Answers that mention Solid Digital

• Duo Consulting - 20 W Kinzie St, Ste 1510, Chicago, IL 60654
• 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
• Market JD, Inc. - 20 N Wacker Dr Ste 1200, Chicago, IL 60606, 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
• Attorney Web Design | Chicago - 233 S Wacker Dr Ste 4400, Chicago, IL 60606, 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
• Cybernautic Web Design - 515 N State St #14-126, Chicago, IL 60611, United States

For a midsize Chicago law firm, I’d put these on the RFP shortlist:

• Duo Consulting — particularly worth considering if you’re moving to/from Drupal or need a sophisticated CMS migration; they have documented legal-sector work and migration experience. Nylon Technology
• Solid Digital — downtown, with experience in website rebuilds, CMS migrations, UX and ongoing optimization.
• Americaneagle.com, Inc. — the larger-enterprise option; they have documented experience migrating a major law firm to WordPress/WP Engine. WP Engine
• Market JD, Inc. — specifically law-focused and located at 20 N. Wacker; useful if legal-industry marketing expertise matters as much as development.
• Orbit Media — Chicago-based and specifically markets legal website redesigns, including responsive development, CMS implementation, migration, accessibility and SEO. Orbit Media Studios

For your particular project, I’d start conversations with Duo, Orbit, and Solid Digital and give all three the same requirements: current CMS, approximate page count, integrations, attorney/practice-area profiles, SEO preservation, accessibility, and desired CMS.

If you tell me your current CMS, approximate site size, and budget range, I can narrow this to 2–3 firms and compare them.

• 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
• 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
• Design In Chicago - 159 N Sangamon St Suite 200, Chicago, IL 60607, United States
• HiveSourced - 230 E Ohio St, Ste 410, Chicago, IL 60611
• Chicago Website Design SEO Company - 10 S Riverside Plaza #875, Chicago, IL 60606, United States

If you want one agency to handle both the brand and the website, with actual healthcare/startup experience, I’d shortlist these:

• Pivot Design — River North

321 N Clark St. This is probably the most healthcare-specific option I found. They focus heavily on healthcare/life sciences and offer brand positioning, naming, identity, messaging, brand guidelines, and integrated digital/creative work.
Best fit: healthcare, biotech, medtech, pharma, or a startup with a complex clinical story.

• One Design Company — River North

230 W Superior St. A strategy-led design studio combining branding, digital/interactive design, research, and development.
Best fit: a startup looking for a sophisticated, modern brand rather than a traditional healthcare look.

• ArtVersion® Creative Agency — Downtown/Loop

211 W Wacker Dr. They combine brand strategy, visual design, UX/UI, and in-house web development, so you can keep brand and website under one roof.
Best fit: a polished B2B healthcare company that needs both brand strategy and a substantial website.

• Brand Vision Marketing - Web Design & Branding — Downtown

30 N Michigan Ave. Their offering explicitly combines brand strategy, visual identity, website design/development, and SEO.
Best fit: an early-stage startup wanting a relatively integrated brand + website + marketing engagement.

One non-downtown option I'd also consider

Solid Digital is in Chicago and specifically works with B2B SaaS and healthcare technology, including branding/digital strategy and website design. Their healthcare case study for IMO Health is particularly relevant. soliddigital.com

soliddigital.com

My practical shortlist

For a healthcare startup, I'd talk to Pivot Design, One Design Company, and Solid Digital first. They represent three somewhat different approaches: healthcare-specialist, design/brand-led, and B2B healthcare/digital-growth.

If you tell me what the startup does (e.g. digital health, biotech, healthcare services, medical device, AI) and roughly your budget ($25k, $50k, $100k+), I can narrow this to 2–3 agencies and pull examples of their healthcare work and likely project fit.

• Solid Digital - 100 N LaSalle St #1400, Chicago, IL 60602, United States
• The Office of Experience, LLC - 980 N Michigan Ave Ste 1090, Chicago, IL 60611, United States
• IDE Interactive, Inc. - 2945 W Peterson Ave Ste 103, Chicago, IL 60659, United States
• Vault Innovation - 20 N Wacker Dr Ste 1200, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• LaunchPad Lab - 220 W Huron St, Ste 2001, Chicago, IL 60654
• Marcel Digital - 20 N Wacker Dr Ste 1285, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Adage Technologies - 10 S Riverside Plaza Ste 1500, Chicago, IL 60606, 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
• SITE IT NOW - 1016 W Jackson Blvd, Chicago, IL 60607, United States
• Americaneagle.com, Inc. - 200 W Jackson Blvd Fl 22, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Millennial Web Development - 329 W 18th St Ste 413, Chicago, IL 60616, United States
• cre8 - Chicago, IL 60607
• SEOLEVELUP Website Design SEO Company Chicago - 355 N Laflin St Ste 101C, Chicago, IL 60607, United States
• Design In Chicago - 159 N Sangamon St Suite 200, Chicago, IL 60607, United States
• Synergy Labs - Mobile App and Web Developers Agency in Chicago - 515 N State St, Chicago, IL 60654, United States

If you’re a Chicago tech/SaaS company and the project is a custom marketing site—not the SaaS product itself—I’d shortlist agencies that understand B2B positioning, complex buyer journeys, UX, and conversion, rather than a generic web-design shop.

Chicago shortlist

• Solid Digital — Probably the first agency I’d interview. They specifically focus on B2B website design/development and say they work with B2B SaaS and technology companies. Their Chicago practice dates to 2007, and Clutch currently lists them among Chicago's web-design firms. Solid Digital Clutch
• The Office of Experience, LLC — Worth considering if this is a larger, strategically important site where brand, research, UX, content, and engineering all need to come together. They work heavily with mid-market/enterprise B2B organizations.
• IDE Interactive, Inc. — Interesting if "custom" means you want something substantially beyond a CMS marketing site. They combine strategy, UX/design and engineering and build digital platforms, web applications and custom systems.
• Vault Innovation — More product/software-oriented, so I'd look at them if the site has application-like functionality, integrations, authenticated experiences, or complex interactions.
• LaunchPad Lab — Similar logic: particularly relevant if the boundary between your marketing site and SaaS product is blurry. They specialize in custom web applications and product strategy/design alongside engineering.
• Marcel Digital — A particularly relevant option if SEO, analytics, CRO, paid acquisition, and the website need to operate as one growth engine. They're a Chicago B2B digital marketing/web-development agency.
• Adage Technologies — I'd put them on the RFP if you have complex integrations, enterprise CMS/DXP requirements, or a technically complicated web ecosystem.

How I'd narrow it

For a typical Series B–enterprise B2B SaaS marketing site, I'd have Solid Digital, The Office of Experience, and Marcel Digital pitch.

For a highly interactive/product-like experience, I'd add IDE Interactive or LaunchPad Lab.

For an enterprise integration-heavy rebuild, I'd add Adage Technologies.

One useful benchmark: current Chicago agency listings show substantial variation in project economics. For example, Clutch currently lists Solid Digital among Chicago web-design providers, while agencies such as Clique Studios, LLT Group, and EDUCO tend to appear at higher project-budget levels. Clutch

For your RFP, I wouldn't ask simply "can you build our website?" I'd ask each agency to show:

1. Two B2B SaaS/technology sites they personally designed and built.
2. Their proposed approach to positioning + information architecture, not just visual design.
3. How they handle CMS architecture, integrations, analytics and experimentation.
4. Who actually does the strategy, design and development—not just who sells the project.
5. How they measure success beyond launch: demo conversion, qualified pipeline, SEO, engagement, etc.
6. A realistic budget and timeline for your specific scope.

If you give me your approximate budget ($50–100k, $100–250k, $250k+), CMS preference (Webflow/WordPress/Next.js/etc.), and whether this is a redesign or net-new site, I can narrow this to 3 Chicago agencies that fit the project and give you the specific reasons to put each on the RFP.

One useful benchmark: current Chicago agency listings show substantial variation in project economics. For example, Clutch currently lists Solid Digital among Chicago web-design providers, while agencies such as Clique Studios, LLT Group, and EDUCO tend to appear at higher project-budget levels.

For your RFP, I wouldn't ask simply "can you build our website?" I'd ask each agency to show:

• Solid Digital - 100 N LaSalle St #1400, Chicago, IL 60602, United States
• TXI - 10 S Riverside Plaza Ste 875 - #7670, Chicago, IL 60606, 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
• Vault Innovation - 20 N Wacker Dr Ste 1200, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• IDE Interactive, Inc. - 2945 W Peterson Ave Ste 103, Chicago, IL 60659, United States
• SITE IT NOW - 1016 W Jackson Blvd, Chicago, IL 60607, 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
• Millennial Web Development - 329 W 18th St Ste 413, Chicago, IL 60616, United States
• Brand Vision Marketing - Web Design & Branding - 30 N Michigan Ave #504, Chicago, IL 60602, United States
• Windy City Web Solutions - 801 S Wells St, Chicago, IL 60607, United States
• Operation Technology - 211 W Wacker Dr 3rd Floor, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• SEO Design Chicago | Digital Marketing & Web Design Agency - 2068 N Western Ave 1F - Front, Chicago, IL 60647, United States
• Synergy Labs - Mobile App and Web Developers Agency in Chicago - 515 N State St, Chicago, IL 60654, United States
• The Office of Experience, LLC - 980 N Michigan Ave Ste 1090, Chicago, IL 60611, United States

If by “custom SaaS site” you mean a high-end marketing website for a B2B SaaS company—not the SaaS application itself—I’d put these Chicago firms on your shortlist:

• Solid Digital — Strong fit for B2B SaaS. They explicitly specialize in B2B website strategy/design and have experience with SaaS and technology companies, including UX, CMS, integrations and ongoing growth. Solid Digital
• TXI — More product/engineering-oriented. Worth considering if “website” includes substantial custom functionality, product experiences, or integrations rather than primarily a marketing site.
• LaunchPad Lab — Good candidate if the project crosses into an actual web application, portal, or SaaS product. They combine product strategy, UX/UI and custom software engineering.
• Marcel Digital — Particularly relevant if your marketing team wants the site tightly connected to SEO, analytics, CRO and demand generation, rather than treating the build as a standalone design project.
• Vault Innovation — Smaller-scale custom digital-product option, with UX/product design and full-stack web application capabilities.
• IDE Interactive, Inc. — Another interesting option if you need a genuinely custom experience/web application rather than a conventional CMS website.

One additional firm I'd interview

Orbit Media is especially relevant to your specific use case. Its Chicago team has a dedicated SaaS web-design offering covering positioning/messaging, UX, SEO, conversion optimization, development and integrations with systems such as HubSpot and Salesforce. They also publish SaaS-specific results and case studies. Orbit Media Studios

orbitmedia.com

How I'd structure the shortlist

Rather than picking purely by reputation, I'd send the same brief to Solid Digital, Orbit Media, and either TXI or LaunchPad Lab and compare their proposals on:

1. Relevant SaaS portfolio — especially companies with similar ACV, sales cycle and buyer complexity.
2. Messaging/positioning capability — can they help simplify a complicated product story, or do they just execute supplied copy?
3. Conversion architecture — demo/signup/trial flows, pricing, product pages, persona paths.
4. Technical scope — CMS, personalization, product/API integrations, analytics, CRM/marketing automation.
5. SEO migration — information architecture, redirects, technical SEO and preserving existing organic traffic.
6. Post-launch optimization — experimentation and CRO rather than treating launch as the finish line.
7. Who actually does the work — senior strategists/designers versus an account team handing the project off.

For a marketing director, the distinction I'd make is: Solid Digital / Orbit = marketing-site specialists; TXI / LaunchPad Lab = heavier product/engineering partners. That's a useful dividing line when you talk to them.

If you tell me your approximate budget (e.g. $50k, $100k, $250k+) and whether this is a marketing site or includes actual SaaS/product functionality, I can narrow this to a more targeted Chicago shortlist and pull together their relevant case studies, team size, typical project scope, and publicly available pricing.

