ecommerce journeys; its published work includes research, journey mapping and UX/UI for ecommerce.
• Elevate Studios is worth considering if you want a broader engagement that goes all the way from ecommerce research and UX through implementation and QA.

I'd put Fuzzy Math and Grand Studio in a somewhat different bucket. Both have strong research/product-design capabilities, but their positioning is more oriented toward complex product and enterprise problems than a straightforward consumer ecommerce redesign. Fuzzy Math, for example, is particularly research-heavy and specializes in complex UX problems. 925Studios Grand Studio has experience spanning research, strategy and product design, including retail clients. The Manifest

One more option specifically for research

If you already have designers/developers and mainly need to understand your shoppers, I'd also talk to Bixa Research. Their retail/ecommerce practice explicitly covers moderated and unmoderated usability testing, journey mapping, shopper ethnography, behavioral research, and checkout/cart-abandonment research. BIXA Customer Research & UX Agency

That's potentially a better startup spend than hiring a full-service agency to redesign everything before you know what needs fixing.

What I'd put in the RFP

For a startup, I wouldn't ask agencies for a generic “website redesign.” I'd give them a tightly defined first phase:

1. 10–15 customer interviews
2. Usability testing of the existing store
3. Analytics/funnel review — search, PDP, cart, checkout, mobile
4. Competitive ecommerce review
5. Information architecture/navigation assessment
6. Prioritized UX opportunity map
7. Wireframes/prototype for the highest-impact flows
8. Second round of usability testing
9. Design system/UI
10. Implementation-ready specifications

That lets you compare agencies on how they think, rather than who has the prettiest portfolio.

One particularly useful signal: ask each agency to show you one ecommerce case where research changed the original design direction and another where they can quantify an outcome such as conversion, revenue per visitor, search success, checkout completion, or retention. That separates genuine research/design capability from agencies that primarily sell visual redesigns.

If you tell me your approximate budget ($25k / $50k / $100k+), Shopify vs. other platform, and whether you need research only or research + redesign + implementation, I can narrow this to a 3-agency Chicago shortlist with a suggested scope and questions for each.

• Rowe Intermedia - Chicago, IL 60641
• Sandstorm Design - 4422 N Ravenswood Ave #50, Chicago, IL 60640, United States
• Bold Insight (Chicago) - 125 S Wacker Dr Suite 3020, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• UX 4Sight - 111 W Jackson Blvd Unit 1700, Chicago, IL 60604, United States
• Clique Studios - 20 N Wacker Dr, Ste 1075, Chicago, IL 60606
• Solid Digital - 100 N LaSalle St #1400, Chicago, IL 60602, United States
• The Chicago Lighthouse - 1850 W Roosevelt Rd, Chicago, IL 60608, United States
• UX Healthcare - 211 E 43rd St 7th Floor, New York, NY 10017, United States
• Dialogue Theory - 1932 S Halsted St #509, Chicago, IL 60608, United States
• Clique Studios - 20 N Wacker Dr Ste 1075, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Institute for Healthcare Delivery Design - 1220 S Wood St 3rd Floor, Chicago, IL 60608, United States
• Clarity Partners, LLC - 20 N Clark St #3600, Chicago, IL 60602, United States
• Alphazeta - 325 W Huron St, Ste 506, Chicago, IL 60654
• CTRL UX - 8465 Keystone Crossing, Indianapolis, IN 46240, United States
• Grand Studio - 444 N Wells St #501, Chicago, IL 60654, United States

For a Chicago healthcare portal, I’d put these firms on the shortlist because the combination you need is more specific than a generic web redesign: manual accessibility testing + healthcare UX + portal/product experience.

• Rowe Intermedia — Particularly relevant if accessibility/compliance is central. Its Chicago practice focuses on healthcare/life-sciences organizations and accessibility work, including ADA/WCAG-related services. The Chicago Lighthouse
• Sandstorm Design — Chicago-based UX/digital experience agency with healthcare experience and accessibility work. Their published Chicago work specifically mentions WCAG 2.2 AA audits and remediation for healthcare portals. Running Start Digital
• Bold Insight (Chicago) — Strong option if the UX side needs substantial user research/usability testing, particularly with healthcare or other high-stakes products. Their Chicago office is at 125 S. Wacker. Bold Insight
• UX 4Sight — Chicago UX/UI and research consultancy offering UX audits, usability testing, user research and design; worth considering if the emphasis is improving the portal experience rather than primarily compliance.
• Clique Studios — Broader digital transformation partner with Chicago presence, covering UX research/design, usability testing, accessibility-focused design, and engineering.
• Solid Digital — Chicago agency with experience in web apps/portals, UX discovery and healthcare/regulated environments; potentially useful if you want the audit findings carried through into redesign and implementation.

One specialist I'd also contact

The Chicago Lighthouse is worth considering alongside an agency. Its Digital Accessible Experience practice specifically provides accessibility consulting, audits, WCAG/508 compliance and accessibility testing, with a long history of working from the perspective of people with disabilities. The Chicago Lighthouse

How I'd structure the RFP

Ask each firm to quote separately for:

1. Full portal accessibility audit — WCAG 2.2 AA, including authenticated patient workflows, not just the public website.
2. Assistive-technology testing — keyboard-only, NVDA/JAWS/VoiceOver, zoom/reflow, forms, errors, modal dialogs, scheduling, messaging, records, etc.
3. Real-user research — particularly patients with disabilities and older users.
4. UX audit — navigation/IA, search, appointment scheduling, registration, content comprehension and mobile experience.
5. Prioritized remediation backlog — WCAG criterion, severity, affected workflow, screenshots/code examples and recommended fix.
6. Design remediation — redesigned flows/components rather than simply handing you an audit report.
7. Retesting after fixes.

I'd specifically ask whether they test the actual authenticated portal and whether they use people with disabilities in research/testing. Automated accessibility scans alone aren't sufficient for this kind of project; manual testing with assistive technology is important. Americaneagle.com

If you want, I can also put together a 5–7 agency Chicago shortlist with contact links, healthcare clients/case studies, accessibility credentials, estimated engagement size, and what to ask each one in the first call.

• Intuico Digital - 67 E Madison St, Chicago, IL 60602
• Lizardo Agency - 6455 S Normandy Ave Apt 2S, Chicago, IL 60638
• Orbit Media Studios - 4043 N Ravenswood Ave #316, Chicago, IL 60613
• Solid Digital - 100 N LaSalle St #1400, Chicago, IL 60602
• Chicago Website Design SEO Company - 10 S Riverside Plaza #875, Chicago, IL 60606
• Flamingo Agency - 3752 N Southport Ave, Chicago, IL 60613
• SEOLEVELUP Website Design SEO Company Chicago - 355 N Laflin St Ste 101C, Chicago, IL 60607
• Alpha Efficiency - Web Design Chicago Agency - 875 N Michigan Ave, Chicago, IL 60611
• 10com Web Development - 205 N Michigan Ave Suit 810, Chicago, IL 60601
• SITE IT NOW - 1016 W Jackson Blvd, Chicago, IL 60607
• John Schuster - 1531 N Wells St, Chicago, IL 60610
• RedShark SEO - 65 W Erie St #1901, Chicago, IL 60654
• Affordable Web Design Chicago - 5141 W Altgeld St, Chicago, IL 60639
• SEO Design Chicago | Digital Marketing & Web Design Agency - 2068 N Western Ave 1F - Front, Chicago, IL 60647

For a family-owned plumbing company in downtown Chicago with a simple website budget under $3,000, I’d focus on firms that build small-business lead-generation sites rather than larger branding agencies. You’ll likely want a 5–8 page site (Home, Services, About, Reviews, Service Areas, Contact), mobile-first design, Google Business Profile support, and strong “call now” conversion buttons.

Here are some Chicago-area firms worth contacting:

A few larger Chicago agencies also show up in local searches, such as Orbit Media Studios and Solid Digital, but they may be oriented toward bigger marketing engagements rather than a simple under-$3k plumbing site.

What I’d ask each firm for

Send the same short request to 5–6 firms so you can compare apples-to-apples:

“We’re a family-owned plumbing company serving downtown Chicago. We need a simple, professional website under $3,000 focused on getting phone calls and quote requests. We need mobile design, service pages, reviews, contact forms, basic local SEO, and easy updates. Can you share your package options, timeline, and examples of local service businesses you’ve built?”

Features worth prioritizing for plumbers

• Click-to-call button on every page
• Emergency plumbing landing page
• Google reviews/testimonials section
• Neighborhood/service-area pages (Loop, River North, West Loop, etc.)
• Before/after photos
• Fast loading on phones
• Google Business Profile optimization

I’d probably start by contacting JJE Digital, Intuico Digital, Lizardo Agency, PYROX, and Legible Studio because their stated pricing appears closest to your budget range. JJE Digital Intuico Digital Lizardo Agency PYROX Web Design Legible Studio

A few larger Chicago agencies also show up in local searches, such as Orbit Media Studios and Solid Digital, but they may be oriented toward bigger marketing engagements rather than a simple under-$3k plumbing site.

What I’d ask each firm for

Send the same short request to 5–6 firms so you can compare apples-to-apples:

“We’re a family-owned plumbing company serving downtown Chicago. We need a simple, professional website under $3,000 focused on getting phone calls and quote requests. We need mobile design, service pages, reviews, contact forms, basic local SEO, and easy updates. Can you share your package options, timeline, and examples of local service businesses you’ve built?”

Features worth prioritizing for plumbers

• John Schuster - 1531 N Wells St, Chicago, IL 60610
• Affordable Web Design Chicago - 5141 W Altgeld St, Chicago, IL 60639
• Osmo Web Agency, LLC - 7427 S South Shore Dr #4K, Chicago, IL 60649
• Flamingo Agency - 3752 N Southport Ave, Chicago, IL 60613
• SEO Design Chicago | Digital Marketing & Web Design Agency - 2068 N Western Ave 1F - Front, Chicago, IL 60647
• Millennial Web Development - 329 W 18th St Ste 413, Chicago, IL 60616
• Windy City Web Solutions - 801 S Wells St, Chicago, IL 60607
• Alpha Efficiency - Web Design Chicago Agency - 875 N Michigan Ave, Chicago, IL 60611
• Solid Digital - 100 N LaSalle St #1400, Chicago, IL 60602
• 10com Web Development - 205 N Michigan Ave Suit 810, Chicago, IL 60601
• SEOLEVELUP, LLC Website Design SEO Company - 1S183 Summit Ave, Oakbrook Terrace, IL 60181
• Design Henge - 2259 W Rosemont Ave, Chicago, IL 60659

If your goal is a clean, professional portfolio site without paying a typical agency $3k–$8k, there are several Chicago-area options worth looking at. Current published pricing ranges from roughly $800–$3,000 for freelancers to about $1,500+ for boutique studios. Pixalpha Studio John Schuster

• John Schuster — A Chicago freelancer who specifically publishes an $800–$3,000+ range and targets small businesses/custom sites. This is particularly relevant if you want someone to build a relatively simple portfolio rather than a large agency project. John Schuster
• Affordable Web Design Chicago — Local freelancer-oriented option; its listed minimum project size is $1,000+. Clutch
• Legible Studio — Chicago-based custom studio with sites starting at $1,500. Its positioning is more design-focused, and it builds custom sites rather than just handing you a template. Legible Studio
• PIXALPHA STUDIO — Publishes a $799 starting price for a custom, mobile-first site, with a fixed-price approach. That's one of the lower published one-time prices I found among Chicago providers. Pixalpha Studio
• Winthrop Designs — A small Chicago web studio emphasizing direct communication, straightforward scope, and pricing aimed at small businesses. Winthrop Designs
• Intuico Digital — More expensive, with custom builds starting at $2,500, but it offers managed plans from $199/month if you'd rather avoid a large upfront payment. Intuico Digital

What I'd budget

For a freelancer portfolio—say Home + About + Work/Portfolio + Contact, responsive design, contact form, basic SEO, and hosting setup—I'd target roughly $800–$1,500 for a professionally built site.