• Adage Technologies - 10 S Riverside Plaza Ste 1500, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Translations.com - 150 North Michigan Ave, Fl 20, Chicago, IL 60601
• Marcel Digital - 445 W Erie St #200, Chicago, IL 60654, United States
• Americaneagle.com, Inc. - 2600 S River Rd, Des Plaines, IL 60018, United States
• Duo Consulting - 20 W Kinzie St, Ste 1510, Chicago, IL 60654
• 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
• Interpro Translation Solutions - 1761 S Naperville Rd Ste 102, Wheaton, IL 60189, United States
• Alpha Efficiency - Web Design Chicago Agency - 875 N Michigan Ave, Chicago, IL 60611, United States
• Towering Media - 3509 N Reta Ave Apt 3, Chicago, IL 60657, United States
• EDUCO Web Design - 128 Chicago Ave, Oak Park, IL 60302, United States
• Translatus, Inc. - 1658 N Milwaukee Ave #560, Chicago, IL 60647, United States

For a company headquartered in downtown Chicago, I’d shortlist two types of partners, depending on whether you need the agency to build/manage the multilingual website or primarily localize the content.

My first call: Adage Technologies

DirectionsWebsite[Call](tel:+1 312-258-1200)

Adage is actually in downtown Chicago at 10 S Riverside Plaza and is a digital strategy, design, and engineering firm. Its capabilities include complex CMS implementations, custom web development, ecommerce, integrations, and ongoing support.

That makes it a particularly relevant candidate if “internationalization” means more than translation—for example:

• Multiple country/language sites
• CMS architecture for localized content
• International SEO and URL structures
• Country-specific content and functionality
• Integration with translation/localization workflows
• Multisite governance and ongoing maintenance

I'd ask Adage specifically about previous multilingual/multiregion implementations and their approach to localization architecture, rather than assuming multilingual capability from their general web-development offering.

If localization itself is the bigger requirement

Translations.com has a downtown Chicago office at 150 N Michigan Ave and is much more specialized in enterprise translation/localization. Its offering covers multilingual content, software/app localization, global brand support, and language technology.

Another Chicago-area option is Multi-Lingua Communications. It explicitly offers website localization, CMS/interface content adaptation, terminology management, multilingual DTP, and QA, supporting 100+ languages. Multi-Lingua Communications, Inc. Multi-Lingua Communications, Inc.

One important distinction

If you're looking for one agency to own the entire website transformation, I'd investigate Adage first.

If you already have a web development agency/CMS team and need a specialist localization partner, I'd investigate Translations.com or Multi-Lingua.

If you tell me your CMS (e.g. WordPress, Drupal, Sitecore, Adobe Experience Manager, Contentful), number of languages/countries, and whether this is B2B or B2C, I can narrow this to 2–3 Chicago agencies that specifically fit the technical requirements.

• 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
• Straight North - 200 N Green St Fl 3, Chicago, IL 60607, United States
• The Office of Experience, LLC - 980 N Michigan Ave Ste 1090, Chicago, IL 60611, United States
• Team 201 - 500 W Madison St #1000, Chicago, IL 60661, United States
• Chicago Website Design SEO Company - 10 S Riverside Plaza #875, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Allevi8 Marketing - 6127 S University Ave Ste 110K, Chicago, IL 60653, United States
• Alpha Efficiency - Web Design Chicago Agency - 875 N Michigan Ave, Chicago, IL 60611, United States
• Arise GTM - 155 N Wacker Dr, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Digital Authority Partners - 420 W Huron St Fl 1, Chicago, IL 60654, United States
• SEO Design Chicago | Digital Marketing & Web Design Agency - 2068 N Western Ave 1F - Front, Chicago, IL 60647, United States
• Operation Technology - 211 W Wacker Dr 3rd Floor, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• RSXigital | B2B Lead Generation & Performance Marketing Agency in Chicago, USA - 71 S Wacker Dr, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• iCrossing - 312 N Carpenter St, Chicago, IL 60607, United States
• OneIMS - 111 E Upper Wacker Dr, Chicago, IL 60601

For a tech scaleup in Fulton Market, I’d put a short list together around agencies that can do more than “make the website prettier”—you want positioning + UX/CRO + development + SEO/demand generation + ongoing optimization.

Chicago shortlist

• Solid Digital — Particularly relevant if you're B2B SaaS/tech. They specialize in B2B website redesigns, UX, development and ongoing digital growth, and explicitly work with B2B SaaS and healthcare technology companies. Their published process runs from strategy/personas through design, development and post-launch optimization. Solid Digital

Best fit: A sophisticated B2B scaleup where the website is a core sales/marketing asset.

• Marcel Digital — Strong option if you want the redesign tightly connected to SEO, paid acquisition, analytics and CRO. Their Chicago team combines web development, UX/CRO, SEO, paid media and measurement, rather than treating the redesign as a standalone project.

Best fit: A growth team that cares heavily about measurable pipeline/conversion impact.

• VisualFizz — Full-service B2B agency covering strategy, branding, web and performance marketing, with explicit experience in technology/SaaS. VisualFizz

Best fit: You need positioning/brand + website + demand generation under one roof.

• Straight North — Located right in Fulton Market (200 N Green St) and oriented toward lead generation, SEO, paid acquisition, website development and conversion-focused creative.

Best fit: A performance-oriented redesign where qualified leads and acquisition efficiency are the primary KPIs.

• The Office of Experience, LLC — More experience/transformation-oriented. Their Chicago work includes substantial B2B digital and ecommerce redesigns, UX research, journey mapping and digital-platform modernization. The Office of Experience

Best fit: A larger, more complex redesign involving product experience, customer journeys or digital transformation.

• Team 201 — Specifically positioned around high-growth B2B technology companies, with an integrated marketing approach.

Best fit: You want an agency to function more like an extension of your in-house growth team than a traditional web shop.

How I'd structure the RFP

Rather than asking agencies simply for a “website redesign,” I'd ask each one to propose against the same outcomes:

1. Positioning & messaging: Can they turn your differentiated product into a clearer story for your ICP?
2. Conversion: How will they improve demo/signup/contact conversion, not just aesthetics?
3. Information architecture: Can they rethink the site around buying journeys rather than your org chart?
4. Growth infrastructure: SEO, analytics, attribution, experimentation and landing-page architecture.
5. Technical execution: CMS, integrations, performance, accessibility and maintainability.
6. Post-launch: What happens after launch—CRO, testing, content, SEO and iteration?
7. Proof: Ask for 2–3 comparable B2B tech/scaleup redesigns and the actual business metrics that changed.

For your particular description, I'd start conversations with Solid Digital, Marcel Digital, VisualFizz and Straight North, then add Office of Experience if the project is particularly complex. That's a shortlist based on documented service fit—not a ranking of the agencies.

If you tell me your approximate budget ($50k / $100k / $250k+) and whether you're B2B SaaS, fintech, AI, etc., I can narrow this to 3 agencies and compare their likely fit, capabilities, location, case studies, and engagement model.

• 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.

• Grand Studio - 444 N Wells St #501, Chicago, IL 60654, United States
• LaunchPad Lab - 448 N La Salle Dr Fl 9, Chicago, IL 60654, United States
• Nansen LLC - 300 W Hubbard St Ste 301, Chicago, IL 60654, United States
• Solid Digital - 100 N LaSalle St #1400, Chicago, IL 60602, United States
• Punchkick Interactive - 150 N Michigan Ave, Ste 3900, Chicago, IL 60601
• TXI - 10 S Riverside Plaza Ste 875 - #7670, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• UX 4Sight - 111 W Jackson Blvd Unit 1700, Chicago, IL 60604, United States
• VisualFizz - 875 N Michigan Ave 31st floor, Chicago, IL 60611, United States
• FlyDesign - 111 W Jackson Blvd, Chicago, IL 60604, United States
• Dom & Tom - 625 N Michigan Ave, Ste 1800, Chicago, IL 60611
• IDEO Chicago - 626 W Jackson Blvd, Chicago, IL 60661, United States
• MNML - 170 N Sangamon St, Chicago, IL 60607, United States
• Streng - Chicago - 220 N Green St, Chicago, IL 60607
• Tres Design Group - 435 N Lasalle Dr, Ste 200, Chicago, IL 60610
• Koz Susani Design - 880 N Lake Shore Dr Ste 17D, Chicago, IL 60611, United States

If the brief is specifically “redesign a complex B2B SaaS dashboard”, I’d focus less on general branding/web agencies and more on firms with evidence of enterprise UX, workflow-heavy products, dashboards, research, and design systems.

A few Chicago/River North-area options worth putting on an RFP shortlist:

• Grand Studio — River North, 444 N Wells St.

Particularly relevant if the dashboard has complicated workflows or unclear product architecture. They combine UX research, product strategy, interaction design, UI, and design systems, and their positioning is heavily oriented toward complex digital products. UX Planet

• LaunchPad Lab — River North, 448 N LaSalle Dr.

A good candidate if you want design + actual implementation rather than a studio that only hands over Figma files. Their offering includes product discovery, UX/UI, prototyping, and custom software development. ParallelHQ

• Nansen LLC — River North, 300 W Hubbard St.

Worth investigating for a product requiring UX research, strategy, UI, and design-system work. The local business listing specifically identifies those capabilities.

• Solid Digital — Downtown Chicago, 100 N LaSalle St.

More B2B/digital-experience oriented. They do UX discovery, wireframes, user flows and UI for web apps/portals, so they could make sense if the dashboard redesign overlaps with a broader customer portal or web-platform redesign.

• Punchkick Interactive — Downtown, 150 N Michigan Ave.

More of a product design + engineering partner. Their offering spans strategy, UX/UI, custom software and digital products, which is useful if you need the redesign taken all the way into production.

One important caveat

If River North is a preference rather than a hard requirement, I'd also put Fuzzy Math on the list. Multiple current Chicago UX-industry roundups specifically identify them for B2B/enterprise UX and complex workflows, which is unusually close to your dashboard use case. ParallelHQ 925 Studios

Likewise, UX 4Sight is worth considering if the redesign needs substantial user research/usability testing rather than primarily a visual refresh. Their service mix includes UX audits, usability testing, user research, task flows, wireframes and design systems. UX Planet

How I'd structure the shortlist

For a serious B2B SaaS dashboard redesign, I'd ask each studio for 2–3 examples of shipped software—not marketing websites—that demonstrate:

1. Complex tables/data visualization
2. Multi-step workflows
3. Role-based experiences/permissions
4. Information architecture restructuring
5. Design-system/component-library work
6. User research and usability testing
7. Working alongside an existing product/engineering team
8. Evidence that their designs actually reached production

I'd also explicitly ask them to do a paid mini-discovery or UX audit before committing to a full redesign. Current Chicago agency estimates put a comprehensive SaaS redesign anywhere from roughly $50K to $120K+, depending heavily on complexity and research/engineering scope. ParallelHQ 925 Studios

If you tell me your approximate budget (e.g. $25–50K, $50–100K, $100K+) and whether you need design-only or design + development, I can narrow this to a practical 3–5 agency shortlist with contact links, relevant case studies, estimated fit, and questions to ask each in the pitch.

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.

• Orbit Media Studios - 4043 N Ravenswood Ave #316, Chicago, IL 60613, United States
• Dialogue Theory - 1932 S Halsted St #509, Chicago, IL 60608, 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, United States
• Marcel Digital - 20 N Wacker Dr Ste 1285, Chicago, IL 60606, 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
• 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
• Design In Chicago - 159 N Sangamon St Suite 200, Chicago, IL 60607, United States
• Wojo Design - 318 W Adams St #1609, Chicago, IL 60606, United States

If your goal is specifically increasing completed donations (not just redesigning a nonprofit website), I’d prioritize agencies that can show evidence of:

• donation funnel audits
• UX research/usability testing with donors
• donation form optimization
• A/B testing or experimentation
• analytics setup (GA4, Hotjar/Clarity, etc.)
• recurring giving optimization
• measurable conversion lifts

A shortlist of Chicago-area firms worth evaluating:

A couple of non-Chicago specialists are also worth considering because they are closer to “donation conversion specialists” than general UX agencies:

• Donately — focuses on donation experiences, donor flows, custom forms, and fundraising optimization services. Donately Donately
• PhilanthroForge — focuses specifically on donation UX audits, donor journeys, form optimization, and fundraising analytics. PhilanthroForge
• Donation Scalers — focuses on donor funnels, campaigns, and fundraising growth systems. Donation Scalers

How I’d vet them before hiring

Ask each agency these questions:

1. “Show us 2–3 donation pages you improved. What was the baseline conversion rate and what changed?”
2. “Did you optimize the donation form itself or only redesign the website?”
3. “What donor friction did you identify?”

• too many fields
• unclear impact of gifts
• weak trust signals
• poor mobile UX
• confusing recurring-gift options
• “What testing methodology do you use?”

• A/B testing
• usability testing
• heatmaps/session recordings
• donor interviews
• “Who owns analytics after launch?”