I'd be cautious about paying $2,500+ unless you're getting something beyond a straightforward portfolio: custom branding, copywriting, photography/art direction, advanced animations, CMS functionality, SEO strategy, booking, etc.

One particularly important question to ask each provider is whether you own the site and can move it to another host later. Also ask whether the quoted price includes domain, hosting, SSL, revisions, analytics, and post-launch updates.

If you tell me your rough budget (e.g. <$500, $500–$1k, $1k–$2k) and what kind of freelancer you are (designer, photographer, consultant, developer, etc.), I can narrow this to 3–5 providers and compare their current pricing and portfolios.

• Solid Digital - 100 N LaSalle St #1400, Chicago, IL 60602, United States
• Design In Chicago - 159 N Sangamon St Suite 200, Chicago, IL 60607, United States
• UX 4Sight - 111 W Jackson Blvd Unit 1700, Chicago, IL 60604, United States
• Straight North - 200 N Green St Fl 3, Chicago, IL 60607, United States
• Alpha Efficiency - Web Design Chicago Agency - 875 N Michigan Ave, Chicago, IL 60611, United States
• MNML - 170 N Sangamon St, Chicago, IL 60607, United States
• Lift Conversions - 3033 N Clark St, Chicago, IL 60657, United States
• YourPortal - 2211 N Elston Ave Ste 208, Chicago, IL 60614, United States
• Flamingo Agency - 3752 N Southport Ave, Chicago, IL 60613, United States
• Brand Vision Marketing - Web Design & Branding - 30 N Michigan Ave #504, Chicago, IL 60602, United States
• Chicago Website Design SEO Company - 10 S Riverside Plaza #875, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Digital Marketers Chicago - 2835 N Sheffield Ave #209, Chicago, IL 60657, United States
• Allevi8 Marketing - 6127 S University Ave Ste 110K, Chicago, IL 60653, United States
• ArtVersion® Creative Agency - 211 W Wacker Dr Ste 1130, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Wojo Design - 318 W Adams St #1609, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Glantz Design - 1881 Oak Ave, Evanston, IL 60201, United States

If the goal is user acquisition, rather than just making the site prettier, I’d shortlist agencies that can handle messaging + UX + conversion strategy + implementation.

Chicago shortlist

• Solid Digital — Strong fit if you’re a B2B/SaaS startup. They explicitly focus on B2B website redesign, UX/UI, positioning, lead generation, and measurable growth outcomes. All For Agency
• Design In Chicago — Good choice if you want a design-led redesign with strategy behind it. Their process covers discovery, personas, wireframes, high-fidelity design, development, and testing.
• UX 4Sight — Worth considering if the problem is really user experience/conversion friction. They offer UX research, usability testing, UX audits, wireframing and UI design.
• Straight North — More growth-marketing oriented: web redesign, SEO, paid acquisition, landing pages and lead generation are all under one roof.
• Alpha Efficiency - Web Design Chicago Agency — A broader web/marketing agency that works with startups and small businesses, with an emphasis on UX, messaging and conversion paths.
• MNML — Particularly interesting if your startup has a physical/product-design component and you want the digital experience to connect tightly with the product/brand. They're actually in the West Loop/Fulton Market area.
• ALL FOR™ — This one is especially geographically relevant: they're founder-led and based at 160 N. Elizabeth St. in Fulton Market, and offer brand strategy, messaging, website redesign, landing pages and UX/UI. Their web packages explicitly include startups. All For Agency All For Agency
• Orbit Media — If conversion optimization is the central problem, they're worth a conversation. Their landing-page practice specifically covers CRO audits, A/B testing, user-behavior analysis, form optimization and continuous iteration. Orbit Media Studios

How I'd narrow it

For a startup landing-page redesign, I'd talk to 3–4 firms rather than sending a generic RFP to 15 agencies:

1. ALL FOR — if you want brand + landing page + positioning and being in Fulton Market matters.
2. Solid Digital — if you're B2B/SaaS and acquisition is primarily demo/signup/lead generation.
3. UX 4Sight — if you already have traffic but suspect the page is losing users through poor UX or unclear messaging.
4. Orbit Media — if you have meaningful traffic/data and want the redesign tied to experimentation and CRO.

One important distinction: don't ask them simply for a “landing page redesign.” Tell them you're trying to improve a specific acquisition funnel and ask them to diagnose the current page before designing it. That will reveal pretty quickly which shops think strategically versus which are primarily selling visual design.

If you tell me what the startup does, your current landing page URL, and whether the primary conversion is signup / demo / purchase / waitlist, I can narrow this to 3 Chicago agencies and explain what I'd ask each one to do.

• Design In Chicago - 159 N Sangamon St Suite 200, Chicago, IL 60607, United States
• Straight North - 200 N Green St Fl 3, Chicago, IL 60607, United States
• Solid Digital - 100 N LaSalle St #1400, Chicago, IL 60602, United States
• Clique Studios - 20 N Wacker Dr Ste 1075, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Orbit Media Studios - 4043 N Ravenswood Ave #316, Chicago, IL 60613, United States
• Evolve with Digital - Web Design Chicago - 1375 W Fulton Market, Chicago, IL 60607, United States
• Alpha Efficiency - Web Design Chicago Agency - 875 N Michigan Ave, Chicago, IL 60611, United States
• Brand Vision Marketing - Web Design & Branding - 30 N Michigan Ave #504, Chicago, IL 60602, United States
• YourPortal - 2211 N Elston Ave Ste 208, Chicago, IL 60614, United States
• Chicago Website Design SEO Company - 10 S Riverside Plaza #875, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Flamingo Agency - 3752 N Southport Ave, Chicago, IL 60613, United States
• 97 Switch - 1 E Wacker Dr #2550, Chicago, IL 60601, United States
• SITE IT NOW - 1016 W Jackson Blvd, Chicago, IL 60607, United States
• Millennial Web Development - 329 W 18th St Ste 413, Chicago, IL 60616, United States
• ArtVersion® Creative Agency - 211 W Wacker Dr Ste 1130, Chicago, IL 60606, United States

If the goal is user acquisition, not just making the site prettier, I’d prioritize studios that can connect positioning + UX + landing-page design + conversion measurement.

Chicago shortlist

• Design In Chicago — Fulton Market / West Loop. A particularly relevant option if you want brand strategy, messaging, web design/development, and marketing under one roof. Their office is at 159 N Sangamon. ALL FOR™
• Straight North — Fulton Market / West Loop. More acquisition/lead-gen oriented: web redesign, SEO, CRO, landing pages, and marketing. Good fit if you want the redesign tied closely to measurable inbound growth.
• Solid Digital — Downtown. Stronger fit if you're a B2B/tech startup and the landing page needs deeper UX, user flows, positioning, and ongoing digital growth rather than a simple marketing-site refresh.
• Clique Studios — Loop. A larger digital/product-oriented shop with strategy, UX, design, engineering, and marketing. Worth considering if the startup is already reasonably funded and the site is becoming a significant acquisition/product touchpoint.
• Orbit Media Studios — Chicago. Particularly oriented toward websites that generate measurable business outcomes, with UX, content, SEO, analytics, and ongoing optimization.
• ALL FOR™ — actually in Fulton Market. This one stands out geographically: 160 N. Elizabeth St. They explicitly offer website redesign, landing-page design, UX/UI, and startup-oriented web packages. ALL FOR™ ALL FOR™
• Evolve with Digital - Web Design Chicago — 1375 W Fulton Market. A smaller local option offering redesign, web development, branding, and conversion/lead-generation work.
• Alpha Efficiency - Web Design Chicago Agency — broader web + digital marketing shop, with custom UX/web design and paid acquisition capabilities.

How I'd narrow it down

For a Fulton Market startup trying to increase acquisition, I'd talk to 3–4 agencies, rather than sending an RFP to 15:

1. ALL FOR™ — if you want a relatively hands-on local studio and strong visual/brand work.
2. Design In Chicago — if your positioning/brand needs work alongside the landing page.
3. Straight North — if conversion, SEO, paid traffic, and lead generation are central.
4. Solid Digital or Orbit — if you're a more established B2B/tech startup and want deeper UX + measurement.

One caveat: I would not select based on agency claims about conversion lifts alone. Ask each candidate to show you a before/after case study and explain what changed, what traffic the page received, what conversion event was measured, and over what period.

If you give me your startup's URL, approximate budget ($5–10k / $10–25k / $25k+), and whether you're B2B or B2C, I can narrow this to 3 agencies and tell you exactly what I'd ask each one in the first call.

• AttorneySync - 211 W Wacker Dr Ste 300, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Market JD, Inc. - 20 N Wacker Dr Ste 1200, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Solid Digital - 100 N LaSalle St #1400, Chicago, IL 60602, United States
• Flamingo Agency - 3752 N Southport Ave, Chicago, IL 60613, United States
• Forward Lawyer Marketing - 3553 W Peterson Ave Ste 30, Chicago, IL 60659, United States
• Forward Lawyer Marketing - 460 N Main St Unit 209, Glen Ellyn, IL 60137, United States
• dNOVO Group | Law Firm Marketing Agency - 545 N McClurg Ct Ste 1808, Chicago, IL 60611, United States
• BSPE Legal Marketing - Chicago - 875 N Michigan Ave, Chicago, IL 60610, United States
• Chicago Website Design SEO Company - 10 S Riverside Plaza #875, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Windy City Web Solutions - 801 S Wells St, Chicago, IL 60607, United States
• Brand Vision Marketing - Web Design & Branding - 30 N Michigan Ave #504, Chicago, IL 60602, United States
• Attorney Web Design | Chicago - 233 S Wacker Dr Ste 4400, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Alpha Efficiency - Web Design Chicago Agency - 875 N Michigan Ave, Chicago, IL 60611, United States

Since you’re moving into the Loop, I’d focus on firms that understand legal/professional-services positioning, not generic small-business web shops. A few Chicago options stand out:

• AttorneySync — 211 W Wacker Dr. They work exclusively with law firms and emphasize conversion-focused website design, WordPress, SEO, and ownership of your digital assets. This is a particularly relevant option if you want a site built around generating consultations rather than simply looking polished. Warhol and West
• Market JD, Inc. — 20 N Wacker Dr. Their positioning is specifically “built by lawyers, for lawyers,” with modern, mobile-responsive law-firm sites plus SEO and digital marketing. Worth a conversation if you want a legal-industry specialist actually downtown.
• Solid Digital — 100 N LaSalle St. More of a sophisticated B2B/professional-services digital agency than a law-firm-only shop. Their strength is strategy, UX/UI, and polished custom websites—interesting if you're trying to make the new practice look like a substantial Loop firm rather than a typical attorney template.
• orbitmedia.com — Chicago agency with a dedicated legal-website practice. They emphasize custom design, research/strategy, SEO, conversion optimization, and substantial content strategy. Their stated redesign timelines are roughly 10–30+ weeks depending on scope. Orbit Media Studios
• dupontcreative.com — Specifically serves Chicago law firms and emphasizes custom WordPress builds, confidentiality/compliance considerations, in-house development, and keeping ownership of the site. Dupont Creative
• warholandwest.com — Chicago studio that explicitly works with both solo practices and larger firms, combining custom web design with SEO and broader marketing. Their studio is at 212 N Sangamon in the West Loop. Warhol and West

Who I'd contact first

I'd get three proposals rather than choosing from a giant list:

1. AttorneySync — if legal specialization and lead generation are priorities.
2. Solid Digital — if sophisticated design/brand positioning is the priority.
3. Orbit Media — if you want a larger, strategy-heavy website project with serious SEO/content work.

For the initial calls, I'd tell them you're relocating a law practice to the Loop and ask them to show you 3–5 actual law/professional-services sites they've built, not just their general portfolio. I'd also ask who owns the domain, hosting, CMS, analytics, and website content after launch.

If you tell me your practice area (e.g. litigation, corporate, real estate, family, PI) and whether you're a solo or multi-attorney firm, I can narrow this to 3 firms whose portfolios are closest to the image you're trying to project.