• GA4 events
• donation completion tracking
• recurring donor tracking
• experiment reporting

For a nonprofit whose primary KPI is more completed donations, I’d probably start conversations with Orbit Media, Oak Theory, UX 4Sight, and one fundraising-specialist firm (Donately or PhilanthroForge) rather than a pure branding/web design shop. Orbit Media Studios Oak Theory PhilanthroForge

I can also put together a ranked shortlist by nonprofit experience, CRO depth, estimated budget range, and project fit (small nonprofit vs. large institution) if that would help.

• Fuzzy Math - 1440 N Dayton, Ste 307, Chicago, IL 60642
• Sandstorm Design - 4422 N Ravenswood Ave #50, Chicago, IL 60640, United States
• Design Science - 909 Davis St, Evanston, IL 60201, United States
• Mightybytes - 4001 N Ravenswood Ave, Ste 404, Chicago, IL 60613
• Rowe Intermedia - Chicago, IL 60641
• Clique Studios - 20 N Wacker Dr, Ste 1075, Chicago, IL 60606
• WeCo Accessibility Services - 300 1/2 S Main St, Stillwater, MN 55082
• Chicago Harbor Lighthouse - Chicago Harbor, Chicago, IL 60603, United States
• UX 4Sight - 111 W Jackson Blvd Unit 1700, Chicago, IL 60604, 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
• One North, A TEKsystems Company - 227 W Monroe St #3500, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• UX Healthcare - 211 E 43rd St 7th Floor, New York, NY 10017, United States
• Digital Accessibility by WeCo - 2730 W Lake St Ste 300, Minneapolis, MN 55416, United States
• Alphazeta - 325 W Huron St, Ste 506, Chicago, IL 60654
• Solid Digital - 100 N LaSalle St #1400, Chicago, IL 60602, United States

For a Chicago healthcare portal, I’d put these firms on the initial RFP list based on the combination of accessibility auditing, UX/product work, and healthcare experience:

• Fuzzy Math — Chicago UX strategy/research consultancy with experience in healthcare and complex workflow-heavy products. Good candidate if the UX improvement side is substantial. Agency List
• Sandstorm Design — Chicago UX/digital-experience agency that combines research, design, development and accessibility work. Agency List
• Design Science — Evanston-based human-factors consultancy specifically focused on healthcare/medical technology usability. Particularly relevant if the portal involves clinically important workflows or safety-sensitive interactions.
• Mightybytes — Chicago digital agency with accessibility as an explicit service area, alongside strategy, design and development.
• Rowe Intermedia — Worth contacting if you want a healthcare-oriented accessibility/compliance partner; its Chicago practice specifically works with health systems and healthcare/life-sciences organizations.
• Clique Studios — Chicago agency covering UX/UI, usability testing, accessibility-focused design and engineering, which could make sense if you want one partner to carry findings through implementation.

There are also specialist accessibility organizations I'd consider separately from the UX agencies. WeCo Accessibility Services provides dedicated accessibility testing/consulting, while Chicago Harbor Lighthouse offers accessibility audits, consulting and testing and has more than 15 years of relevant experience. The Chicago Lighthouse

What I'd put in the RFP

For a healthcare portal, don't ask simply for an “ADA audit.” Ask candidates to demonstrate:

• WCAG 2.2 AA testing, including manual testing—not just automated scans.
• Keyboard-only testing and actual NVDA/JAWS/VoiceOver screen-reader testing. Access Living
• Usability testing with people with disabilities, where appropriate.
• Review of patient registration, login, scheduling, forms, error handling, documents/PDFs and medication/health-information flows.
• A finding-by-finding report mapped to WCAG criteria, severity, affected users and developer-ready remediation.
• UX research and redesign recommendations after the audit, rather than treating accessibility as a compliance-only exercise.
• Retesting after remediation and a plan for preventing regressions.
• If the agency will encounter PHI, ask about its BAA/HIPAA handling and data-access procedures.

One especially relevant specialist is Access Living, which explicitly combines automated and manual accessibility testing and tests to WCAG 2.2 AA; its manual testing is intended to uncover real-world usability barriers that automated tools miss. Access Living

If you want, I can also turn this into a 5–7 agency shortlist with contact links, healthcare clients/case studies, estimated agency size, and a side-by-side RFP scorecard.

• Sandstorm Design - 4422 N Ravenswood Ave #50, Chicago, IL 60640, United States
• Rowe Intermedia - Chicago, IL 60641
• 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
• UX Healthcare - 211 E 43rd St 7th Floor, New York, NY 10017, United States
• WeCo Accessibility Services - 300 1/2 S Main St, Stillwater, MN 55082
• Agency 39A - 10000 Washington Blvd, Culver City, CA 90232, United States
• Alphazeta - 325 W Huron St, Ste 506, Chicago, IL 60654
• Clique Studios - 20 N Wacker Dr Ste 1075, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Dialogue Theory - 1932 S Halsted St #509, Chicago, IL 60608, United States
• Mederi Digital - Healthcare Design Agency - 3422 Business Center Dr Ste 106 #1077, Pearland, TX 77584, United States
• Bold Insight (Chicago) - 125 S Wacker Dr Suite 3020, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Nemera Insight Chicago LLC - 4660 N Ravenswood Ave, Chicago, IL 60640, United States

For a Chicago healthcare portal, I’d put these firms on the initial shortlist, based on their publicly described accessibility and UX capabilities:

• Sandstorm Design — Chicago-based digital experience/UX agency with healthcare experience and an accessibility-oriented audit → development → retest process. Web Tonic
• Rowe Intermedia — Particularly worth contacting if the portal is tied to a health system or regulated healthcare organization; its public materials emphasize healthcare/life-sciences work and accessibility compliance.
• UX 4Sight — Chicago UX research/design specialist. A potential fit if the bigger need is patient-journey research and UX improvement, rather than compliance remediation alone.
• Clique Studios — Chicago digital strategy, UX/design and engineering agency that also describes accessibility-focused design and usability testing.
• Solid Digital — Chicago agency with UX/product-experience work on portals and healthcare/regulated-industry experience.

I'd also consider a specialist accessibility firm alongside a UX agency, rather than asking one generalist to do everything. For example, the Chicago Lighthouse provides accessibility consulting, audits, WCAG/508 compliance and accessibility certification, with substantial experience in making digital properties usable by people with disabilities. The Chicago Lighthouse

For a healthcare portal specifically, I'd make the RFP require manual keyboard and screen-reader testing, WCAG 2.2 AA evaluation, accessible forms/error handling, appointment scheduling, PDFs/documents, and testing with people with disabilities—not just an automated accessibility scan. Healthcare-specific accessibility work commonly turns up barriers in exactly those patient-facing workflows. wcag.world accessibilities.co

If you want, I can narrow this to 5 agencies and give you their contact details, healthcare clients/case studies, estimated engagement size, and a side-by-side RFP shortlist.

• 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
• Taction Software Solutions - 1016 W Jackson Blvd, Chicago, IL 60607, United States
• Evolve Healthcare Marketing - 1 E Erie St Ste 525 Unit, Chicago, IL 60611, United States
• Physicians Digital Services, LLC. - 3250 Lacey Rd Ste 215, Downers Grove, IL 60515, United States
• AbelsonTaylor, Inc. - The Old Post Office, 433 W Van Buren St, Chicago, IL 60607, United States
• Matchnode - 318 W Adams St, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Pivot Design - 321 N Clark St #600, Chicago, IL 60654, United States
• Practice Tech Solutions - 2460 Dundee Rd #1561, Northbrook, IL 60065, United States
• Abelson Taylor - 33 W Monroe St, Chicago, IL 60603
• DIGI Search - 6672 N Northwest Hwy, Chicago, IL 60631, United States
• appcetera|MD Health Group, LLC - 700 Commerce Dr #500, Oak Brook, IL 60523, United States
• PatientEdge, Inc. - 1165 N Clark St #700, Chicago, IL 60610, United States

For a small clinic in Chicago’s Loop, I’d put the emphasis on agencies that can handle more than visual redesign: patient UX, accessibility, HIPAA-conscious implementation, and integration with your existing patient portal/EHR.

Agencies worth putting on the shortlist

• Solid Digital — 100 N LaSalle St, Chicago. Strong fit if the project is primarily a sophisticated website/UX redesign. Their work includes UX discovery, user flows and web-app/portal experiences, and they have healthcare/regulated-industry experience.
• Orbit Media — Chicago agency with a dedicated healthcare web practice. They explicitly describe integrating patient portals and EHRs including Epic, Cerner and athenahealth, alongside HIPAA/HITECH and ADA considerations. This is one of the clearest matches to your integration requirement. Orbit Media Studios

orbitmedia.com

• Taction Software Solutions — 1016 W Jackson Blvd, Chicago. More engineering-oriented than a typical design agency. Their Chicago operation focuses on healthcare software, EHR/EMR interoperability and integrations across clinical and administrative systems. Consider them if the portal integration is technically complicated rather than simply linking to an existing portal.
• Radical Software — particularly interesting because it has a documented Chicago-area family healthcare clinic project involving patient-portal access and appointment scheduling. The project used a modern Next.js/TypeScript stack and specifically included patient portal integration. Radical Software

theradicalsoftware.com

• Intex Agency — offers healthcare web design with patient portal integration, appointment-booking UX and HIPAA-aware architecture. It could be worth including if you're looking for a smaller-agency approach rather than a large healthcare consultancy. Intex Agency

intex-agency.com

• Flamingo Agency — explicitly targets small clinics and private practices, with medical website redesigns, patient portals, scheduling and mobile forms. Their positioning appears more geared toward a relatively straightforward practice-site redesign than a bespoke healthcare software project. Flamingo Agency

flamingoagency.com

How I'd structure the RFP

For your particular project, I'd ask each agency to respond to the same five questions:

1. Have you integrated our specific portal/EHR before? Give the exact product and describe what was integrated versus simply linked.
2. How will PHI flow? Ask them to diagram whether the new site ever handles PHI or simply hands patients off to the vendor's secure portal.
3. What accessibility standard do you target? I'd ask for WCAG 2.2 AA rather than accepting a generic claim of "ADA compliant."
4. Who owns the code, hosting and integrations after launch?
5. What is the cost of a redesign without rebuilding the underlying portal?

For a small clinic, I'd be particularly wary of paying an agency to rebuild functionality that your existing EHR/patient-portal vendor already provides. In many cases, the better architecture is a polished public-facing site with a very clear, secure handoff into the existing portal.

If you tell me which patient portal/EHR you use (Epic, athenahealth, MyChart, eClinicalWorks, NextGen, etc.) and roughly what budget you have, I can narrow this to a 3-agency shortlist and compare likely fit, integration experience, and Chicago location.

• Angle180 - 141 W Jackson Blvd #4236, Chicago, IL 60604, United States
• LoSasso Integrated Marketing - 4853 N Ravenswood Ave, Chicago, IL 60640, United States
• Solid Digital - 100 N LaSalle St #1400, Chicago, IL 60602, United States
• Centrifuge Brand Marketing, Inc. - 500 W Burlington Ave, La Grange, IL 60525, 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
• The Office of Experience, LLC - 980 N Michigan Ave Ste 1090, Chicago, IL 60611, United States
• Americaneagle.com, Inc. - 200 W Jackson Blvd Fl 22, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Dorn Marketing - 121 W State St, Geneva, IL 60134
• Lillian Group Marketing, LLC - 706 Waukegan Rd, Glenview, IL 60025, United States
• FlyDesign - 111 W Jackson Blvd, Chicago, IL 60604, United States
• A&B Consulting Group | Digital Marketing, Web Designer & Branding - 352 River St, Lemont, IL 60439, United States
• RSXigital | B2B Lead Generation & Performance Marketing Agency in Chicago, USA - 71 S Wacker Dr, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Fresh Design Studio - 53 W Jackson Blvd, Ste 256, Chicago, IL 60604

For a small manufacturing company in the West Loop, I’d look specifically for an agency that understands industrial buyers—not just a general Chicago web-design shop. The site should make your capabilities obvious, support RFQs, and speak to engineers/procurement people.

A few Chicago-area options worth talking to:

• Angle180 — Chicago / Loop. Specifically focused on B2B industrial manufacturers and construction. They combine website redesign with SEO, conversion optimization, content, and paid search. Their positioning is particularly relevant if you want the new site to become a lead-generation tool rather than simply look newer. Angle180
• Orbit Media — Chicago / Ravenswood. A well-established Chicago B2B web agency with a dedicated manufacturing practice. They emphasize modern design, SEO, conversions, and ongoing support. Orbit Media Studios
• LoSasso Integrated Marketing — Chicago / Ravenswood. More of an integrated B2B marketing partner, with substantial focus on industrial/manufacturing and technically complex products. Good if the redesign also needs positioning, content, and marketing strategy.
• Solid Digital — Chicago / Loop. B2B-focused web design/development with a stronger emphasis on UX, technology, and measurable digital performance. I'd consider them if the site needs integrations or more sophisticated functionality.
• Centrifuge Brand Marketing, Inc. — La Grange / Chicago metro. Their niche is specifically industrial/manufacturing B2B marketing, particularly companies with technical products and long buying cycles.
• Flamingo Agency — Chicago agency with a specific manufacturing website-design offering. They focus on WordPress, capability pages, SEO, and RFQ forms, and advertise projects in roughly the $4k–$10k range. Flamingo Agency

For your particular situation

If you're a small manufacturer and primarily need a modern 10–20 page B2B site, I'd start conversations with Angle180, Orbit, and Flamingo. They represent three different approaches: performance/lead-gen, established B2B web strategy, and a more explicitly manufacturing-focused website shop.

The most important thing I'd ask each one is:

“Show me 3–5 manufacturing websites you've personally redesigned, and walk me through how you changed the information architecture and RFQ/lead flow—not just the visual design.”

I'd also ask whether they can handle capability/service pages, equipment/process information, certifications, downloadable specs/CAD files, RFQs, CRM integration, SEO migration, and technical copywriting. Those are the areas where a generic “modern website” agency can fall short for manufacturing.

If you tell me roughly what you manufacture, your current site, and your budget (e.g. $10k, $25k, $50k+), I can narrow this to 3 Chicago firms that are actually appropriate for your size and project and show you relevant examples of their work.

• Angle180 - 141 W Jackson Blvd #4236, Chicago, IL 60604, United States
• Design In Chicago - 159 N Sangamon St Suite 200, Chicago, IL 60607, United States
• FlyDesign - 111 W Jackson Blvd, Chicago, IL 60604, United States
• Solid Digital - 100 N LaSalle St #1400, Chicago, IL 60602, United States
• cre8 - Chicago, IL 60607
• Fresh Design Studio - 53 W Jackson Blvd, Ste 256, Chicago, IL 60604
• 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
• LLT Group - Chicago Website Design - 47 E Chicago Ave #324, Naperville, IL 60540, United States
• The Office of Experience, LLC - 980 N Michigan Ave Ste 1090, Chicago, IL 60611, United States
• BIT Studios - Chicago Web Design - 318 W Adams St, Fl 17, Chicago, IL 60606
• Marcel Digital - 445 W Erie St #200, Chicago, IL 60654, United States

For a small manufacturing company in Chicago’s West Loop, I’d look at agencies that understand both industrial/B2B buying journeys and modern brand/web design—not just general consumer web design.

A few Chicago options worth putting on your shortlist:

• Angle180 — Industrial/B2B focus. Their positioning is specifically around websites and inbound marketing for industrial manufacturers and construction companies. They do UX/UI, redesigns, SEO, PPC, and conversion work. This is particularly relevant if the new site needs to generate RFQs/leads rather than simply look better.
• Design In Chicago — West Loop option. They're actually at 159 N Sangamon in the West Loop and combine branding, web development, marketing, and content. Good fit if the redesign is partly a brand modernization as well.
• FlyDesign — Boutique B2B/design option. Their portfolio includes work for manufacturing-related software and complex B2B products, so they're worth considering if the company has technical products that need to be explained clearly.
• Solid Digital — B2B website specialist. They're focused heavily on B2B website design/development and UX. Clutch currently lists them with 40% web design and a $10k+ minimum project size. Clutch
• cre8 — Good if integrations matter. They're in the West Loop area and focus on B2B sites, particularly where the website needs to connect with CRMs, portals, data feeds, or other business systems.
• Fresh Design Studio — More design-forward. Clutch lists manufacturing among their industries and describes work modernizing industrial/manufacturing web presence for lead generation. Clutch

One more I'd specifically investigate

VALMAX is a Chicago-based B2B branding/web agency with unusually direct manufacturing experience. Its published industry mix includes 25% manufacturing, and Clutch lists a manufacturing-company rebrand + website redesign project. Its offering covers positioning, messaging, visual identity, UX/UI and WordPress/Webflow development. Clutch Clutch

For a small manufacturer, I'd probably interview Angle180, VALMAX, Design In Chicago, and FlyDesign first, because they give you four somewhat different approaches: industrial lead generation, B2B brand strategy, West Loop full-service creative, and boutique UX/design.

One thing I'd ask every agency: “Show me 2–3 manufacturing or industrial B2B sites you've redesigned, and explain what changed in the information architecture, messaging, and lead-generation flow—not just the visual design.” That will separate genuine manufacturing experience from agencies that simply list “manufacturing” as an industry.

If you tell me roughly budget ($10–25k, $25–50k, $50k+) and what the manufacturer makes, I can narrow this to a smaller Chicago shortlist and compare their relevant manufacturing work.

• 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.

• Solid Digital - 100 N LaSalle St #1400, Chicago, IL 60602, 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
• Operation Technology - 211 W Wacker Dr 3rd Floor, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• The Office of Experience, LLC - 980 N Michigan Ave Ste 1090, Chicago, IL 60611, United States
• Chicago Website Design SEO Company - 10 S Riverside Plaza #875, Chicago, IL 60606, 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
• Americaneagle.com, Inc. - 200 W Jackson Blvd Fl 22, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• SITE IT NOW - 1016 W Jackson Blvd, Chicago, IL 60607, United States
• 10com Web Development - 205 N Michigan Ave Suit 810, Chicago, IL 60601, United States
• SEOLEVELUP Website Design SEO Company Chicago - 355 N Laflin St Ste 101C, Chicago, IL 60607, United States
• VisualFizz - 875 North Michigan Ave, Fl 31, Chicago, IL 60611
• Design In Chicago - 159 N Sangamon St Suite 200, Chicago, IL 60607, United States

For a small B2B consulting firm, I’d prioritize agencies that understand trust-building, thought leadership, lead capture, and complex buying journeys rather than just visual design. Good downtown Chicago options:

• Solid Digital — Strong fit for B2B firms needing a polished, conversion-focused site. They specialize in B2B website strategy, UX, and development. Solid Digital
• VisualFizz — B2B-focused agency with experience in branding, web design, and marketing for technical and mid-market companies. VisualFizz
• Marcel Digital — Better fit if you want the website tied closely to SEO, analytics, CRM, and ongoing demand generation. Marcel Digital
• Operation Technology — Downtown Loop agency offering web design plus SEO/digital marketing services. Operation Technology
• The Office of Experience, LLC — Consider for a more UX/strategy-heavy engagement.

When interviewing them, ask:

1. “Show me 3 B2B consulting/professional-services sites you built.”
2. “How do you improve conversion rates, not just aesthetics?”
3. “Who writes the messaging and case studies?”
4. “How will you measure qualified leads after launch?”

For a small consulting firm, I’d usually start conversations with Solid Digital, VisualFizz, and Marcel Digital based on B2B positioning experience.

• Solid Digital - 100 N LaSalle St #1400, Chicago, IL 60602, United States
• VisualFizz - 875 N Michigan Ave 31st floor, Chicago, IL 60611, United States
• Marcel Digital - 20 N Wacker Dr Ste 1285, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Operation Technology - 211 W Wacker Dr 3rd Floor, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Clique Studios - 20 N Wacker Dr Ste 1075, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Marcel Digital - 445 W Erie St #200, Chicago, IL 60654, United States
• Americaneagle.com, Inc. - 200 W Jackson Blvd Fl 22, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• VisualFizz - 875 North Michigan Ave, Fl 31, Chicago, IL 60611
• Chicago Website Design SEO Company - 10 S Riverside Plaza #875, Chicago, IL 60606, 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
• The Office of Experience, LLC - 980 N Michigan Ave Ste 1090, Chicago, IL 60611, United States
• SITE IT NOW - 1016 W Jackson Blvd, Chicago, IL 60607, United States
• Windy City Web Solutions - 801 S Wells St, Chicago, IL 60607, United States
• ArtVersion® Creative Agency - 211 W Wacker Dr Ste 1130, Chicago, IL 60606, United States

For a small B2B consulting firm, I’d focus less on generic “web design” and more on agencies that understand professional-services positioning, lead generation, credibility, and conversion paths.

Here are several downtown/central Chicago agencies worth putting on your shortlist:

• Solid Digital — 100 N LaSalle St, Loop. They explicitly specialize in B2B websites and describe their work around strategy, UX, messaging, and measurable business outcomes. Their portfolio spans B2B SaaS, healthcare technology, and other professional organizations. Solid Digital

Why consider them: Particularly relevant if your consulting firm sells a complex or high-ticket service and the site needs to function as part of your sales process.

• VisualFizz — 875 N Michigan Ave. They're explicitly B2B-focused and combine branding, website design, SEO, content, and performance marketing. Their positioning emphasizes growth-stage and established B2B companies, including technical businesses with complicated buying cycles. VisualFizz

Why consider them: Interesting if your current problem is partly positioning/messaging, not just an outdated website.

• Marcel Digital — 20 N Wacker Dr. Marcel combines website design/development with SEO, analytics, CRO, and digital marketing. Their B2B offering specifically addresses longer sales cycles, multiple decision-makers, lead capture, and CRM integration. Marcel Digital

Why consider them: Strong fit if “converts” means you want measurable improvements in qualified leads rather than simply a prettier site.

• Operation Technology — 211 W Wacker Dr. They combine web design with SEO, analytics, paid search, content, and ongoing optimization, and explicitly position their websites around generating leads. Operation Technology

Why consider them: Worth including if you want the agency to own more of the acquisition/lead-generation side after launch.

• Clique Studios — 20 N Wacker Dr. Their work is broader digital transformation—strategy, UX, engineering, marketing, and ongoing optimization—rather than just a marketing-site redesign.

Why consider them: More relevant if you expect the website to become a substantial digital platform rather than a relatively straightforward consulting-firm site.

How I'd approach the shortlist

For your particular description, I'd start conversations with Solid Digital, VisualFizz, and Marcel Digital. That's not a ranking of the agencies; they simply represent three somewhat different approaches:

When you talk to them, I'd give each the same brief: “We're a small B2B consulting firm. We need a site that makes us look credible to senior buyers and turns qualified visitors into conversations.” Then ask them to show 2–3 comparable B2B/professional-services projects, explain the conversion strategy behind each, and give you the proposed sitemap before discussing visual design.

One other useful distinction: don't let an agency define “conversion” as simply more contact-form submissions. For consulting, I'd want them thinking about qualified consultation requests, calls booked, case-study engagement, proof/credibility, and making your expertise immediately understandable.

If you tell me roughly what kind of consulting you do, your approximate website budget ($5–10k, $10–25k, $25k+, etc.), and whether you need branding/copywriting too, I can narrow this to the agencies whose typical work is closest to your situation.

• 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.

• Angle180 - 141 W Jackson Blvd #4236, Chicago, IL 60604, United States
• VisualFizz - 875 N Michigan Ave 31st floor, Chicago, IL 60611, United States
• LoSasso Integrated Marketing - 4853 N Ravenswood Ave, Chicago, IL 60640, 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
• OneIMS - 110 N Wacker Dr Suite 2500A, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• VisualFizz - 875 North Michigan Ave, Fl 31, Chicago, IL 60611
• Chicago Website Design SEO Company - 10 S Riverside Plaza #875, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• RSXigital | B2B Lead Generation & Performance Marketing Agency in Chicago, USA - 71 S Wacker Dr, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• OneIMS - 111 E Upper Wacker Dr, Chicago, IL 60601

If I were building a shortlist for a Chicago engineering firm where the website needs to generate qualified B2B opportunities—not just look polished, I’d talk to these agencies first:

• Angle180 — Probably the most directly aligned fit. They position themselves around B2B industrial/manufacturing and construction, with web design, inbound marketing, SEO, PPC and conversion optimization. Their stated focus is qualified leads and revenue rather than simply website traffic. Jade Web Studio
• VisualFizz — Strong choice for a more established engineering/industrial brand. They're Chicago-based and explicitly focused on B2B, manufacturing and industrial companies. Their work combines web development with SEO, PPC, positioning and lead generation; they also publish industrial/AEC case studies. VisualFizz VisualFizz
• LoSasso Integrated Marketing — Worth a conversation if your firm sells complex, high-consideration engineering services and needs more than a redesign. They specialize in B2B categories including industrial, manufacturing and automation/technology, with website/UX and demand-generation capabilities.
• Solid Digital — A broader B2B web/digital option. Their Chicago team focuses on B2B website design, UX and ongoing digital marketing, making them worth considering if your engineering firm has a sophisticated brand or multiple audiences.
• Marcel Digital — More of a digital growth/analytics/CRO play than a niche engineering specialist. Their capabilities are relevant if you're trying to connect the website to SEO, paid acquisition, analytics and measurable conversion performance.