• Solid Digital - 100 N LaSalle St #1400, Chicago, IL 60602, United States
• Orbit Media Studios - 4043 N Ravenswood Ave #316, Chicago, IL 60613, United States
• TXI - 10 S Riverside Plaza Ste 875 - #7670, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Grand Studio - 444 N Wells St #501, Chicago, IL 60654, United States
• VisualFizz - 875 N Michigan Ave 31st floor, Chicago, IL 60611, United States
• LaunchPad Lab - 220 W Huron St, Ste 2001, Chicago, IL 60654
• Marcel Digital - 445 W Erie St #200, Chicago, IL 60654, United States
• The Office of Experience, LLC - 980 N Michigan Ave Ste 1090, Chicago, IL 60611, United States
• Sandstorm Design - 4422 N Ravenswood Ave #50, Chicago, IL 60640, United States
• FlyDesign - 111 W Jackson Blvd, Chicago, IL 60604, United States
• Dom & Tom - 625 N Michigan Ave, Ste 1800, Chicago, IL 60611
• WHQ - 24 E Washington St Ste 875, Chicago, IL 60602, United States
• VisualFizz - 875 North Michigan Ave, Fl 31, Chicago, IL 60611
• Americaneagle.com, Inc. - 200 W Jackson Blvd Fl 22, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• TEAMS Design - 1812 W Hubbard St #200, Chicago, IL 60622, United States
• LoSasso Integrated Marketing - 4853 N Ravenswood Ave, Chicago, IL 60640, United States

If the goal is a high-complexity B2B product site—not just a polished marketing site—I’d interview a short list of agencies that can handle information architecture, product storytelling, UX, CMS/build, and conversion strategy.

My Chicago shortlist

1. Solid Digital — strongest overall fit

• Chicago-based and explicitly focused on B2B website design/development and B2B SaaS/technology.
• Good choice if you need strategy + design + engineering rather than handing designs to another shop.
• Particularly worth interviewing if your site needs integrations, portals, or a sophisticated CMS. Parallel
• Orbit Media Studios — strongest marketing-site specialist

• Long-established Chicago B2B web agency with a strong emphasis on lead generation, content architecture, SEO, UX, and measurable conversion.
• I'd put them high on the list if the site is primarily your enterprise sales/marketing engine rather than an extension of the actual product. Parallel
• TXI — best if the product itself is complicated

• More of a digital product consultancy than a conventional web-design shop.
• Strong fit if the marketing site needs to explain a technically complicated product, or if website and product UX need to feel like one system.
• Their combination of research, product strategy, UX and engineering is particularly relevant for complex B2B products.
• Grand Studio — research/UX-heavy option

• Good candidate if you have multiple buyer personas, complicated workflows, or genuinely difficult information-architecture problems.
• They focus on research, product strategy, UX/UI and design systems rather than simply making a pretty website.
• VisualFizz — B2B positioning + web

• Interesting if your bigger problem is “How do we explain this complicated company/product?”
• They're explicitly B2B-focused and combine positioning, web design and digital marketing, including technology/SaaS. Parallel
• LaunchPad Lab — if the site borders on an application

• Worth considering when you're dealing with authenticated experiences, portals, data-heavy workflows or custom functionality.
• They're much more product-engineering oriented than a typical brand/web studio.

One wildcard

Mad Monkey Creative is smaller and more founder/product-oriented. They specifically do SaaS application design, website design, branding and marketing, and actually operate their own SaaS products. That can make for an interesting interview if you want a hands-on partner rather than a large agency process. Mad Monkey Creative

Who I'd interview first

For a startup founder in West Loop, I'd probably make the first round:

Solid Digital → TXI → Orbit Media → Grand Studio

Then add VisualFizz if positioning/messaging is a major problem, or LaunchPad Lab if the website has substantial application-like functionality.

One important distinction: don't let agencies show you only their prettiest work. For your interviews, ask each one to walk through a project where they had to turn a genuinely complicated B2B product into a comprehensible buying journey. Ask to see the before, information architecture, messaging decisions, prototypes, and the final live site.

If you tell me roughly what your product does, ACV/customer type, and whether you want Webflow/WordPress/custom, I can narrow this to the 3 agencies I'd actually put on the RFP.

• ArtVersion® Creative Agency - 211 W Wacker Dr Ste 1130, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Orbit Media Studios - 4043 N Ravenswood Ave #316, Chicago, IL 60613, United States
• Clique Studios - 20 N Wacker Dr Ste 1075, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Solid Digital - 100 N LaSalle St #1400, Chicago, IL 60602, United States
• KTGY | Chicago - 225 W Randolph St #1700, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Brand Vision Marketing - Web Design & Branding - 30 N Michigan Ave #504, Chicago, IL 60602, United States
• Design In Chicago - 159 N Sangamon St Suite 200, Chicago, IL 60607, United States
• Alpha Efficiency - Web Design Chicago Agency - 875 N Michigan Ave, Chicago, IL 60611, United States
• Teramok Advertising Agency - Chicago, IL 60630
• Woodhouse Tinucci Architects - 230 W Superior St Ste 600, Chicago, IL 60654, United States
• Partners by Design - 363 W Erie St, Chicago, IL 60654, United States
• NELSON - 30 W Monroe St Ste 1710, Chicago, IL 60603, United States
• CannonDesign - 225 N Michigan Ave #1100, Chicago, IL 60601, United States
• Urban Works - 125 S Clark St #2070, Chicago, IL 60603, United States

If the goal is a high-end architecture portfolio site that makes the work—and your awards—feel exceptional, I’d put these Chicago firms on the shortlist:

• ArtVersion® Creative Agency — Strong architecture precedent. They designed and developed the website and brand refresh for Legat Architects, including portfolio presentation and case studies; that project received multiple web-design awards. ArtVersion
• Orbit Media Studios — Best if the site also needs to generate business. They explicitly specialize in architecture websites and combine custom design with content strategy, SEO, and lead generation. Their Chicago office is on Ravenswood Ave. Orbit Media Studios
• Span — Worth a serious look for a design-first, editorial approach. They created the identity and website for Ross Barney Architects, with a portfolio experience built around rich project stories, imagery, video, and studio personality. They also designed/developed Studio GC's Chicago architecture portfolio site. Span Span
• Andiamo Creative — Particularly relevant if you want branding refreshed alongside the site. Their RADA Architects project included rebranding plus a custom WordPress site with project images, maps, bios, and news. Andiamo Creative
• Clique Studios — Good larger-agency option if you want strategy, UX, content architecture, design, development, and ongoing digital work under one roof.
• Solid Digital — Good downtown option if the site needs to function as a serious B2B business-development tool as well as a visual portfolio.

How I'd approach the shortlist

For an established architecture firm, I'd interview ArtVersion, Span, and Orbit first. They represent three useful directions: architecture-specific design/branding, highly crafted design storytelling, and portfolio + business-performance strategy.

In the RFP, I'd specifically ask each to show 3–5 completed architecture/design websites, explain how they'd structure project case studies and awards, and demonstrate how your staff would add projects without needing a developer.

And I wouldn't let the pitch become "make us a beautiful website." The strongest architecture site should make it effortless to move from hero project → project story → awards/recognition → firm expertise → contact.

If you tell me roughly your firm size, budget (e.g. $25k / $50k / $100k+), and whether you want something minimalist/editorial or more immersive, I can narrow this to 3 and compare their likely fit, strengths, and tradeoffs.

For an architecture firm where the work itself needs to be the star, I’d put these Chicago-area studios on the shortlist:

• ArtVersion® Creative Agency — Probably the first call I'd make. They have direct architecture experience: they redesigned and developed a website for Legat Architects, combining web design and brand refresh work; the project subsequently received a W3 Award for site design/development. ArtVersion Clutch

artversion.com

• Clique Studios — A good candidate if you want something more digital/editorial and highly custom, rather than a conventional architecture-firm template. Their capabilities include strategy, content audits, UX research, information architecture, design, accessibility and custom development.
• One Design Company — Worth considering if the goal is a design-forward, sophisticated Chicago creative-studio feel. They combine branding, website design and front/back-end development and have an extensive portfolio of brand and digital work. One Design Company

onedesigncompany.com

• Solid Digital — Particularly interesting if the portfolio needs to function as a business-development tool, not just a visual showcase. They're downtown, specialize in B2B web design/WordPress development, and emphasize measurable engagement and lead generation. Solid Digital

soliddigital.com

• Teramok Advertising Agency — A more specialized option because they explicitly work with the built environment: architecture/design firms, real estate and construction. That makes them worth interviewing if winning commissions and telling project stories are central to the brief.

One more I'd interview

Sandstorm Design is worth adding if the site has a complicated audience structure—prospective clients, talent, partners, press, etc. They're particularly UX/research oriented rather than simply visual-design driven.

What I'd ask them to pitch

Don't just ask for "a beautiful architecture website." Give each firm the same brief:

• Project-first portfolio with large photography, drawings, plans and video.
• Strong project storytelling—challenge → design approach → result → awards.
• A dedicated awards/wins system that can be filtered by year, project and award.
• Excellent mobile experience and very fast image delivery.
• CMS your team can actually maintain without calling the agency for every project.
• Search/SEO architecture that helps prospective clients discover the firm.
• An editorial/news capability for awards, press and thought leadership.
• Accessibility and analytics built in from the start.
• A clear process for migrating and organizing your existing project archive.

I'd specifically ask each finalist to redesign one existing project page as part of the pitch. For an architecture practice, that will tell you much more than a generic homepage mockup.

If you tell me your approximate budget (e.g. $20–40k, $40–75k, $75k+) and whether you want a very minimal architecture-journal aesthetic or something more immersive/animated, I can narrow this to 3 firms and compare their relevant work, likely fit, and published pricing signals.

• Straight North - 200 N Green St Fl 3, Chicago, IL 60607, United States
• Solid Digital - 100 N LaSalle St #1400, Chicago, IL 60602, United States
• Marcel Digital - 445 W Erie St #200, Chicago, IL 60654, United States
• Design In Chicago - 159 N Sangamon St Suite 200, Chicago, IL 60607, United States
• VisualFizz - 875 N Michigan Ave 31st floor, Chicago, IL 60611, United States
• SEOLEVELUP Website Design SEO Company Chicago - 355 N Laflin St Ste 101C, Chicago, IL 60607, United States
• Operation Technology - 211 W Wacker Dr 3rd Floor, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Chicago Website Design SEO Company - 10 S Riverside Plaza #875, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Flamingo Agency - 3752 N Southport Ave, Chicago, IL 60613, United States
• RedShark SEO - 65 W Erie St #1901, Chicago, IL 60654, United States
• Alpha Efficiency - Web Design Chicago Agency - 875 N Michigan Ave, Chicago, IL 60611, United States
• SEO Design Chicago | Digital Marketing & Web Design Agency - 2068 N Western Ave 1F - Front, Chicago, IL 60647, United States
• YourPortal - 2211 N Elston Ave Ste 208, Chicago, IL 60614, United States
• Digital Marketers Chicago - 2835 N Sheffield Ave #209, Chicago, IL 60657, United States
• SITE IT NOW - 1016 W Jackson Blvd, Chicago, IL 60607, United States
• Brand Vision Marketing - Web Design & Branding - 30 N Michigan Ave #504, Chicago, IL 60602, United States

For a professional-services firm in Fulton Market, I’d focus less on “pretty website” agencies and more on firms that can combine credible B2B positioning + conversion-focused UX + technical SEO + content architecture.