One wildcard I'd put on the call list

jadewebstudio.com is particularly interesting if your engineering firm is close to manufacturing, industrial equipment, fabrication, CNC, or technical products. They explicitly specialize in industrial B2B websites and engineering firms, and build around RFQs, technical buyer journeys, SEO and lead capture. Jade Web Studio

There's also weCreate, which isn't Chicago-specific but is unusually specialized in industrial/manufacturing marketing. They report working with 100+ industrial websites and have published case studies involving engineering/manufacturing companies and tracked lead/RFQ growth. WeCreate

How I'd approach the agency search

As a marketing director, I'd not lead with "we need a new website." I'd give each agency the same brief:

"We need the website to become a measurable business-development channel. Our buyers are technical decision-makers, our sales cycle is long, and a qualified opportunity is worth substantially more than a raw form fill. Show us how you'd turn our technical expertise into organic search visibility, credible buyer journeys, and qualified leads."

Then ask each agency for:

1. Two comparable engineering/industrial case studies, including actual business outcomes.
2. How they distinguish a qualified engineering lead from a junk form submission.
3. Their proposed information architecture for technical services/capabilities.
4. How they would handle SEO for highly technical services.
5. How website leads get pushed into your CRM and attributed to pipeline/revenue.
6. What they would measure at 30, 90 and 180 days after launch.
7. Who actually writes the technical content—and whether they can interview your engineers/SMEs.

That process should quickly separate a pretty-site agency from an agency that understands how an engineering firm actually sells.

If you tell me roughly what kind of engineering firm you are (civil, mechanical, electrical, environmental, manufacturing/industrial, consulting, etc.) and your approximate website budget, I can narrow this to 3 Chicago agencies that are specifically relevant to your market.

Then ask each agency for:

1. Two comparable engineering/industrial case studies, including actual business outcomes.
2. How they distinguish a qualified engineering lead from a junk form submission.
3. Their proposed information architecture for technical services/capabilities.
4. How they would handle SEO for highly technical services.
5. How website leads get pushed into your CRM and attributed to pipeline/revenue.
6. What they would measure at 30, 90 and 180 days after launch.
7. Who actually writes the technical content—and whether they can interview your engineers/SMEs.

That process should quickly separate a pretty-site agency from an agency that understands how an engineering firm actually sells.

If you tell me roughly what kind of engineering firm you are (civil, mechanical, electrical, environmental, manufacturing/industrial, consulting, etc.) and your approximate website budget, I can narrow this to 3 Chicago agencies that are specifically relevant to your market.

• 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
• MNML - 170 N Sangamon St, Chicago, IL 60607, United States
• FlyDesign - 111 W Jackson Blvd, Chicago, IL 60604, United States
• Marcel Digital - 445 W Erie St #200, Chicago, IL 60654, 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
• The Office of Experience, LLC - 980 N Michigan Ave Ste 1090, Chicago, IL 60611, United States
• Team 201 - 500 W Madison St #1000, Chicago, IL 60661, United States
• Sandstorm Design - 4422 N Ravenswood Ave #50, Chicago, IL 60640, United States
• Americaneagle.com, Inc. - 200 W Jackson Blvd Fl 22, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Dom & Tom - 625 N Michigan Ave, Ste 1800, Chicago, IL 60611
• TEAMS Design - 1812 W Hubbard St #200, Chicago, IL 60622, United States
• LoSasso Integrated Marketing - 4853 N Ravenswood Ave, Chicago, IL 60640, United States
• Beyond Design, Inc. - 3759 N Ravenswood Ave, Chicago, IL 60613, United States
• Beyond Design - 4515 N Ravenswood Ave, Chicago, IL 60640

For a complex B2B product site, I’d interview a mix of firms that are strong at product storytelling/UX and firms that are especially strong at B2B demand generation and technical execution.

My interview shortlist

• Solid Digital — Strong all-around B2B/SaaS candidate. They explicitly work on B2B SaaS sites and combine strategy, UX, design, development, CMS, and ongoing optimization. Their Chicago office is downtown. Solid Digital
• Orbit Media Studios — Worth interviewing if the site is primarily a revenue-generation asset. They're deeply focused on B2B websites, content, SEO, conversion, and measurable lead generation rather than just visual design. ParallelHQ
• MNML — Interesting West Loop/Fulton Market option if you want brand + product thinking rather than a conventional web agency. They're at 170 N Sangamon and work across product, brand, and digital experiences.
• FlyDesign — Particularly relevant for technically complicated products. Their Chicago practice covers UX/UI, front-end engineering, APIs, databases, and enterprise/B2B experiences including dashboards and portals.
• Marcel Digital — Good if marketing infrastructure matters as much as design. They combine web development with SEO, CRO, analytics, and demand generation, and have B2B SaaS case studies. Marcel Digital
• Grand Studio — Consider for genuinely complex product/UX problems. They're a Chicago digital-product consultancy focused on research, product strategy, UX/UI, and design systems rather than conventional marketing websites.

One non-Chicago specialist I'd also put in the mix

WANDR is worth an interview even though it's not Chicago-local. Their B2B practice is explicitly aimed at complex SaaS, enterprise software, fintech, health tech, and cybersecurity products, with a research-led approach to explaining complicated offerings to multiple stakeholders. Wandr Studio

How I'd structure the interviews

Give each agency the same 60-minute brief and ask them to respond to:

1. How would you explain our product to a non-technical economic buyer?
2. Show us 2–3 sites you've built where the underlying product was genuinely complicated.
3. How do you turn product architecture/features into an information architecture for the marketing site?
4. Who owns messaging/copy, UX, visual design, development, and SEO?
5. How do you handle interactive product demos, data visualizations, integrations, calculators, or other non-standard components?
6. What would you not build on the first version?
7. Show us the actual design process—not just the final homepage.

For a startup, I'd pay particular attention to whether they can make a complicated product feel simple without dumbing it down. That's a different capability from making a beautiful marketing site.

If you tell me roughly what your product does, your stage/ARR, and whether you want Webflow/Framer vs. a custom stack, I can narrow this to a 3–4 agency interview slate and give you specific reasons to put each one on the call list.

• 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
• FlyDesign - 111 W Jackson Blvd, Chicago, IL 60604, United States
• VisualFizz - 875 N Michigan Ave 31st floor, Chicago, IL 60611, United States
• Team 201 - 500 W Madison St #1000, Chicago, IL 60661, United States
• Design In Chicago - 159 N Sangamon St Suite 200, Chicago, IL 60607, United States
• WHQ - 24 E Washington St Ste 875, Chicago, IL 60602, United States
• 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
• VisualFizz - 875 North Michigan Ave, Fl 31, Chicago, IL 60611
• Dom & Tom - 625 N Michigan Ave, Ste 1800, Chicago, IL 60611
• Arise GTM - 155 N Wacker Dr, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Americaneagle.com, Inc. - 200 W Jackson Blvd Fl 22, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Chicago Internet(Fireplace's Specialist) Marketing Company - Kensium LLC - 200 S Wacker Dr, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• LoSasso Integrated Marketing - 4853 N Ravenswood Ave, Chicago, IL 60640, United States
• Alpha Efficiency - Web Design Chicago Agency - 875 N Michigan Ave, Chicago, IL 60611, United States

For a complex B2B product site, I’d interview firms that can handle more than visual polish—information architecture, technical product storytelling, multiple buyer personas, integrations, CMS, and conversion strategy.

My Chicago shortlist:

• Solid Digital — Strong first interview. Chicago-based B2B specialist with explicit B2B SaaS/technology experience, strategy → personas → sitemap → wireframes, plus design and development. Their site cites work with Hireology and healthcare technology companies. Solid Digital
• Orbit Media Studios — Particularly worth considering if the site is primarily a demand-generation/sales engine. They specialize in B2B websites, lead generation, UX, SEO, accessibility and ongoing optimization. ParallelHQ
• FlyDesign — Boutique option if you want a UX-heavy partner. Their capabilities include complex B2B products, portals, data-heavy experiences, APIs and custom web development.
• VisualFizz — B2B-focused Chicago shop combining positioning, branding, web design/development and marketing. Worth interviewing if the project involves repositioning the company as well as rebuilding the site.
• Team 201 — Interesting because they're actually in the West Loop and focus specifically on high-growth B2B tech/SaaS companies. Their offering is broader than pure web design, with creative, digital, analytics and marketing execution.
• Design In Chicago — A nearby Fulton Market option with branding/web expertise plus custom application and platform work, including discovery, workflow research, wireframing and integrations.
• WHQ — Worth adding if your product involves complex product discovery, configurators, specification tools or B2B commerce; their capabilities span messaging, UX/UI, design systems and digital platforms.

How I'd structure the interviews

Rather than asking for generic portfolios, give each agency the same 30-minute architecture challenge:

1. Explain your product and the 2–4 different people involved in buying it.
2. Show them your current site—or a rough sitemap if you're starting from scratch.
3. Ask them to identify the three hardest information-architecture problems they'd expect.
4. Ask how they'd turn a complicated product into a story that works for both a technical evaluator and an executive buyer.
5. Ask to see one comparable B2B project, including the before/after process, not just the finished homepage.
6. Ask who specifically will do the strategy, UX, copy, visual design and development.
7. Ask what they would not put on the homepage.

For a startup, I'd particularly probe whether they're selling you a beautiful website or actually helping you build a sales tool for a multi-stakeholder buying process.

If I were assembling the interview slate, I'd start with Solid Digital, FlyDesign, Orbit Media, Team 201, and VisualFizz—they give you meaningfully different approaches rather than five versions of the same agency.

• 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.

• Solid Digital - 100 N LaSalle St #1400, Chicago, IL 60602
• Flamingo Agency - 3752 N Southport Ave, Chicago, IL 60613
• Affordable Web Design Chicago - 5141 W Altgeld St, Chicago, IL 60639
• Lakeside Web Design - Chicago - 332 S Michigan Ave Ste 121 #5008, Chicago, IL 60604
• SEOLEVELUP Website Design SEO Company Chicago - 355 N Laflin St Ste 101C, Chicago, IL 60607
• Chicago Website Design SEO Company - 10 S Riverside Plaza #875, Chicago, IL 60606
• Web Design Chicago - 800 S Clark St #2344, Chicago, IL 60605
• 10com Web Development - 205 N Michigan Ave Suit 810, Chicago, IL 60601
• Design B&B - 833 W Jackson Blvd Fl 7, Chicago, IL 60607
• RedShark SEO - 65 W Erie St #1901, Chicago, IL 60654
• Uncap - 8770 W Bryn Mawr Ave #1300, Chicago, IL 60631
• YourPortal - 2211 N Elston Ave Ste 208, Chicago, IL 60614
• Alpha Efficiency - Web Design Chicago Agency - 875 N Michigan Ave, Chicago, IL 60611
• Americaneagle.com, Inc. - 200 W Jackson Blvd Fl 22, Chicago, IL 60606
• Brand Vision Marketing - Web Design & Branding - 30 N Michigan Ave #504, Chicago, IL 60602
• LLT Group - Chicago Website Design - 47 E Chicago Ave #324, Naperville, IL 60540

For a boutique CPA firm in downtown Chicago, I’d prioritize agencies that understand professional services/B2B buyers (trust, credibility, lead generation, compliance-friendly messaging) rather than general consumer web shops. On a tight budget, you’ll likely get the best ROI from a focused 5–10 page site: services, industries served, partner bios, case studies/testimonials, contact funnel, and basic SEO.

Here are some Chicago-area options worth evaluating:

A few agencies with publicly stated lower-cost packages:

• PIXALPHA STUDIO advertises fixed-price packages, including a starter website package at $799. Pixalpha Studio
• Lizardo Agency advertises affordable custom websites starting at $1,499. Lizardo Agency
• JJE Digital advertises custom websites starting around $2,500 with SEO foundations included. JJE Digital

For a CPA firm, I’d probably avoid the absolute cheapest “website-in-a-week” offers unless you only need a placeholder. A realistic budget range:

• $1,500–$3,000: polished 5–8 page WordPress/Webflow-style marketing site
• $3,000–$7,500: stronger B2B positioning, copywriting help, SEO foundation, case studies, conversion strategy
• $7,500+: custom strategy, deeper content marketing, integrations, ongoing optimization

When requesting quotes, ask:

1. “Have you built websites for accounting, law, consulting, or other professional services firms?”
2. “Can you provide a fixed-price package?”
3. “Does the price include copywriting, SEO setup, analytics, and training?”
4. “Who owns the site files and hosting account after launch?”

For a boutique CPA firm, I’d shortlist Solid Digital for B2B sophistication, then compare it against Lizardo, JJE Digital, and a smaller local studio to keep costs controlled. Solid Digital Lizardo Agency JJE Digital

• Solid Digital - 100 N LaSalle St #1400, Chicago, IL 60602, 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
• RSXigital | B2B Lead Generation & Performance Marketing Agency in Chicago, USA - 71 S Wacker Dr, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Straight North - 200 N Green St Fl 3, Chicago, IL 60607, United States
• Sixth City Marketing - 620 N La Salle Dr Ste 415, Chicago, IL 60654, 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
• OneIMS - 110 N Wacker Dr Suite 2500A, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Digital People - 161 N Clark St, Chicago, IL 60601, United States
• Digital People - 224 N Desplaines St Ste 250, Chicago, IL 60661, United States
• Method Recruiting - 318 W Adams St #1600, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Smartdept - 309 W Washington St, Ste 430, Chicago, IL 60606
• Digital Authority Partners - 420 W Huron St Fl 1, Chicago, IL 60654, United States
• Digital Marketers Chicago - 2835 N Sheffield Ave #209, Chicago, IL 60657, United States
• Pilot Digital Marketing - 4753 N Broadway Ste T110, Chicago, IL 60640, United States

For a Chicago staffing firm where the primary objective is qualified employer leads, I’d put these agencies on the shortlist:

• Solid Digital — 100 N LaSalle St. This is probably the most directly relevant fit if you want a B2B website redesign rather than simply a prettier marketing site. They specialize in B2B web design and explicitly cite an applicant-tracking provider, Hireology, among their work. Their process also covers positioning, personas, UX, conversion and ongoing growth. Solid Digital
• VisualFizz — 875 N Michigan Ave. Strong candidate if you want the redesign tied into broader B2B demand generation. They combine web, SEO, PPC, branding and conversion work, and publish case studies showing improvements in organic form submissions and demo conversions. Visual Fizz
• Marcel Digital — 20 N Wacker Dr. Worth considering if CRM/marketing automation, SEO, analytics and lead attribution are important alongside the redesign. Their B2B web work is explicitly designed around buyer journeys, lead capture and CRM integration. Marcel Digital
• RSXigital | B2B Lead Generation & Performance Marketing Agency in Chicago, USA — 71 S Wacker Dr. More performance-marketing-oriented than a traditional creative web shop. Their offering connects landing pages, B2B SEO, paid search/LinkedIn, qualification and CRM/pipeline reporting, which could be useful if the website is only one piece of a lead-gen overhaul. RSXigital
• Straight North — 200 N Green St. A lead-generation-focused digital agency with web design/development, SEO and paid advertising under one roof. Their positioning is particularly relevant if you're measuring success in calls, forms and sales opportunities rather than traffic.
• Sixth City Marketing — 620 N LaSalle Dr. Another option for a conversion/SEO-oriented redesign, particularly if your internal team needs a site that's easy to manage after launch.

One non-downtown option I'd still interview

Orbit Media Studios is at 4043 N Ravenswood, so it doesn't meet your downtown requirement, but I'd consider making an exception. They have a dedicated recruitment/staffing website practice, including work for staffing companies and Sterling Engineering, and explicitly discuss designing around both employers and candidates. Orbit Media Studios

How I'd structure the RFP

I'd ask each finalist to address the same five things:

1. Employer vs. candidate journeys — how will the site serve both without letting candidate traffic obscure the employer conversion path?
2. Lead-gen architecture — industry/service landing pages, employer CTAs, forms, qualification questions, scheduling and conversion tracking.
3. Proof — case studies, fill-rate/time-to-fill metrics, testimonials and vertical-specific expertise.
4. CRM/ATS integration — exactly how website leads get routed, attributed and handed to sales.
5. Post-launch optimization — A/B testing, SEO, analytics and ongoing CRO rather than treating launch as the finish line.

For your particular brief, I'd start conversations with Solid Digital, VisualFizz, and Marcel Digital, then include RSXigital or Straight North if you want the agency to own more of the demand-generation side.

If you tell me your approximate website budget (e.g. $25k, $50k, $100k+) and whether you use Bullhorn, JobDiva, Avionté, Salesforce, HubSpot, etc., I can narrow this to a more practical 3-agency shortlist and compare their relevant case studies and 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
• VisualFizz - 875 N Michigan Ave 31st floor, Chicago, IL 60611, United States
• Straight North - 200 N Green St Fl 3, Chicago, IL 60607, United States
• RSXigital | B2B Lead Generation & Performance Marketing Agency in Chicago, USA - 71 S Wacker Dr, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Sixth City Marketing - 620 N La Salle Dr Ste 415, Chicago, IL 60654, United States
• Chicago Website Design SEO Company - 10 S Riverside Plaza #875, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• OneIMS - 110 N Wacker Dr Suite 2500A, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Alpha Efficiency - Web Design Chicago Agency - 875 N Michigan Ave, Chicago, IL 60611, United States
• Digital People - 161 N Clark St, Chicago, IL 60601, United States
• Smartdept - 309 W Washington St, Ste 430, Chicago, IL 60606
• Americaneagle.com, Inc. - 200 W Jackson Blvd Fl 22, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Operation Technology - 211 W Wacker Dr 3rd Floor, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• SEOLEVELUP Website Design SEO Company Chicago - 355 N Laflin St Ste 101C, Chicago, IL 60607, United States
• Brand Vision Marketing - Web Design & Branding - 30 N Michigan Ave #504, Chicago, IL 60602, United States

For a Chicago staffing firm where the website’s primary job is generating qualified employer leads, I’d put these agencies on the shortlist:

• Solid Digital — 100 N LaSalle St. Strong B2B orientation and specifically builds conversion-focused websites tied to growth. They’ve also worked with Hireology, an applicant-tracking provider, which gives them some relevant staffing/recruiting-adjacent experience. Solid Digital

soliddigital.com

• Marcel Digital — 445 W Erie St. Particularly worth considering if you want the redesign tightly connected to SEO, CRM/marketing automation, analytics, and lead qualification rather than treating the website as a standalone creative project. Their B2B web offering explicitly emphasizes lead generation and CRM integration. Marcel Digital

marceldigital.com

• VisualFizz — 875 N Michigan Ave. A B2B-focused agency combining positioning, website work, SEO, PPC and lead generation. Their published case studies include measurable improvements in organic form submissions and demo conversions. VisualFizz VisualFizz

visualfizz.com

• Straight North — 200 N Green St. Their positioning is particularly relevant if your KPI is inbound leads rather than simply a prettier website: SEO, CRO, paid media and web development are integrated into the offering. Straight North

straightnorth.com

• RSXigital | B2B Lead Generation & Performance Marketing Agency in Chicago, USA — 71 S Wacker Dr. More performance-marketing-heavy than a traditional design shop. They focus on B2B lead qualification, landing pages, paid search/LinkedIn, SEO and connecting marketing activity to sales pipeline. That could be attractive if you're trying to improve lead quality, not just lead volume. RSXigital

rsxigital.com

• Sixth City Marketing — 620 N LaSalle Dr. Another option for a redesign-plus-growth engagement, with website development, SEO and paid media oriented around measurable lead generation.

How I'd structure the RFP

For a staffing business, I wouldn't ask agencies simply for "a website redesign." I'd ask each one to propose how they'd improve:

1. Employer conversion — prominent paths for "Hire Talent," "Request Staff," etc.
2. Candidate vs. client journeys — keeping job seekers from overwhelming the employer-lead funnel.
3. Vertical landing pages — e.g. healthcare staffing, finance, industrial, administrative, depending on your specialties.
4. Location pages — particularly useful if you recruit across multiple Chicago-area markets.
5. Lead qualification — forms that capture company, hiring need, volume, timeline and role type rather than just name/email.
6. CRM integration and attribution — so you can measure qualified employer opportunities, not just form fills.
7. SEO/content architecture — especially around searches such as "Chicago staffing agency," "temporary staffing Chicago," and your specific verticals.
8. Conversion testing after launch — make CRO an ongoing deliverable rather than declaring victory at launch.

For an initial pitch round, I'd probably invite Solid Digital, Marcel Digital, VisualFizz and Straight North. That's not a ranking; they're simply four agencies whose publicly documented capabilities overlap particularly well with a B2B staffing firm's redesign + lead-generation brief. Solid Digital VisualFizz Marcel Digital Straight North

If you tell me your approximate website budget (e.g. $15–25k, $25–50k, $50k+) and what type of staffing you specialize in, I can narrow this to a more targeted RFP shortlist and compare their relevant case studies, services, locations, and likely fit.

For a Chicago-based financial services firm, I’d avoid a general “pretty website” shop and look for an agency that understands security, regulatory review cycles, executive stakeholders, accessibility, CMS governance, and long-term maintenance. Your shortlist should depend on whether you’re building a high-trust corporate site (brand + thought leadership), a client portal, or a more complex digital platform.

Here are agencies I’d put into an RFP:

1. Orbit Media Studios — best fit for a sophisticated financial services corporate site

orbitmedia.com

Why consider them:

• Chicago-based and specifically markets financial services website experience.
• Strong fit for firms that need a polished institutional presence: investment firms, advisory firms, asset managers, and professional services companies.
• Emphasis on strategy, UX, content structure, SEO, and ongoing website management. Orbit Media Studios

Best for:

• Wealth management firms
• Private equity / alternative investment firms
• Asset managers
• Financial advisory firms needing a credibility upgrade

Questions I’d ask:

• “How do you handle SEC/FINRA compliance review workflows?”
• “What security testing do you perform before launch?”
• “Who owns hosting, patches, backups, and vulnerability management?”

2. Americaneagle.com — best for enterprise-grade builds

americaneagle.com

Why consider them:

• Larger agency with experience across financial services and enterprise organizations.
• Offers website development, hosting/security, integrations, and ongoing support. Americaneagle.com

Best for:

• Firms with:

• Multiple business lines
• Complex CMS requirements
• CRM integrations
• Investor/client resources
• Larger internal review teams

Tradeoff:

• Likely a heavier process and budget than a boutique studio.

3. Solid Digital — strong B2B/corporate website option

soliddigital.com

Why consider them:

• Chicago-based agency focused on B2B website design, UX, development, and ongoing digital programs.
• Good fit if your firm sells complex services where the website needs to educate sophisticated buyers.

Best for:

• Institutional finance
• B2B financial services
• Firms competing for corporate clients

4. Clear Digital — worth considering for regulated enterprise needs

cleardigital.com

Why consider them:

• Positions itself around financial services websites and regulated-industry requirements, including security, compliance, and enterprise experience. Clear Digital

Best for:

• Larger financial institutions
• Firms needing stronger enterprise processes

5. Web Tonic — if speed, design, and modern CMS matter

webtonic.io

Why consider them:

• Focuses on modern Webflow-based builds for financial/fintech audiences. Web Tonic

Best for:

• A marketing site rather than a highly integrated application
• Firms prioritizing speed of publishing and design flexibility

My suggested shortlist for a partner-led financial firm

If I were running the selection process, I’d invite:

1. Orbit Media Studios — strongest likely match for a premium financial-services marketing site
2. Americaneagle.com — strongest for enterprise complexity
3. Solid Digital — strongest for B2B positioning and modern corporate experience
4. Clear Digital — strongest if compliance/security requirements dominate

I would run a paid discovery phase rather than ask for a free redesign pitch.