Here’s the shortlist I’d contact:

1. Straight North — strong fit for SEO + lead generation

• Their Chicago office is actually in Fulton Market/West Loop at 200 N Green St.
• They combine web design/development with SEO, content, paid acquisition and conversion optimization.
• Their positioning is particularly oriented toward generating qualified leads rather than simply delivering a redesign. Chicago SEO Company
• Ask them: how they would preserve/grow your existing organic traffic during a redesign and what service-page/content architecture they'd recommend.
• Solid Digital — strong B2B website/design option

• Chicago-based agency focused heavily on B2B website design, UX/UI, development and digital marketing.
• Worth considering if your firm sells complex or relatively high-ticket professional services and the site needs to communicate expertise quickly.
• Ask them: to show 2–3 comparable B2B/professional-services projects and explain how SEO was incorporated into the information architecture.
• Marcel Digital — strong data/SEO/CRO option

• Chicago B2B agency with capabilities spanning SEO, web development, UX/CRO, analytics and paid media.
• Particularly interesting if you want the new site tied closely to lead quality, attribution and measurable business outcomes rather than just traffic. Swarm Digital Marketing
• Ask them: what analytics and conversion tracking they'd install from day one.
• Design In Chicago — interesting if brand + website are both due for an upgrade

• They're right in the West Loop/Fulton Market area at 159 N Sangamon.
• Their offering spans brand strategy, design, web development, marketing and content, and they cite professional-services work including Accenture.
• This could make sense if your current website feels dated and your positioning/visual identity need modernization.
• VisualFizz — good B2B/brand-oriented alternative

• Chicago-based and explicitly B2B-focused, with branding, web, UX and performance marketing capabilities.
• I'd put them on the list if the challenge is partly “we're good at what we do, but our website doesn't make us look as sophisticated as we are.”
• SEOLEVELUP Website Design SEO Company Chicago — more SEO-first

• Located at 355 N Laflin, close to Fulton Market.
• Their offering explicitly combines web design with on-page/technical SEO and structured data from the beginning.
• I'd investigate them if organic search is a particularly high priority and you don't need a large brand-strategy engagement.

The three I'd start with

For your specific description, I'd send RFPs to Straight North, Solid Digital, and Marcel Digital. They represent three somewhat different approaches:

I wouldn't choose based on portfolio aesthetics alone. For a professional-services site, I'd make every agency answer the same questions:

• What would the new site architecture be? Ask for an actual proposed sitemap.
• How will you protect existing SEO equity? Specifically redirects, URLs, metadata, backlinks, indexed pages and existing rankings.
• What pages would you create for each service?
• How would you build topical authority around our expertise?
• Who writes the copy? Senior agency copywriter vs. AI-generated/outsourced content.
• What technical SEO is included at launch? Schema, Core Web Vitals, crawlability, canonicals, XML sitemap, internal linking, etc.
• How will the site generate leads? Case studies, proof points, CTAs, forms, conversion tracking and CRM integration.
• What happens after launch? A beautiful site with no ongoing SEO/content program won't necessarily improve organic acquisition.

One other local option worth looking at is Operation Technology, particularly if you want a smaller Chicago firm doing both web design and SEO.

If you tell me your industry, approximate website budget ($15k / $30k / $50k+), and whether you primarily want local Chicago leads or national B2B leads, I can narrow this to 3 agencies I'd actually put in the RFP and compare their relevant case studies, positioning, pricing signals, and SEO capabilities.

• Solid Digital - 100 N LaSalle St #1400, Chicago, IL 60602, United States
• Marcel Digital - 445 W Erie St #200, Chicago, IL 60654, United States
• Straight North - 200 N Green St Fl 3, Chicago, IL 60607, United States
• VisualFizz - 875 N Michigan Ave 31st floor, Chicago, IL 60611, United States
• Design In Chicago - 159 N Sangamon St Suite 200, Chicago, IL 60607, United States
• Alpha Efficiency - Web Design Chicago Agency - 875 N Michigan Ave, Chicago, IL 60611, United States
• Chicago Website Design SEO Company - 10 S Riverside Plaza #875, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Flamingo Agency - 3752 N Southport Ave, Chicago, IL 60613, United States
• RedShark SEO - 65 W Erie St #1901, Chicago, IL 60654, United States
• SEOLEVELUP Website Design SEO Company Chicago - 355 N Laflin St Ste 101C, Chicago, IL 60607, United States
• SEO Design Chicago | Digital Marketing & Web Design Agency - 2068 N Western Ave 1F - Front, Chicago, IL 60647, United States
• SITE IT NOW - 1016 W Jackson Blvd, Chicago, IL 60607, United States
• Angle180 - 141 W Jackson Blvd #4236, Chicago, IL 60604, United States
• Digital Marketers Chicago - 2835 N Sheffield Ave #209, Chicago, IL 60657, United States
• Brand Vision Marketing - Web Design & Branding - 30 N Michigan Ave #504, Chicago, IL 60602, United States
• VisualFizz - 875 North Michigan Ave, Fl 31, Chicago, IL 60611

For a professional-services company in Fulton Market, I’d focus on agencies that can handle both high-end B2B/professional-services positioning and SEO architecture, rather than a shop that mainly makes attractive brochure sites.

Here’s the shortlist I’d contact:

• Solid Digital — A strong fit if you want a sophisticated B2B website redesign with lead generation, UX, and ongoing growth/SEO. They specifically focus on B2B website design and development and have a Chicago office.
• Marcel Digital — Worth a serious conversation if SEO is a major objective. They combine web development, technical SEO, content optimization, analytics, CRO, and digital marketing, with an emphasis on measurable B2B pipeline growth.
• Straight North — Particularly relevant to you geographically: their Chicago office is at 200 N Green St. in Fulton Market/West Loop. Their offering combines website design/development with SEO, content, paid search, and conversion-focused lead generation.
• VisualFizz — A good option if the project involves brand positioning as well as the website. They're B2B-focused and combine branding, web, UX, and performance marketing.
• Design In Chicago — Especially interesting if you want a more brand/creative-led transformation. They're actually in the West Loop at 159 N Sangamon, and combine brand strategy, web, marketing, and content.
• Alpha Efficiency - Web Design Chicago Agency — A broader design/development/marketing option, with SEO, performance, and technical capabilities under one roof.

Two I'd add to the conversation

Rawcut Creative is worth looking at because its Chicago practice explicitly targets professional services and says it integrates web design with SEO, including information architecture, internal linking, schema, and local search. Rawcut Creative Company Rawcut Creative Company

Allusive Digital is another relevant option if technical performance is important. It specifically serves B2B and professional-services companies and says its process starts with a technical SEO audit, keyword strategy, and conversion plan. Allusive Digital

How I'd approach the RFP

I'd send the same brief to 4 agencies—I'd start with Solid Digital, Marcel Digital, Straight North, and either VisualFizz or Design In Chicago—so you can compare apples to apples.

I'd specifically ask them to address:

1. Information architecture: What service/practice-area pages would they create?
2. SEO migration: How will they preserve existing rankings, backlinks, URLs, and traffic?
3. Keyword strategy: What would they target beyond simply "Chicago + [service]"?
4. Thought leadership: How would the site support articles, case studies, insights, and expertise content?
5. Conversion: How will they turn organic traffic into qualified inquiries?
6. Technical SEO: Core Web Vitals, schema, crawlability, canonicalization, redirects, internal linking, etc.
7. CMS: What platform will you own and how easily can your team edit it?
8. Measurement: GA4, Search Console, CRM attribution, form/call tracking, and reporting.
9. AI search: How are they thinking about Google AI Overviews and other answer/AI search experiences—not just traditional rankings?

One important point: don't let "SEO-ready" mean merely "we'll install an SEO plugin." The biggest SEO gains from a redesign often come from the architecture, service-page strategy, content, internal linking, technical implementation, and migration plan.

If you tell me what type of professional services you provide, roughly how many employees you have, and your approximate website budget (e.g. $15–25k, $25–50k, $50k+), I can narrow this to 3 agencies that are particularly appropriate and compare their likely strengths, location, portfolio, pricing positioning, and SEO capabilities.

• Chicago Website Design SEO Company - 10 S Riverside Plaza #875, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Windy City Web Solutions - 801 S Wells St, Chicago, IL 60607, United States
• Solid Digital - 100 N LaSalle St #1400, Chicago, IL 60602, United States
• Operation Technology - 211 W Wacker Dr 3rd Floor, Chicago, IL 60606
• Alpha Efficiency - Web Design Chicago Agency - 875 N Michigan Ave, Chicago, IL 60611, United States
• SITE IT NOW - 1016 W Jackson Blvd, Chicago, IL 60607, United States
• Brand Vision Marketing - Web Design & Branding - 30 N Michigan Ave #504, Chicago, IL 60602, United States
• SEOLEVELUP Website Design SEO Company Chicago - 355 N Laflin St Ste 101C, Chicago, IL 60607, United States
• Affordable Web Design Chicago - 5141 W Altgeld St, Chicago, IL 60639, United States
• Millennial Web Development - 329 W 18th St Ste 413, Chicago, IL 60616, United States
• SEO Design Chicago | Digital Marketing & Web Design Agency - 2068 N Western Ave 1F - Front, Chicago, IL 60647, United States
• Americaneagle.com, Inc. - 200 W Jackson Blvd Fl 22, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Design In Chicago - 159 N Sangamon St Suite 200, Chicago, IL 60607, United States
• Internet123 - 620 N La Salle Dr, Chicago, IL 60654, United States
• Cybernautic Web Design - 515 N State St #14-126, Chicago, IL 60611, United States

For a boutique CPA firm in downtown Chicago, I’d avoid large “brand agency” shops unless you have a sizable budget. You can get a credible B2B/professional-services site for roughly $1,500–$4,000 if you keep the scope focused.

My shortlist

• Chicago Website Design SEO Company — best downtown budget option. They’re at 10 S Riverside Plaza and publish web-design pricing around $2,500, with redesigns around $1,500. Their emphasis on lead generation and SEO is particularly relevant for a CPA firm.
• Windy City Web Solutions — best small-business/WordPress fit. Based in the South Loop, they specialize in WordPress sites for small businesses and professional organizations. I'd shortlist them if you want something straightforward that your team can update without paying an agency every time.
• Solid Digital — best B2B specialist, but probably not the cheapest. They're actually downtown at 100 N LaSalle and explicitly focus on B2B website design, UX and lead generation. I'd get a quote from them if your firm serves sophisticated middle-market businesses and the website needs to sell advisory services rather than just tax/accounting services.
• Operation Technology — worth getting a quote. They're in the Loop and offer custom, conversion-oriented websites plus SEO/local SEO. Their downtown location also makes them convenient for an in-person project.
• Alpha Efficiency - Web Design Chicago Agency — good if you want website + marketing. They're on Michigan Avenue and work with small businesses/startups, with web development and HubSpot capabilities. I'd consider them if CRM/lead-generation integration matters.

Some particularly cheap alternatives

If price is the overriding constraint, these are worth comparing:

• Intuico Digital — Chicago-based, with managed plans starting at $199/month and custom builds from $2,500. Intuico Digital
• Lizardo Agency — Chicago-based affordable websites starting at $1,499. Lizardo Agency
• Prismatics Digital — publishes a $1,999+ Starter and $3,499+ Growth tier. Prismatics Digital
• Mauve Verse — advertises packages from $199–$1,949, although I'd vet portfolio quality carefully before choosing the lowest tier. Mauveverse

One interesting CPA-specific option

Flamingo Agency is particularly relevant because it explicitly markets website design to CPAs, accountants and small accounting firms. Its published range is $3,000–$8,000, so it isn't the cheapest option, but the specialization could reduce the amount of industry education/messaging work you'll have to pay for. Flamingo Agency

What I'd do with a tight budget

I'd solicit three proposals:

1. Chicago Website Design SEO Company — target ~$1,500–$2,500.
2. Windy City Web Solutions — ask for a lean 5–7 page WordPress site.
3. Solid Digital — ask for their smallest B2B engagement; use this as the “premium” comparison.

For a CPA firm, I'd spend the money on messaging and conversion structure, not fancy animations. A good ~$2,500–$4,000 site should probably have:

• Homepage aimed at your ideal business clients
• Services: tax, accounting, advisory/CFO, etc.
• Industries or client types
• Partner/team bios
• Case studies/testimonials
• Contact/consultation CTA
• Strong local SEO foundation
• LinkedIn integration
• Analytics + conversion tracking

I would not pay for a 15–30 page site initially unless you have a specific SEO strategy for those pages.

If you tell me your approximate budget (e.g. under $2k, $2–5k, or $5–10k), I can narrow this to the 3 best agencies and compare their pricing, B2B/CPA experience, reviews, and likely value.

• Solid Digital - 100 N LaSalle St #1400, Chicago, IL 60602, United States
• Marcel Digital - 445 W Erie St #200, Chicago, IL 60654, United States
• VisualFizz - 875 N Michigan Ave 31st floor, Chicago, IL 60611, United States
• RSXigital | B2B Lead Generation & Performance Marketing Agency in Chicago, USA - 71 S Wacker Dr, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Angle180 - 141 W Jackson Blvd #4236, Chicago, IL 60604, United States
• Americaneagle.com, Inc. - 200 W Jackson Blvd Fl 22, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Chicago Website Design SEO Company - 10 S Riverside Plaza #875, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Straight North - 200 N Green St Fl 3, Chicago, IL 60607, United States
• Alpha Efficiency - Web Design Chicago Agency - 875 N Michigan Ave, Chicago, IL 60611, United States
• Sixth City Marketing - 620 N La Salle Dr Ste 415, Chicago, IL 60654, United States
• Flamingo Agency - 3752 N Southport Ave, Chicago, IL 60613, United States
• YourPortal - 2211 N Elston Ave Ste 208, Chicago, IL 60614, United States
• Brand Vision Marketing - Web Design & Branding - 30 N Michigan Ave #504, Chicago, IL 60602, United States
• SEOLEVELUP Website Design SEO Company Chicago - 355 N Laflin St Ste 101C, Chicago, IL 60607, United States
• SITE IT NOW - 1016 W Jackson Blvd, Chicago, IL 60607, United States
• Millennial Web Development - 329 W 18th St Ste 413, Chicago, IL 60616, United States

Yes. For a Chicago staffing firm where the website’s primary job is generating qualified employer leads, I’d prioritize agencies with B2B positioning, conversion strategy, CRM/analytics experience, and a track record beyond simply making sites look better.

My shortlist

• Solid Digital — Best overall fit. Their Chicago team is explicitly B2B-focused, and their offering covers website redesign, UX/UI, lead generation, recruiting-oriented sites, SEO and ongoing growth. They’re at 100 N LaSalle St.

Why I’d talk to them: staffing is a trust-heavy B2B sale, and you need the site to communicate specialization, proof, and employer value propositions—not just look modern.

• Marcel Digital — Best for a marketing/measurement-heavy redesign. They combine web development with SEO, CRO, analytics and CRM/marketing automation. Their B2B web work is specifically framed around buyer journeys and lead capture. Marcel Digital

Why I’d talk to them: particularly compelling if you use HubSpot or have sophisticated lead-routing/attribution requirements.

• VisualFizz — Best for B2B positioning + creative. They're at 875 N Michigan Ave and focus heavily on B2B marketing, branding, web redesign, SEO and performance marketing. Their positioning work could be valuable if your staffing firm needs to differentiate itself in a crowded market. VisualFizz
• RSXigital | B2B Lead Generation & Performance Marketing Agency in Chicago, USA — Best if “lead gen” matters more than the redesign itself. Their Chicago office is at 71 S Wacker, and their specialty is B2B pipeline generation: paid search/social, SEO, landing pages, qualification, CRM feedback and pipeline reporting. RSXigital

Why I’d talk to them: if you're ultimately trying to increase qualified job-order opportunities, not merely website conversions.

• Angle180 — Worth a conversation if your staffing niches overlap industrial/construction. They're a Loop-based B2B web/inbound agency with a particularly strong orientation toward qualified leads, SEO, PPC, content and CRO.
• Americaneagle.com, Inc. — The enterprise option. Their downtown office is at 200 W Jackson Blvd, and they offer the full stack of website strategy/design/development, integrations, analytics, marketing and hosting.

Why I’d consider them: if you're a sizable staffing organization with multiple divisions, locations, complex integrations or a substantial existing site.

How I'd narrow it

For a typical mid-market Chicago staffing firm, I'd probably put these three into the first round:

1. Solid Digital → strongest balanced choice
2. Marcel Digital → strongest technical/measurement choice
3. VisualFizz → strongest positioning/creative choice

I'd also get a proposal from RSXigital if your internal goal is specifically “more qualified employer opportunities” rather than “redesign our website.”

One important distinction: don't ask agencies for a generic “website redesign.” Give them a conversion brief built around your funnel: employer lands on site → understands your staffing specialization → sees proof/results → identifies the right service → submits a job-order/contact request → gets routed to the right recruiter/salesperson → opportunity is tracked in CRM.

That will make the proposals much easier to compare.

If you tell me roughly your staffing specialties, current website, company size, and ballpark budget ($15–30k, $30–75k, $75k+), I can narrow this to 3 agencies and compare their likely fit, strengths, weaknesses, and questions to ask in the pitch.

• Gate 39 - 29 E Madison St #806, Chicago, IL 60602, United States
• Solid Digital - 100 N LaSalle St #1400, Chicago, IL 60602, United States
• Americaneagle.com, Inc. - 200 W Jackson Blvd Fl 22, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Fintech Digital - 1165 N Clark St #700, Chicago, IL 60610, United States
• One North, A TEKsystems Company - 227 W Monroe St #3500, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• VisualFizz - 875 N Michigan Ave 31st floor, Chicago, IL 60611, United States
• Marcel Digital - 445 W Erie St #200, Chicago, IL 60654, United States
• YourPortal - 2211 N Elston Ave Ste 208, Chicago, IL 60614, United States
• Alpha Efficiency - Web Design Chicago Agency - 875 N Michigan Ave, Chicago, IL 60611, United States
• Brand Vision Marketing - Web Design & Branding - 30 N Michigan Ave #504, Chicago, IL 60602, United States
• SITE IT NOW - 1016 W Jackson Blvd, Chicago, IL 60607, United States
• Sandstorm Design - 4422 N Ravenswood Ave #50, Chicago, IL 60640, United States
• ArtVersion® Creative Agency - 211 W Wacker Dr Ste 1130, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Design In Chicago - 159 N Sangamon St Suite 200, Chicago, IL 60607, United States
• The Office of Experience, LLC - 980 N Michigan Ave Ste 1090, Chicago, IL 60611, United States

For a Chicago financial-services firm, I’d avoid choosing a generic “great web design” shop. You want an agency that understands financial-services credibility, regulatory/compliance review, security, content governance, and executive-level corporate positioning.

I’d put these at the top of your shortlist:

1. Gate 39 — best fit if you’re highly regulated

DirectionsWebsite[Call](tel:+1 312-715-1475)

Gate 39 is particularly interesting because it focuses on regulated, information-heavy industries, including financial services. It also does custom web applications, client portals, onboarding systems and integrations—not just marketing websites.

Why I'd shortlist them: If your site needs sophisticated financial workflows or integrations in addition to a polished corporate presence, they're worth talking to.

Best for: financial-services firms where technology + compliance + website functionality overlap.

2. Solid Digital — best overall Chicago B2B choice

DirectionsWebsite[Call](tel:+1 877-899-9981)

Solid Digital is a Chicago B2B digital agency with a strong combination of strategy, UX, design, development and ongoing support. Their positioning is more enterprise/B2B than consumer-oriented, which I think is appropriate for a sophisticated financial-services firm.

Why I'd shortlist them: Good choice if the objective is a website that makes the firm look significantly more institutional, sophisticated and credible—not merely prettier.

Best for: PE, investment management, advisory, professional services and B2B financial firms.

3. Americaneagle.com, Inc. — best for enterprise-grade infrastructure

DirectionsWebsite[Call](tel:+1 312-291-5970)

Americaneagle has a Chicago presence and operates at a considerably larger scale, with capabilities spanning web development, applications, integrations, managed hosting, security and ongoing support.

Why I'd shortlist them: If your firm has a serious IT/security team, multiple stakeholders, complex CMS requirements, or expects the website to become a significant digital platform, the additional engineering depth is valuable.

Tradeoff: You may get more process and organizational overhead than you need for a straightforward corporate site.

4. Fintech Digital — best financial-services specialist

DirectionsWebsite[Call](tel:+1 312-348-7245)

This is the specialist I'd put into the RFP specifically because they focus on financial services and fintech, rather than treating finance as one industry among dozens. Their services encompass brand, website/UX and digital marketing.

Why I'd shortlist them: Particularly compelling if your website needs to communicate sophisticated financial products or services and you want the agency to understand the category without a huge education period.

5. One North, A TEKsystems Company — best for a very sophisticated corporate site

DirectionsWebsite[Call](tel:+1 312-469-1740)

One North is a Chicago digital-experience firm with enterprise strategy, UX, design, CMS/DXP implementation, hosting and ongoing experience-management capabilities.

Why I'd shortlist them: I'd consider them if you're envisioning something closer to an institutional digital transformation than a conventional 15–30-page corporate website.

But my first call would be Orbit

There's one agency I'd add to the shortlist even though it's slightly different from the Chicago-only group: Orbit Media Studios.

They have an unusually direct financial-services specialization. Their financial-services practice specifically references wealth management, banking, financial consulting, hedge funds and investment-related clients, and they discuss security monitoring, backups, updates and ongoing site management. They've also worked with firms including Zuckerman Investment Group and Hedge Fund Research. Orbit Media Studios

That combination makes them particularly compelling for your situation.

My ranking

What I'd actually do

I'd invite Orbit, Gate 39 and Solid Digital to a competitive pitch.

Don't ask them simply, “How much for a website?” Give them a short brief covering:

• Firm positioning and target audiences
• Current website + what's wrong with it
• Desired brand perception
• Approximate number of pages
• CMS preference, if any
• Integrations/data feeds
• Compliance/legal review process
• Security/hosting requirements
• Accessibility requirements
• Analytics and CRM requirements
• Who internally owns the site after launch

And I'd make security architecture and governance a scored part of the RFP, not an afterthought. A financial-services site can be visually excellent while still being poorly governed from a security perspective.

If you tell me what type of financial firm you are (PE, asset management, wealth management, investment banking, hedge fund, RIA, fintech, specialty finance, etc.) and roughly your website budget ($50k, $100k, $250k+), I can narrow this to 2–3 agencies I'd actually hire and explain why.

Tradeoff: You may get more process and organizational overhead than you need for a straightforward corporate site.

4. Fintech Digital — best financial-services specialist

This is the specialist I'd put into the RFP specifically because they focus on financial services and fintech, rather than treating finance as one industry among dozens. Their services encompass brand, website/UX and digital marketing.

Why I'd shortlist them: Particularly compelling if your website needs to communicate sophisticated financial products or services and you want the agency to understand the category without a huge education period.

5. One North, A TEKsystems Company — best for a very sophisticated corporate site

One North is a Chicago digital-experience firm with enterprise strategy, UX, design, CMS/DXP implementation, hosting and ongoing experience-management capabilities.

Why I'd shortlist them: I'd consider them if you're envisioning something closer to an institutional digital transformation than a conventional 15–30-page corporate website.

But my first call would be Orbit

There's one agency I'd add to the shortlist even though it's slightly different from the Chicago-only group: Orbit Media Studios.

They have an unusually direct financial-services specialization. Their financial-services practice specifically references wealth management, banking, financial consulting, hedge funds and investment-related clients, and they discuss security monitoring, backups, updates and ongoing site management. They've also worked with firms including Zuckerman Investment Group and Hedge Fund Research. orbitmedia.com

That combination makes them particularly compelling for your situation.

My ranking

What I'd actually do

I'd invite Orbit, Gate 39 and Solid Digital to a competitive pitch.