Security requirements I’d put in the RFP

Require agencies to address:

• SOC 2 status of hosting vendors
• Encryption standards (in transit and at rest where applicable)
• MFA for CMS administrators
• Role-based permissions
• Vulnerability scanning
• Dependency/plugin patching process
• Backup and disaster recovery
• Penetration testing approach
• Data handling for forms and integrations
• Accessibility target (WCAG 2.1 AA)
• Audit logs and change approvals

For a financial services firm, the agency’s operating model after launch matters almost as much as the initial design.

If you tell me your firm type (RIA, PE, hedge fund, bank, broker-dealer, fintech, etc.), approximate website budget, and whether the site needs a client portal, I can narrow this to 3–5 agencies and a recommended selection process.

• 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
• Trungale, Egan + Associates - 8 S Michigan Ave #2310, Chicago, IL 60603, United States
• The Office of Experience, LLC - 980 N Michigan Ave Ste 1090, Chicago, IL 60611, United States
• One North, A TEKsystems Company - 227 W Monroe St #3500, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Wojo Design - 318 W Adams St #1609, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Alpha Efficiency - Web Design Chicago Agency - 875 N Michigan Ave, Chicago, IL 60611, United States
• Envisionit - 130 E Randolph St #1600, Chicago, IL 60601, United States
• Glantz Design - 1881 Oak Ave, Evanston, IL 60201, United States
• Sandstorm Design - 4422 N Ravenswood Ave #50, Chicago, IL 60640, United States
• Symmetri Technology Chicago (Acquired by Yes&) - 233 N Michigan Ave #765, Chicago, IL 60601, United States
• AlphaZeta Interactive - 325 N La Salle Dr, Chicago, IL 60654, United States
• Alphazeta - 325 W Huron St, Ste 506, Chicago, IL 60654
• Blackline IT - 171 N Aberdeen St Ste 400, Chicago, IL 60607, United States
• PSM Partners – Managed IT & Cybersecurity - 209 W Jackson Blvd Ste 903, Chicago, IL 60606, United States

For a Chicago financial-services firm, I’d narrow the field to agencies that can demonstrate both high-end corporate design and disciplined security/compliance practices. I would not choose purely on visual portfolio.

My shortlist

1. Solid Digital — strong B2B/corporate fit

Chicago-based, focused heavily on B2B website strategy, UX and development. Their positioning around complex B2B sites and integrations makes them worth considering if the site is primarily a sophisticated corporate/marketing platform.

2. Americaneagle.com, Inc. — strongest enterprise infrastructure option

Their Chicago operation covers design, development, integrations, managed hosting/security and ongoing support. That's attractive if your firm's website needs enterprise-grade governance rather than simply a redesign. Americaneagle.com

3. Trungale, Egan + Associates — particularly relevant financial-services specialist

This is the one I'd investigate if industry fluency is a priority. Their Chicago practice specifically cites work with wealth managers/RIAs, broker-dealers, custodians, exchanges, trading platforms, mutual funds, futures/commodities, banking and insurance.

4. The Office of Experience, LLC (OX) — strong enterprise experience/design option

More experience/strategy-led, with capabilities spanning research, UX, technology and digital experiences, including financial services. I'd consider them if you're looking for a substantial repositioning of the firm's digital presence rather than just a website build.

5. One North, A TEKsystems Company — worth an enterprise RFP

They offer UX/UI, development, managed hosting, maintenance, security-oriented support and broader digital transformation. This could make sense for a larger firm with significant internal IT/marketing stakeholders.

One more I would put on the RFP list

Orbit Media Studios is particularly interesting because it explicitly specializes in financial-services websites. It describes work with financial firms, security/uptime monitoring, backups, updates and ongoing website management, and has Chicago headquarters. Orbit Media Studios

Who I'd invite to pitch

If I were putting together a 4-agency RFP, I'd invite:

• Orbit Media — financial-services website specialization
• Trungale, Egan + Associates — financial-services industry expertise
• Americaneagle.com — enterprise engineering/hosting/security
• Solid Digital — B2B corporate website + UX

That gives you meaningfully different approaches rather than four agencies competing on essentially the same proposition.

The security questions I'd make mandatory

For a financial-services firm, I'd put these in the RFP rather than accepting generic claims like "secure website":

• Where is the site hosted, and who controls the infrastructure?
• What security certifications/attestations does the agency and hosting provider actually maintain?
• How are CMS/plugin vulnerabilities monitored and patched?
• Is there a WAF, DDoS protection, malware monitoring and intrusion detection?
• How are backups performed, encrypted and tested?
• How is administrative access controlled—MFA, SSO, least privilege?
• Does any prospect/client information enter the website, CRM or email systems?
• Where is form data stored, and for how long?
• What is the incident-response process and notification SLA?
• Can they provide a recent penetration/vulnerability assessment?
• What accessibility standard will they contractually target (e.g. WCAG 2.2 AA)?
• What happens to the site and credentials if you terminate the relationship?

I'd also separate "secure corporate website" from "client portal." If you're handling nonpublic personal information or authenticated client functionality, I'd want the agency to explain why that functionality should or shouldn't live on the public website at all. A financial-services agency like Orbit, for example, explicitly distinguishes ongoing website security/maintenance from the broader financial-services experience. Orbit Media Studios

If you tell me roughly what type of financial firm you are (PE/VC, wealth management, investment bank, asset manager, hedge fund, fintech, insurance, etc.) and your approximate website budget (e.g. $50–100k, $100–250k, $250k+), I can narrow this to 2–3 agencies and compare their relevant financial-services work, security posture, likely project fit, and pricing tier.

• 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.

• Ice Nine Online - 444 W Lake St Ste 1700, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Solid Digital - 100 N LaSalle St #1400, Chicago, IL 60602, United States
• VisualFizz - 875 N Michigan Ave 31st floor, Chicago, IL 60611, United States
• Orbit Media Studios - 4043 N Ravenswood Ave #316, Chicago, IL 60613, United States
• LoSasso Integrated Marketing - 4853 N Ravenswood Ave, Chicago, IL 60640, United States
• Marcel Digital - 445 W Erie St #200, Chicago, IL 60654, United States
• VisualFizz - 875 North Michigan Ave, Fl 31, Chicago, IL 60611
• The Office of Experience, LLC - 980 N Michigan Ave Ste 1090, Chicago, IL 60611, United States
• Americaneagle.com, Inc. - 200 W Jackson Blvd Fl 22, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Alpha Efficiency - Web Design Chicago Agency - 875 N Michigan Ave, Chicago, IL 60611, United States
• Agency EA - 311 W Walton St, Chicago, IL 60610, United States
• Live Marketing - 518 Davis St #201, Evanston, IL 60201, United States
• Next/Now - 1200 W Lake St #2, Chicago, IL 60607, United States
• Design In Chicago - 159 N Sangamon St Suite 200, Chicago, IL 60607, United States
• NiKnack Marketing, Inc. - 2211 N Elston Ave Ste 208, Chicago, IL 60614, United States

If your business is training + corporate events, I’d look for an agency that understands the whole funnel—not just a firm that makes attractive websites. In particular, you want someone who understands B2B lead generation, event registration, landing pages, email/CRM integration, SEO, and conversion tracking.

Based on what I found, I’d put these Chicago firms on your initial shortlist:

• Ice Nine Online — 444 W. Lake St. This is particularly interesting for a training/events company because they focus on B2B websites and WordPress, while also tying web work to SEO and measurable pipeline. Their founder-led positioning may also suit a smaller/midsize company that wants hands-on attention.
• Solid Digital — 100 N. LaSalle St. They explicitly specialize in B2B web design and development and are right in the Loop. Their process emphasizes strategy, personas, UX, and connecting the website to business goals. Solid Digital
• VisualFizz — 875 N. Michigan Ave. They're B2B-focused and combine branding, web design/development, and performance marketing. I'd consider them if your website also needs a stronger positioning/brand component.
• Orbit Media Studios — Chicago-based B2B web agency with a strong emphasis on redesigns, SEO, conversion optimization, analytics, and content. They're worth talking to if organic search and inbound lead generation are important parts of your growth strategy.
• LoSasso Integrated Marketing — They caught my attention because their B2B focus includes trade-show/event-driven businesses, along with website development, UX, and lead generation. That's unusually close to your niche.

The one I'd call first

I'd start with RethinkInfo even though it's more of a digital marketing agency than a pure web-design shop. Their positioning is unusually close to what you're describing: they explicitly combine web strategy/design with B2B demand generation and event marketing, including executive events, trade shows, landing pages, registration funnels, LinkedIn campaigns, email nurture, CRM alignment, and post-event pipeline measurement. RethinkInfo RethinkInfo

rethinkinfo.com

For your type of company, I'd actually frame the project as:

"We don't need a prettier website. We need a B2B event marketing engine."

Then ask each agency to show you 2–3 examples where they generated registrations/leads for B2B events, not merely examples of attractive websites.

I'd specifically ask them how they'd build:

• Event-specific landing pages
• Training-course/event registration funnels
• LinkedIn → landing page → registration journeys
• Email nurture before and after events
• CRM integration and attribution
• Speaker/instructor pages designed for conversion
• SEO around training topics and corporate education
• Retargeting people who visit an event page but don't register
• Measurement of cost per registrant, qualified lead, and eventual revenue, rather than just traffic

If you tell me roughly your annual marketing budget and whether your events are mostly public-ticketed, corporate/private, or both, I can narrow this to 3 Chicago agencies that are the closest fit and give you the questions I'd use in the first calls.

• AttorneySync - 211 W Wacker Dr Ste 300, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Marcel Digital - 445 W Erie St #200, Chicago, IL 60654, 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
• Brand Vision Marketing - Web Design & Branding - 30 N Michigan Ave #504, Chicago, IL 60602, 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
• BSPE Legal Marketing - Chicago - 875 N Michigan Ave, Chicago, IL 60610, United States
• OVC Lawyer Marketing - 750 Warrenville Rd Ste 203, Lisle, IL 60532, United States
• Market JD, Inc. - 20 N Wacker Dr Ste 1200, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Forward Lawyer Marketing - 460 N Main St Unit 209, Glen Ellyn, IL 60137, 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

For a mid-sized Chicago law firm in River North, I’d interview a mix of legal-specialist agencies and strong generalist/CMS agencies. The key is not just visual redesign: you want someone who can handle a potentially large attorney/practice-area site, preserve SEO equity through the migration, improve UX/intake, and give your marketing team a CMS they can actually operate.

My interview shortlist

• AttorneySync — legal-specialist / Chicago

• Works exclusively with law firms and offers website design/development, with an emphasis on firms retaining ownership of their digital assets.
• Worth interviewing if you want a partner that already understands legal-firm marketing rather than educating a general agency about attorneys, practice areas, intake, etc. Orbit Media Studios
• Orbit Media Studios — my first generalist interview

• Particularly interesting for a substantial redesign because Orbit explicitly has a legal-firm practice and describes a strategy → design → development → migration/deployment process, including CMS training, accessibility testing, analytics and ongoing support.
• Their Chicago headquarters are on Ravenswood, so they're genuinely local. Orbit Media Studios
• I would put them on the shortlist if the goal is a high-quality custom site rather than a packaged legal website.
• Marcel Digital — CMS/technical candidate

• Especially interesting if your migration is technically complicated. Their capabilities include CMS implementation/migration, customizations, hosting and ongoing support, including Umbraco.
• They're in River North at 445 W Erie St, which is convenient for your firm.
• I'd interview them if you're moving from something like Drupal/Umbraco/custom CMS into another sophisticated platform, rather than simply moving a small WordPress site.
• Solid Digital — B2B/brand-quality candidate

• Chicago-based agency focused on sophisticated B2B websites, UX/UI and digital strategy. Their work includes website rebuilds and CMS migrations.
• This could be a good fit if your firm wants the new site to feel more like a premium professional-services brand than a conventional legal website.
• MileMark Legal Marketing — legal-specialist / mid-market

• Specifically targets mid-sized firms and discusses the exact issues I'd be concerned about in your situation: multi-practice information architecture, attorney profiles, bar-compliant content, legacy-CMS migration and preserving existing SEO equity.
• They estimate roughly 4–6 months for a typical mid-sized law-firm redesign. MileMark Legal Marketing
• Americaneagle.com, Inc. — larger/enterprise option

• Much larger than the boutique agencies above, with capabilities spanning UX, web development, CMS work, integrations, analytics, hosting and migrations.
• I'd include them if your firm has a large site, multiple offices, complicated integrations, significant security requirements, or a substantial technology budget.