Don't ask them simply, “How much for a website?” Give them a short brief covering:

• Design In Chicago - 159 N Sangamon St Suite 200, Chicago, IL 60607, United States
• VisualFizz - 875 N Michigan Ave 31st floor, Chicago, IL 60611, United States
• ArtVersion® Creative Agency - 211 W Wacker Dr Ste 1130, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Clique Studios - 20 N Wacker Dr Ste 1075, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Solid Digital - 100 N LaSalle St #1400, Chicago, IL 60602, United States
• Brand Vision Marketing - Web Design & Branding - 30 N Michigan Ave #504, Chicago, IL 60602, United States
• Marcel Digital - 445 W Erie St #200, Chicago, IL 60654, United States
• Alpha Efficiency - Web Design Chicago Agency - 875 N Michigan Ave, Chicago, IL 60611, United States
• Americaneagle.com, Inc. - 200 W Jackson Blvd Fl 22, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Chicago Website Design SEO Company - 10 S Riverside Plaza #875, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• SEOLEVELUP Website Design SEO Company Chicago - 355 N Laflin St Ste 101C, Chicago, IL 60607, United States
• BatesMeron Sweet Design - 1006 S Michigan Ave #601, Chicago, IL 60605, United States
• UX 4Sight - 111 W Jackson Blvd Unit 1700, Chicago, IL 60604, United States
• Glantz Design - 1881 Oak Ave, Evanston, IL 60201, United States
• One Design Company - 230 W Superior St #700, Chicago, IL 60654, United States
• Clique Studios - 20 N Wacker Dr, Ste 1075, Chicago, IL 60606

For a boutique management consultancy in the West Loop, I’d focus less on generic “web design” shops and more on agencies that understand professional-services positioning, executive audiences, and premium brand expression.

A Chicago shortlist worth talking to:

• Design In Chicago — 159 N Sangamon St, West Loop. Particularly relevant because they’re actually in the neighborhood and combine brand strategy, positioning, web design/development, marketing, and content. Their positioning explicitly includes growing West Loop businesses. Design In Chicago
• VisualFizz — A strong B2B-oriented option. They combine branding, web, UX, and marketing and specifically showcase work for a security consultancy, including brand strategy and a custom website. VisualFizz
• ArtVersion® Creative Agency — A design-led Chicago firm combining brand strategy, visual identity, UX/UI, and web development. Worth considering if the priority is a sophisticated visual identity rather than simply a high-converting marketing site.
• Clique Studios — More substantial digital-transformation capability. Their process covers research, content strategy, messaging, UX, design, accessibility, and development, so they're a fit if the site needs significant strategic/content architecture work.
• Solid Digital — Particularly relevant if you want the site to function as a B2B growth asset, not just a brand showcase. They specialize in B2B web design and explicitly work through brand discovery, digital strategy, personas, sitemaps and wireframes. Solid Digital
• Brand Vision Marketing - Web Design & Branding — Another strategy/brand/web combination, with an explicit focus on B2B, consulting and professional services. Their approach emphasizes helping prospective clients understand capabilities, credentials, case studies and service offerings. Brand Vision

How I'd narrow it

For your specific brief, I'd interview Design In Chicago, VisualFizz, ArtVersion, and Solid Digital.

I'd give each the same brief and ask them to show:

1. Three examples of professional-services/B2B work — not restaurants, SaaS dashboards, or ecommerce.
2. How they'd translate your firm's expertise into a premium visual and verbal positioning.
3. Their approach to case studies—particularly how they make sophisticated consulting work understandable without making the site feel like a generic consulting firm.
4. Who actually does the strategy, copy, design and development.
5. A proposed site architecture and creative direction, rather than just a generic capabilities deck.
6. Examples where the agency helped a firm look more differentiated and higher-value, rather than simply “more modern.”

One distinction I'd make in the RFP: “premium” shouldn't mean dark backgrounds, oversized typography, and expensive-looking photography. For a management consultancy, I'd want the site to communicate intellectual authority, discretion, specificity and confidence—with enough visual restraint that it feels appropriate when a senior executive is evaluating the firm.

If you tell me your approximate website budget ($25k / $50k / $100k+) and whether you need a brand refresh too, I can narrow this to 3 agencies and compare their likely fit, strengths, weaknesses, and relevant work.

• Clique Studios - 20 N Wacker Dr Ste 1075, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• ArtVersion® Creative Agency - 211 W Wacker Dr Ste 1130, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Design In Chicago - 159 N Sangamon St Suite 200, Chicago, IL 60607, United States
• Solid Digital - 100 N LaSalle St #1400, Chicago, IL 60602, United States
• Brand Vision Marketing - Web Design & Branding - 30 N Michigan Ave #504, Chicago, IL 60602, United States
• Alpha Efficiency - Web Design Chicago Agency - 875 N Michigan Ave, Chicago, IL 60611, United States
• BatesMeron Sweet Design - 1006 S Michigan Ave #601, Chicago, IL 60605, United States
• Glantz Design - 1881 Oak Ave, Evanston, IL 60201, United States
• EDUCO Web Design - 128 Chicago Ave, Oak Park, IL 60302, United States
• Flamingo Agency - 3752 N Southport Ave, Chicago, IL 60613, United States

For a boutique management consultancy in the West Loop, I’d look less for a “web design shop” and more for an agency that understands professional-services positioning: executive credibility, thought leadership, case-study storytelling, and a premium visual system. The site should feel closer to a strategy firm or private-equity advisor than a startup landing page.

A shortlist I’d consider:

Strong fits for a premium consultancy brand

Clique Studios

DirectionsWebsite[Call](tel:+1 312-379-9329)

Best for: a sophisticated, custom digital experience with strong UX and development capability
They’re a Chicago digital agency focused on strategy, UX/design, engineering, and digital platforms. They may be a good fit if you want a site that feels highly customized and built to scale rather than a simple marketing brochure.

Why I’d shortlist them:

• Strong for B2B and complex service offerings
• Good if you need integrations, content systems, or ongoing optimization
• Likely appropriate for a higher investment engagement

ArtVersion® Creative Agency

DirectionsWebsite[Call](tel:+1 312-837-7466)

Best for: design-led positioning and corporate polish
ArtVersion combines branding, visual design, UI/UX, and web development, with experience creating cohesive brand experiences across digital and print.

Why I’d shortlist them:

• Strong fit if your differentiator is intellectual capital + refined presentation
• Good for firms that want a “premium advisory firm” aesthetic
• More design-centric than purely marketing-focused

Design In Chicago

DirectionsWebsite[Call](tel:+1 312-535-3088)

Best for: a West Loop-local partner that can handle brand + website + content
They are based in the West Loop/Fulton Market area and offer brand strategy, design, development, and marketing services.

Why I’d shortlist them:

• Convenient local collaboration
• Can help if your current challenge is broader than the website (messaging, positioning, collateral)
• Familiar with Chicago professional audiences

Solid Digital

DirectionsWebsite[Call](tel:+1 877-899-9981)

Best for: B2B consultancy websites focused on credibility and lead generation
Solid Digital specializes in B2B website design/development, UX/UI, and digital marketing programs.

Why I’d shortlist them:

• Good if your website needs to support business development
• Stronger fit if you care about analytics, SEO, and pipeline generation alongside aesthetics

More boutique / editorial-feeling options

Studio Kalili

Best for: a smaller, highly curated brand experience
Studio Kalili focuses on editorial-style branding and website design for service-based professionals and founders. Studio Kalili

Why consider them:

• More intimate boutique feel
• Could work well if your positioning is built around expertise, insight, and personal credibility

ALL FOR™ Agency

Best for: brand refresh + website + visual system
ALL FOR™ is based in Fulton Market/West Loop and offers brand strategy, identity, web design, and related creative services. Allfor Agency Allfor Agency

Why consider them:

• Neighborhood fit
• Strong if you need your website to be part of a broader brand elevation

How I’d run the selection process

For a management consultancy, I’d ask each agency for:

1. Three examples of professional-services work

(consulting, finance, legal, executive advisory, B2B—not restaurants or consumer brands)

2. Their approach to positioning

• How will they differentiate you from larger firms?
• How will they communicate expertise without sounding generic?
• Their recommended site architecture

I’d expect something like:

• Homepage: point of view + credibility
• Services/practices
• Industries served
• Case studies or outcomes
• Leadership bios
• Insights/thought leadership
• Contact/conversation funnel
• Who writes the copy

Premium consultancy sites often fail because the design is excellent but the messaging is interchangeable.

My initial outreach list would probably be:

1. Clique Studios
2. ArtVersion
3. Design In Chicago
4. Solid Digital
5. Studio Kalili

If your positioning is closer to McKinsey/Bain-style strategic advisory, I’d lean Clique or ArtVersion. If it’s more boutique founder-led advisory, I’d lean Studio Kalili or ALL FOR™. Studio Kalili Allfor Agency

• Solid Digital - 100 N LaSalle St #1400, Chicago, IL 60602, United States
• Marcel Digital - 445 W Erie St #200, Chicago, IL 60654, United States
• Ice Nine Online - 444 W Lake St Ste 1700, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• LoSasso Integrated Marketing - 4853 N Ravenswood Ave, Chicago, IL 60640, United States
• VisualFizz - 875 N Michigan Ave 31st floor, Chicago, IL 60611, United States
• Angle180 - 141 W Jackson Blvd #4236, Chicago, IL 60604, United States
• ROOT3 Marketing & Business Development - 2035 W Wabansia Ave, Chicago, IL 60647, United States
• VisualFizz - 875 North Michigan Ave, Fl 31, Chicago, IL 60611
• Plan B - The Agency Alternative for the AI Economy® - 10 W Hubbard St #5w, Chicago, IL 60654, United States
• C Change - 1052 W Fulton Market, Chicago, IL 60607
• Next/Now - 1200 W Lake St #2, Chicago, IL 60607, United States
• The Office of Experience, LLC - 980 N Michigan Ave Ste 1090, Chicago, IL 60611, United States
• RSXigital | B2B Lead Generation & Performance Marketing Agency in Chicago, USA - 71 S Wacker Dr, Chicago, IL 60606, United States

Given that you’re a training and corporate-events company, I’d look beyond a generic “Chicago web design agency.” You want a firm that understands B2B lead generation, event registration funnels, corporate buyers, and the relationship between your website and your sales pipeline.

A few Chicago agencies stand out:

• Solid Digital — 100 N LaSalle St, downtown. They explicitly specialize in B2B website design and development and position the site around business growth, UX, and measurable outcomes. This looks particularly relevant if the main project is a new or substantially redesigned corporate-events website. Solid Digital
• Marcel Digital — 20 N Wacker Dr. Strong B2B orientation with web development, SEO, CRO, analytics, and digital marketing. I'd consider them if you want the website tied closely to lead generation and measurement rather than treating it as a branding exercise.
• Ice Nine Online — 444 W Lake St. B2B-focused, with WordPress web design/development and an emphasis on measurable pipeline growth. Their founder-led/smaller-agency model could be appealing if you want a more hands-on relationship.
• LoSasso Integrated Marketing — farther north in Ravenswood, but particularly interesting for you because their B2B work includes trade-show/event marketing as well as integrated marketing and web.
• RethinkInfo — This is probably the most interesting specialist match I found. They explicitly combine B2B demand generation, web strategy/design, and event marketing, including trade shows, executive dinners, conference programs, pre-event ABM, meeting generation, registration funnels and post-event ROI. RethinkInfo RethinkInfo

If it were my shortlist

I'd talk to RethinkInfo, Solid Digital, and Marcel Digital first, but for slightly different reasons:

The key question I'd put to all three is:

“Show me a B2B event or training company where you improved the path from website visitor → event registration/inquiry → qualified sales opportunity.”

That will separate the agencies that understand your business from agencies that simply build attractive WordPress sites.

If you tell me roughly your annual revenue, typical event size, whether you sell public training vs. private corporate programs, and your current website, I can narrow this to 3–5 agencies and tell you exactly what I'd ask each one in the first meeting.

• Duo Consulting - 20 W Kinzie St, Ste 1510, Chicago, IL 60654
• Solid Digital - 100 N LaSalle St #1400, Chicago, IL 60602, United States
• AttorneySync - 211 W Wacker Dr Ste 300, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• One North, A TEKsystems Company - 227 W Monroe St #3500, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Americaneagle.com, Inc. - 200 W Jackson Blvd Fl 22, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Marcel Digital - 445 W Erie St #200, Chicago, IL 60654, United States
• Praella - eCommerce Agency - 203 N LaSalle St Suite 2100, Chicago, IL 60601, United States
• OVC Lawyer Marketing - 750 Warrenville Rd Ste 203, Lisle, IL 60532, United States
• dNOVO Group | Law Firm Marketing Agency - 545 N McClurg Ct Ste 1808, Chicago, IL 60611, United States
• Forward Lawyer Marketing - 460 N Main St Unit 209, Glen Ellyn, IL 60137, United States
• Brand Vision Marketing - Web Design & Branding - 30 N Michigan Ave #504, Chicago, IL 60602, United States
• Alpha Efficiency - Web Design Chicago Agency - 875 N Michigan Ave, Chicago, IL 60611, United States
• Forward Lawyer Marketing - 3553 W Peterson Ave Ste 30, Chicago, IL 60659, United States
• BSPE Legal Marketing - Chicago - 875 N Michigan Ave, Chicago, IL 60610, United States
• Millennial Web Development - 329 W 18th St Ste 413, Chicago, IL 60616, United States

For a mid-sized River North law firm doing both a CMS migration and a substantive redesign, I’d interview a mix of legal-specialist agencies and stronger generalist/enterprise CMS shops. The migration discipline matters as much as the visual design: URL preservation, attorney/practice-area content modeling, search visibility, redirects, accessibility, integrations, and an editor-friendly CMS all need to survive the transition.

My interview shortlist

• Duo Consulting — Strong candidate if you have a complex content architecture or are considering Drupal. They're in River North and specialize in Drupal-based digital platforms, migrations, UX, and content management. Their portfolio specifically includes legal work, which makes them particularly relevant for a sophisticated firm site.
• Solid Digital — Worth interviewing for the design/strategy + CMS combination. They're Chicago-based and focus heavily on B2B websites, UX/UI, WordPress, CMS migrations, and making sites manageable by internal teams. That can translate well to a mid-sized professional-services firm.
• AttorneySync — Legal-industry specialist. They work exclusively with law firms, including small and midsize firms, and emphasize website conversion, SEO, and ownership of the firm's digital assets. I'd include them specifically to see what a legal-specialist approach looks like against the more technically oriented agencies.
• Orbit Media — Probably one of the most directly relevant Chicago agencies to put on the RFP list. Orbit has a dedicated law-firm website practice and explicitly handles redesigns, CMS implementation/training, UX and content work. Its Chicago headquarters are on Ravenswood, so it's local but not River North. Orbit Media Studios
• Black Antelope — Particularly interesting if your site is large/content-heavy. Its legal practice specifically discusses CMS/content migration, UX, SEO and Drupal, and its Hagens Berman case study involved migrating hundreds of legal-content pages into a new Drupal architecture. Black Antelope
• One North, A TEKsystems Company — Consider if this is a relatively sophisticated digital transformation rather than a simple website refresh. They work with mid-market/enterprise organizations and major CMS/DXP platforms including Sitecore and AEM, along with content migration and digital-experience work.
• Americaneagle.com, Inc. — A bigger-agency option. The Chicago team handles complex web builds/rebuilds, UX, integrations, migration, hosting/security and ongoing support. I'd use them as a benchmark if your firm's site has substantial integrations or hundreds/thousands of content objects.

How I'd narrow it

For your particular situation, I'd probably start with five interviews:

1. Duo Consulting — technical/content architecture benchmark
2. Orbit Media — law-firm + UX/content benchmark
3. Solid Digital — modern B2B/professional-services benchmark
4. AttorneySync — legal-specialist/SEO benchmark
5. Black Antelope — sophisticated legal-content migration benchmark

That gives you a useful spread rather than five agencies selling essentially the same thing.

I would not choose solely on the visual comps. For a law firm migration, I'd make each finalist answer the same technical questions.

What I'd put in your RFP

Ask every agency to address:

• CMS recommendation: WordPress vs. Drupal vs. another platform, and why for your firm's content model.
• Migration methodology: How will they inventory and map every existing URL, PDF, image, attorney bio, practice-area page, publication and resource?
• SEO preservation: 301 mapping, metadata, canonicals, structured data, XML sitemap, redirects, internal linking and launch monitoring.
• Content modeling: How will attorneys, practices, industries, offices, matters/cases, publications, news and awards relate to one another?
• Editorial experience: Show your marketing/communications team exactly how they'll create a new attorney, update a practice page, publish an alert and add a related resource.
• Accessibility: WCAG target, testing methodology and who is responsible for remediation.
• Performance: Core Web Vitals/performance targets and how they prevent the CMS from becoming bloated.
• Integrations: CRM/intake, analytics, marketing automation, search, forms, events, careers and any existing third-party systems.
• Hosting/security: Managed hosting, backups, patching, staging, uptime, WAF/CDN and incident response.
• Ownership: Your firm owns the domain, hosting account, CMS, code, analytics, content and design files—not the agency.
• Post-launch: What happens during the first 30/60/90 days after launch, particularly if organic traffic or indexing changes?
• Migration testing: Require a URL-by-URL migration/redirect report and a pre/post-launch crawl.

One particularly important point: don't let an agency treat this as "we'll copy the existing pages into the new CMS." A good migration should use the redesign to determine what content should exist, how it should be structured, and how different content types connect before the build begins.

If you tell me roughly your current CMS, number of URLs/pages, practice areas, whether you have multiple offices, and your approximate project budget, I can narrow this to 3–4 agencies and build you a side-by-side interview scorecard/RFP tailored to the firm.

• Logical Media Group - 445 W Erie St #208, Chicago, IL 60654, United States
• Thirdwave - 15 W Hubbard St, Chicago, IL 60654, United States
• Solid Digital - 100 N LaSalle St #1400, Chicago, IL 60602, United States
• Orbit Media Studios - 4043 N Ravenswood Ave #316, Chicago, IL 60613, United States
• AttorneySync - 211 W Wacker Dr Ste 300, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Market JD, Inc. - 20 N Wacker Dr Ste 1200, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• OVC Lawyer Marketing - 750 Warrenville Rd Ste 203, Lisle, IL 60532, United States
• BSPE Legal Marketing - Chicago - 875 N Michigan Ave, Chicago, IL 60610, United States
• dNOVO Group | Law Firm Marketing Agency - 545 N McClurg Ct Ste 1808, Chicago, IL 60611, United States
• Forward Lawyer Marketing - 3553 W Peterson Ave Ste 30, Chicago, IL 60659, United States
• Forward Lawyer Marketing - 460 N Main St Unit 209, Glen Ellyn, IL 60137, United States
• Chicago Website Design SEO Company - 10 S Riverside Plaza #875, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Alpha Efficiency - Web Design Chicago Agency - 875 N Michigan Ave, Chicago, IL 60611, United States
• Brand Vision Marketing - Web Design & Branding - 30 N Michigan Ave #504, Chicago, IL 60602, United States
• Proceed Innovative - 520 W Erie St Apt 440, Chicago, IL 60654, United States
• Marcel Digital - 445 W Erie St #200, Chicago, IL 60654, United States

Yes. For a mid-sized River North law firm doing both a CMS migration and a substantive redesign, I’d avoid treating this as a generic “web design” RFP. You want an agency that can simultaneously handle legal-industry UX, CMS architecture, content migration, SEO/redirect preservation, accessibility, analytics, and attorney/stakeholder management.

Based on current Chicago agencies and their demonstrated capabilities, I’d interview 5–6 firms, with this shortlist:

My Chicago shortlist

1. Logical Media Group — strongest local generalist

DirectionsWebsite[Call](tel:+1 312-465-2911)

They're actually in River North, at 445 W Erie St, and offer the kind of broader digital capability I'd want for a mid-sized firm: UX, website development, SEO and marketing rather than simply designing pages.

Why interview them: Good candidate if the redesign needs to integrate with your broader marketing/lead-generation operation.

Watch for: Ask specifically for two or three comparable law-firm CMS migrations, not just attractive website examples.

2. Thirdwave — strongest technical/CMS candidate

DirectionsWebsite[Call](tel:+1 312-329-1960)

Thirdwave is also in River North, and its positioning is much more technology/development-oriented: CMS-driven sites, integrations, engineering, hosting and ongoing support.

I'd put them high on the list if you're migrating from something like Sitecore, Drupal, Joomla, an old custom CMS, or a heavily customized WordPress installation, rather than simply moving a brochure site.

Why interview them: They look particularly appropriate when the CMS architecture and integrations are as important as the visual redesign.

3. Solid Digital — strongest B2B/strategy alternative

DirectionsWebsite[Call](tel:+1 877-899-9981)

Solid Digital is downtown and specializes in B2B website strategy, UX/UI and development.

A law firm is somewhat analogous to B2B professional services: complex offerings, multiple audiences, credibility-heavy buying decisions and lots of stakeholders.

Why interview them: I'd consider them if your goal is a premium, strategic redesign rather than a legal-marketing-template website.

4. Orbit Media Studios — strongest law-firm-specific contender

DirectionsWebsite[Call](tel:+1 773-348-4581)

This would be my must-interview.

Orbit has a dedicated law-firm website practice and explicitly describes work spanning strategy, design, development, CMS implementation, accessibility, SEO, QA, migration and ongoing CMS support. Their current legal portfolio/process is unusually well aligned with what you're describing. Orbit Media Studios

They also say a full redesign typically takes 10–30+ weeks, which is useful context for evaluating proposals that promise a suspiciously fast turnaround. Orbit Media Studios

Why interview them: Probably the best all-around fit if you want legal-industry experience + sophisticated UX/content strategy + SEO + CMS implementation.

5. Hype Legal — strongest specialist for a polished legal brand

Hype Legal has a Chicago law-firm case study for Hart McLaughlin & Eldridge that is particularly relevant: its scope included strategy, branding, UX/UI, website development, CMS implementation, SEO, hosting, site migration, maintenance and CMS training. Hype Legal

That's essentially your project in miniature.

Why interview them: I'd strongly consider them if the firm wants the new site to feel distinctive and premium rather than like a conventional law-firm website.

6. Builden Partners — worth adding if stakeholder management is a major concern

Builden explicitly markets its redesign process around minimizing the time burden on law-firm leadership and keeping projects on schedule and budget. It is headquartered at 150 S Wacker. Builden Partners

Why interview them: Particularly attractive if partners are going to have strong opinions and you need an agency capable of shepherding a relatively political/complex approval process.

The wildcard: a law-firm SEO specialist

I'd also consider interviewing AttorneySync or Market JD, Inc. as a specialist benchmark.

AttorneySync is Chicago-based and works specifically with law firms, with an emphasis on qualified consultations/cases rather than generic traffic metrics. Market JD likewise focuses on attorney/law-firm websites and digital marketing and is located at 20 N Wacker.

I wouldn't automatically choose a legal-marketing specialist over the larger web agencies. Instead, I'd use one in the RFP to answer an important question:

Does the generalist agency actually understand law-firm SEO and intake, or are they just good at making websites?

That's a very useful competitive check.

Who I'd actually invite to the first round

If this were my RFP, I'd make it:

Then I'd probably narrow it to three finalists.

One important point about the migration

Don't let agencies give you a proposal that says essentially “we'll migrate the content and launch the new site.”

The RFP should explicitly require a migration/SEO plan covering:

• Complete URL inventory and redirect mapping
• Preservation of organic rankings and backlinks
• Metadata migration
• Attorney/practice-area/location taxonomy
• Canonicals, XML sitemap and robots.txt
• Structured data/schema
• Image/document migration
• PDF and legacy-content handling
• Analytics/GTM/Search Console continuity
• Staging and QA
• Crawl-before/crawl-after comparisons
• 301 testing
• Launch-day monitoring
• Rollback plan
• CMS training and documentation
• Accessibility testing
• Content ownership and portability after termination

This matters because a CMS migration can destroy years of accumulated search equity if URL architecture and redirects are handled poorly. SEO Design Chicago, for example, specifically offers CMS migration work centered on preserving rankings, redirects and site structure. SEO Design Chicago

My initial ranking for your particular situation: Orbit → Thirdwave → Hype Legal → Logical Media → Solid Digital → Builden.

If you tell me what CMS you're on now, what you want to migrate to (if known), approximate page count, and whether SEO/lead generation is a major objective, I can turn this into a much tighter Chicago agency shortlist with estimated project tiers, relevant case studies, interview questions, and an RFP scorecard.

Solid Digital is downtown and specializes in B2B website strategy, UX/UI and development.

A law firm is somewhat analogous to B2B professional services: complex offerings, multiple audiences, credibility-heavy buying decisions and lots of stakeholders.

Why interview them: I'd consider them if your goal is a premium, strategic redesign rather than a legal-marketing-template website.

4. Orbit Media Studios — strongest law-firm-specific contender

This would be my must-interview.

Orbit has a dedicated law-firm website practice and explicitly describes work spanning strategy, design, development, CMS implementation, accessibility, SEO, QA, migration and ongoing CMS support. Their current legal portfolio/process is unusually well aligned with what you're describing. Orbit Media Studios

They also say a full redesign typically takes 10–30+ weeks, which is useful context for evaluating proposals that promise a suspiciously fast turnaround. Orbit Media Studios

Why interview them: Probably the best all-around fit if you want legal-industry experience + sophisticated UX/content strategy + SEO + CMS implementation.

5. Hype Legal — strongest specialist for a polished legal brand

Hype Legal has a Chicago law-firm case study for Hart McLaughlin & Eldridge that is particularly relevant: its scope included strategy, branding, UX/UI, website development, CMS implementation, SEO, hosting, site migration, maintenance and CMS training. Hype Legal

That's essentially your project in miniature.

Why interview them: I'd strongly consider them if the firm wants the new site to feel distinctive and premium rather than like a conventional law-firm website.

6. Builden Partners — worth adding if stakeholder management is a major concern

Builden explicitly markets its redesign process around minimizing the time burden on law-firm leadership and keeping projects on schedule and budget. It is headquartered at 150 S Wacker. Builden Partners

Why interview them: Particularly attractive if partners are going to have strong opinions and you need an agency capable of shepherding a relatively political/complex approval process.

The wildcard: a law-firm SEO specialist

I'd also consider interviewing AttorneySync or Market JD, Inc. as a specialist benchmark.

AttorneySync is Chicago-based and works specifically with law firms, with an emphasis on qualified consultations/cases rather than generic traffic metrics. Market JD likewise focuses on attorney/law-firm websites and digital marketing and is located at 20 N Wacker.

I wouldn't automatically choose a legal-marketing specialist over the larger web agencies. Instead, I'd use one in the RFP to answer an important question:

Does the generalist agency actually understand law-firm SEO and intake, or are they just good at making websites?

That's a very useful competitive check.

Who I'd actually invite to the first round

If this were my RFP, I'd make it:

Then I'd probably narrow it to three finalists.

One important point about the migration

Don't let agencies give you a proposal that says essentially “we'll migrate the content and launch the new site.”

The RFP should explicitly require a migration/SEO plan covering:

• Complete URL inventory and redirect mapping
• Preservation of organic rankings and backlinks
• Metadata migration
• Attorney/practice-area/location taxonomy
• Canonicals, XML sitemap and robots.txt
• Structured data/schema
• Image/document migration
• PDF and legacy-content handling
• Analytics/GTM/Search Console continuity
• Staging and QA
• Crawl-before/crawl-after comparisons
• 301 testing
• Launch-day monitoring
• Rollback plan
• CMS training and documentation
• Accessibility testing
• Content ownership and portability after termination

This matters because a CMS migration can destroy years of accumulated search equity if URL architecture and redirects are handled poorly. SEO Design Chicago, for example, specifically offers CMS migration work centered on preserving rankings, redirects and site structure.

My initial ranking for your particular situation: Orbit → Thirdwave → Hype Legal → Logical Media → Solid Digital → Builden.

• Solid Digital - 100 N LaSalle St #1400, Chicago, IL 60602, United States
• Design In Chicago - 159 N Sangamon St Suite 200, Chicago, IL 60607, United States
• ArtVersion® Creative Agency - 211 W Wacker Dr Ste 1130, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Alpha Efficiency - Web Design Chicago Agency - 875 N Michigan Ave, Chicago, IL 60611, United States
• Wojo Design - 318 W Adams St #1609, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• YourPortal - 2211 N Elston Ave Ste 208, Chicago, IL 60614, United States
• Brand Vision Marketing - Web Design & Branding - 30 N Michigan Ave #504, Chicago, IL 60602, United States
• SITE IT NOW - 1016 W Jackson Blvd, Chicago, IL 60607, United States
• Millennial Web Development - 329 W 18th St Ste 413, Chicago, IL 60616, United States
• Americaneagle.com, Inc. - 200 W Jackson Blvd Fl 22, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Chicago Website Design SEO Company - 10 S Riverside Plaza #875, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Windy City Web Solutions - 801 S Wells St, Chicago, IL 60607, United States
• SEOLEVELUP Website Design SEO Company Chicago - 355 N Laflin St Ste 101C, Chicago, IL 60607, United States
• SEOLEVELUP, LLC Website Design SEO Company - 1S183 Summit Ave, Oakbrook Terrace, IL 60181, United States

For a seed-stage startup that needs both an investor-ready landing page and a credible product/demo site, I’d shortlist these Chicago firms:

• Solid Digital — My first call if you’re B2B SaaS/tech. They specialize in B2B website strategy, UX/UI, development, and conversion-oriented sites, and explicitly work with B2B SaaS and technology companies.
• Design In Chicago — Strong option if you want strategy + brand + website + content under one roof. Their process covers discovery, wireframes, high-fidelity design, development, integrations, testing, and launch.
• ArtVersion® Creative Agency — Worth considering if the investor presentation needs to be particularly brand/design-led. They combine brand strategy, visual design, UX/UI, and web development.
• Alpha Efficiency - Web Design Chicago Agency — A more integrated web + digital marketing option, with Chicago presence and experience across technology/software.
• Wojo Design — Smaller Chicago shop offering UX/UI, prototyping, design systems, web development, and CMS implementation; potentially interesting if you want a more hands-on agency relationship.

One non-Chicago firm I'd also interview

Waveup is particularly relevant to your investor-ready requirement. Its offering is explicitly aimed at funded startups and combines positioning, UX/UI, landing pages, product websites, CMS, and conversion work. It says its broader venture consultancy has worked with 600+ startups and companies that have collectively raised $3B+. It also advertises 1–6 week delivery for sites. waveup waveup

That makes it unusually aligned with the question “Will this website help us look credible to investors while also converting customers?”, rather than simply “Can you make us a nice website?”

How I'd choose

For your specific brief, I'd interview Solid Digital, Design In Chicago, and Waveup and give all three the same brief:

Seed-stage startup, investor-facing landing page + interactive product/demo experience, with a goal of communicating the problem, product, differentiation, traction, team, and vision in ~60 seconds.

Then compare their proposed information architecture, messaging process, demo strategy, timeline, and actual startup/SaaS portfolio—not just visual polish.

If you tell me what your startup does, your approximate budget ($10k / $25k / $50k+), and whether you already have branding/product screenshots, I can narrow this to 2–3 agencies and tell you what I'd ask each one in the first call.

• Solid Digital - 100 N LaSalle St #1400, Chicago, IL 60602, United States
• Alpha Efficiency - Web Design Chicago Agency - 875 N Michigan Ave, Chicago, IL 60611, United States
• Brand Vision Marketing - Web Design & Branding - 30 N Michigan Ave #504, Chicago, IL 60602, United States
• YourPortal - 2211 N Elston Ave Ste 208, Chicago, IL 60614, United States
• SITE IT NOW - 1016 W Jackson Blvd, Chicago, IL 60607, United States
• Millennial Web Development - 329 W 18th St Ste 413, Chicago, IL 60616, United States
• ArtVersion® Creative Agency - 211 W Wacker Dr Ste 1130, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Design In Chicago - 159 N Sangamon St Suite 200, Chicago, IL 60607, United States
• Americaneagle.com, Inc. - 200 W Jackson Blvd Fl 22, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Chicago Website Design SEO Company - 10 S Riverside Plaza #875, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Windy City Web Solutions - 801 S Wells St, Chicago, IL 60607, United States

I’d shortlist Solid Digital for a seed-stage B2B startup: they’re Chicago-based and focused on B2B website strategy, UX/UI, and development.

For a more startup/fundraising-specific option, Waveup is worth comparing: it explicitly builds SaaS landing pages and sites and says its team has worked with 600+ startups. waveup waveup

If you tell me your industry, budget ($5k/$10k/$20k+), and whether the demo needs to be functional, I can narrow it to 2–3 agencies.

• Synergy Labs - Mobile App and Web Developers Agency in Chicago - 515 N State St, Chicago, IL 60654, United States
• Vault Innovation - 20 N Wacker Dr Ste 1200, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Thirdwave - 15 W Hubbard St, Chicago, IL 60654, United States
• Yeeld - 1449 S Michigan Ave Ste 13260, Chicago, IL 60605, United States
• Solid Digital - 100 N LaSalle St #1400, Chicago, IL 60602, United States
• Praella - eCommerce Agency - 203 N LaSalle St Suite 2100, Chicago, IL 60601, United States
• Alpha Efficiency - Web Design Chicago Agency - 875 N Michigan Ave, Chicago, IL 60611, United States
• Cybernautic Web Design - 515 N State St #14-126, Chicago, IL 60611, United States
• Americaneagle.com, Inc. - 200 W Jackson Blvd Fl 22, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Adage Technologies - 10 S Riverside Plaza Ste 1500, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Iceberg Web Design - 200 W Madison St, Ste 2100, Chicago, IL 60606
• YourPortal - 2211 N Elston Ave Ste 208, Chicago, IL 60614, United States
• Design In Chicago - 159 N Sangamon St Suite 200, Chicago, IL 60607, United States
• Millennial Web Development - 329 W 18th St Ste 413, Chicago, IL 60616, United States

For an MVP that needs real payments + recurring subscriptions, I’d prioritize a product-development firm over a traditional “web design agency.” You want someone who can own the UX and the backend/payment logic—Stripe webhooks, subscription states, cancellations, failed payments, customer portal, etc.

My Chicago shortlist:

• Synergy Labs - Mobile App and Web Developers Agency in Chicago — Best overall for a startup MVP. Their Chicago team focuses on custom web apps, SaaS, and production-ready MVPs rather than brochure sites. Good fit if you need product UX, frontend/backend engineering, and a path to scale.
• Vault Innovation — Best for a more bespoke product. Chicago-based custom software/product development with full-stack web and SaaS experience. I'd consider them if your payment/subscription logic is more complicated than straightforward Stripe Checkout.
• Thirdwave — Strong if design + recurring payments are both important. Their Chicago operation specifically has experience with secure payment flows, subscriptions/recurring payments, memberships, and ecommerce.
• Yeeld — Worth considering as the payments specialist. They're Chicago-based and specifically focused on payment-system implementation and Stripe engineering. I’d potentially pair them with a design/development firm if payments are mission-critical or unusually complex.
• Solid Digital — Best if the MVP also needs a strong B2B marketing/brand website. They're particularly oriented toward B2B SaaS/technology companies and combine UX, web development, and integrations.

A couple of non-Chicago-specific firms I'd also interview

Syntecho is particularly relevant technically: its Chicago SaaS practice explicitly covers multi-tenancy, subscription billing, metering, proration, invoicing, payment events, and Stripe. Syntecho

Power3Designs is another interesting option if speed and a defined MVP budget matter. It explicitly includes Stripe billing/subscriptions, trials, usage billing, webhooks and customer portals in its MVP offering. Power3Designs

My ranking for your use case

*Especially payments/Stripe rather than general product development.

If I were choosing three to interview: Synergy Labs, Syntecho, and Thirdwave. If your payment architecture is unusual—marketplace payouts, usage-based billing, complex subscriptions, Connect, split payments, etc.—I'd bring Yeeld into the conversation too.

One important screening question: ask each firm to walk you through what happens when a subscription payment fails, a user upgrades mid-cycle, cancels, gets a refund, or has their card expire. A firm that can explain the webhook/state-machine architecture clearly is much safer than one that simply says “yes, we integrate Stripe.”

If you tell me what your MVP actually does and roughly what you want to spend ($10k, $25k, $50k+, etc.), I can narrow this to 3 firms and tell you exactly what I'd ask each one in the first call.