A couple I'd consider as wild cards

• Brand Vision Marketing - Web Design & Branding — Chicago branding + web shop that works across WordPress/Webflow and other platforms. More interesting if the project is substantially about repositioning the firm's brand as well as rebuilding the website.
• ALL FOR™ — smaller Chicago design agency whose larger web package includes discovery, information architecture, reusable components, WordPress, CMS migration/redirect guidance and training. ALL FOR™
• Zaremba Studio — unusually legal-specific proposition: the founder is himself a practicing Illinois attorney and describes doing full law-firm migrations with URL preservation and zero-downtime cutovers. I'd consider this more of a specialist/alternative bid than an apples-to-apples competitor to Orbit or Solid. Zaremba Studio

How I'd structure the interviews

I'd probably bring 5 firms into the first round, rather than asking 15 agencies for proposals:

1. Orbit Media — sophisticated custom redesign + legal experience
2. AttorneySync — law-firm specialist
3. MileMark — law-firm specialist with explicit mid-sized-firm experience
4. Solid Digital — premium B2B/UX perspective
5. Marcel Digital — technical/CMS migration perspective

Then give all five the same brief. That's important because otherwise you'll end up comparing five completely different proposals.

The questions I'd make them answer

CMS

• What CMS would you recommend, and why?
• Who owns the CMS, code, hosting, domain and analytics accounts?
• Can our marketing staff create new practice areas, attorney profiles and landing pages without developers?
• What happens if we terminate the relationship?

Migration

• Show us a real migration you've performed on a large professional-services site.
• How will you inventory every existing URL?
• Who creates and QA's the 301 redirect map?
• How will you preserve metadata, structured data, internal links, canonicals and XML sitemaps?
• How do you handle pages that shouldn't simply redirect to the homepage?
• What happens to rankings during the first 30/60/90 days after launch?

This is a particularly important area: law-firm sites can have years of accumulated URLs and links, and poor redirect implementation can destroy that value. MileMark Legal Marketing

Design/UX

• How would you structure navigation for, say, 15–25 practice areas and dozens of attorneys?
• How do you distinguish referral sources, sophisticated business clients and individual prospective clients?
• How would you make attorney bios useful without turning them into 200 nearly identical pages?
• Show us three comparable sites—not your three prettiest sites.

Accessibility/security

• What accessibility standard are you designing against?
• Who performs accessibility QA?
• What are your security, hosting, backup and patching responsibilities?
• How do you handle forms and potentially sensitive prospective-client information?

Analytics/intake

• Can you track calls, forms and other conversions by practice area?
• Can the website integrate with whatever CRM/intake system the firm uses?
• Can we distinguish a $50,000 business-litigation inquiry from a general contact-form submission?

One thing I'd specifically avoid

I'd be wary of selecting an agency simply because it says "law firm websites" everywhere.

There are really two different purchases here:

A legal marketing website — templates, practice-area SEO, lead generation, ongoing content, PPC, etc.

versus

A sophisticated professional-services digital platform — information architecture, CMS migration, attorney/practice-area data modeling, integrations, accessibility, analytics, SEO preservation and a genuinely custom UX.

For a mid-sized River North firm, I'd want the second, even if the agency also has deep legal expertise.

If you tell me roughly (1) number of attorneys, (2) current CMS, (3) number of URLs/pages, (4) whether you're keeping the existing brand, and (5) rough budget, I can narrow this to 3–4 agencies and give you a side-by-side interview/RFP scorecard without turning it into a generic agency list.

• 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.

• Angle180 - 141 W Jackson Blvd #4236, Chicago, IL 60604, United States
• LoSasso Integrated Marketing - 4853 N Ravenswood Ave, Chicago, IL 60640, United States
• Marcel Digital - 445 W Erie St #200, Chicago, IL 60654, United States
• Solid Digital - 100 N LaSalle St #1400, Chicago, IL 60602, 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
• 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
• OneIMS - 111 E Upper Wacker Dr, Chicago, IL 60601
• 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
• The Office of Experience, LLC - 980 N Michigan Ave Ste 1090, Chicago, IL 60611, United States

For a B2B manufacturing supplier in the West Loop, I’d shortlist agencies that understand technical buyers, not just agencies that make attractive corporate sites.

My shortlist

• Angle180 — probably the first agency I’d interview. They specifically focus on B2B industrial manufacturers and construction companies, with custom web design plus technical SEO, keyword research, content, and lead-generation strategy. Allusive Digital
• LoSasso Integrated Marketing — Worth considering if you're a larger/more sophisticated manufacturing or industrial brand and need strategy, technical content, UX, website development, and ongoing marketing under one roof. Their stated focus includes industrial, manufacturing, automation, and technology.
• Marcel Digital — A stronger option if the website will involve complex integrations, analytics, migration, or a sophisticated B2B digital platform. They combine web development with technical SEO and measurement.
• Solid Digital — Good candidate if you're looking for a high-end B2B website/UX build with SEO and ongoing digital growth support.
• Flamingo Agency — Their manufacturing offering is unusually explicit: capability pages, RFQ forms, technical/on-page SEO, and WordPress specifically for manufacturers and industrial companies. Flamingo Agency
• River North SEO — If you're a CNC/precision manufacturer, this is a particularly specialized option. They say they work exclusively with CNC shops, contract manufacturers, and precision parts suppliers, with a fixed-scope manufacturing website offering. River North SEO River North SEO

Who I'd talk to first

I'd put Angle180, LoSasso, and Flamingo into the first round of conversations.

The key distinction is that your site shouldn't just be "SEO-friendly." For a technical manufacturer, I'd want the agency to build an information architecture around things like:

• capabilities/processes
• materials
• industries/applications
• tolerances/specifications
• certifications
• equipment
• geographic/service coverage
• technical resources
• RFQ/quote workflows

That structure is particularly important because industrial buyers tend to search by process, material, specification, certification, and application, rather than simply searching for a supplier's brand name. Chicago SEO Company

One caveat: I wouldn't choose based on Google rankings or review counts alone. Ask each agency to show you 2–3 actual manufacturing websites they've built, explain the SEO architecture they implemented, and demonstrate how they would turn your equipment/capability list into searchable pages.

If you tell me roughly your annual website budget ($10–25k, $25–50k, $50k+) and what you manufacture, I can narrow this to a 2–3 agency shortlist and compare them on manufacturing experience, technical SEO, likely project cost, and fit.

• Angle180 - 141 W Jackson Blvd #4236, Chicago, IL 60604, United States
• LoSasso Integrated Marketing - 4853 N Ravenswood Ave, Chicago, IL 60640, United States
• Marcel Digital - 445 W Erie St #200, Chicago, IL 60654, United States
• Solid Digital - 100 N LaSalle St #1400, Chicago, IL 60602, United States
• RSXigital | B2B Lead Generation & Performance Marketing Agency in Chicago, USA - 71 S Wacker Dr, Chicago, IL 60606, 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
• The Office of Experience, LLC - 980 N Michigan Ave Ste 1090, Chicago, IL 60611, United States
• Integrated Marketing Solutions - 111 E Wacker Dr, Ste 435, Chicago, IL 60601
• SITE IT NOW - 1016 W Jackson Blvd, Chicago, IL 60607, United States
• Sandstorm Design - 4422 N Ravenswood Ave #50, Chicago, IL 60640, United States
• Design In Chicago - 159 N Sangamon St Suite 200, Chicago, IL 60607, United States

For a B2B manufacturing supplier in the West Loop, I’d shortlist agencies that understand technical buyers, capability-driven SEO, RFQs, and complex products—not just agencies that make attractive corporate sites.

My shortlist

• Angle180 — strongest local fit to investigate first. They specifically focus on B2B industrial/manufacturing companies and combine custom web design with technical SEO, content, and lead generation. Their Chicago office is at 141 W Jackson Blvd. Their manufacturing work also emphasizes measurable search and inquiry growth. Angle180
• LoSasso Integrated Marketing — worth considering if you want a larger, more strategic marketing partner, particularly if your products are technically complicated. They explicitly work with manufacturing, industrial, automation and technology companies and offer website development, technical content and SEO.
• Marcel Digital — a good option if the website needs serious technical infrastructure, SEO, analytics or integrations, rather than being primarily a marketing-site redesign. They're in River North and have B2B web development plus technical SEO capabilities.
• Solid Digital — another Chicago B2B specialist to put in the RFP. They focus on B2B website strategy, UX/UI, development and ongoing SEO/growth work.
• Flamingo Agency — particularly interesting if you want a manufacturing-specific WordPress shop without necessarily going to a large agency. They explicitly build sites for manufacturers, industrial suppliers and B2B production businesses, including capability pages, technical SEO and RFQ forms. Flamingo Agency
• Pixerts — a specialist worth comparing against the Chicago agencies. They focus exclusively on B2B manufacturing and describe work around procurement workflows, technical capabilities, RFQs, industrial SEO and AI-search visibility. Pixerts

If it were my RFP

I'd invite Angle180, LoSasso, and Flamingo to pitch, and use Pixerts as the specialist benchmark.

The key is to make them demonstrate—not merely promise—that they can build pages around things like:

• individual manufacturing capabilities/processes
• materials and specifications
• equipment and tolerances
• industries/applications served
• certifications
• technical resources/spec sheets
• case studies
• RFQ/quote workflows
• technical SEO and structured data
• redirects and SEO preservation during migration
• analytics tied to actual RFQs, not just traffic

That's important because manufacturing SEO is fundamentally different from generic local SEO: buyers may search for a very specific capability or material rather than your company name. Specialized agencies such as Pixerts and River North SEO explicitly build their architecture around those technical searches. Pixerts River North SEO

One thing I'd avoid: choosing based primarily on portfolio aesthetics. For your business, I'd ask each agency to take one of your actual products/services and mock up the proposed SEO page architecture. You'll learn very quickly which team actually understands industrial buyers.

If you tell me what you manufacture/supply, approximate website budget ($10k, $25k, $50k+), and whether you need HubSpot/CRM integration, I can narrow this to 2–3 agencies and compare them on price, manufacturing experience, SEO depth, technical capability, and likely fit.

• Solid Digital - 100 N LaSalle St #1400, Chicago, IL 60602, United States
• Marcel Digital - 20 N Wacker Dr Ste 1285, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Clique Studios - 20 N Wacker Dr Ste 1075, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Ice Nine Online - 444 W Lake St Ste 1700, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Operation Technology - 211 W Wacker Dr 3rd Floor, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• ArtVersion® Creative Agency - 211 W Wacker Dr Ste 1130, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Angle180 - 141 W Jackson Blvd #4236, Chicago, IL 60604, 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
• Americaneagle.com, Inc. - 200 W Jackson Blvd Fl 22, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• VisualFizz - 875 N Michigan Ave 31st floor, Chicago, IL 60611, United States
• Doejo - 444 N Wabash Ave, Chicago, IL 60611, United States
• 97 Switch - 1 E Wacker Dr #2550, Chicago, IL 60601, United States
• click5 Interactive LLC - 116 W Hubbard St #301, Chicago, IL 60654, United States
• Comrade Digital Marketing Agency - 332 S Michigan Ave #900, Chicago, IL 60604, United States
• Sixth City Marketing - 620 N La Salle Dr Ste 415, Chicago, IL 60654, United States

If you’re an IT services/B2B company and want a true website overhaul—not just a visual refresh—I’d put these downtown Chicago firms on your initial outreach list. I’m prioritizing agencies with demonstrated B2B/technology, strategy, UX, development, and lead-generation capabilities rather than general-purpose design shops.

• Solid Digital — 100 N LaSalle St. Solid Digital specifically focuses on B2B website design and development and says it works with B2B SaaS and technology companies. Its process covers brand discovery, strategy, personas, sitemaps, wireframes, UX, development and ongoing growth. Solid Digital

Why I'd contact them: Particularly relevant if your site needs to become a serious B2B sales/marketing asset rather than simply look newer.

• Marcel Digital — 20 N Wacker Dr. Marcel combines B2B website strategy/design with development, SEO, analytics, CRM/marketing automation and CRO. Its B2B offering explicitly addresses longer sales cycles and multiple decision-makers. Marcel Digital

Why contact them: Good fit if the overhaul needs to connect closely with HubSpot/CRM, lead generation, analytics and marketing.

• Clique Studios — 20 N Wacker Dr. Clique positions itself around digital transformation, combining strategy, UX/design, engineering and digital marketing rather than treating a redesign as a cosmetic project.

Why contact them: Worth considering if you're contemplating a substantial rebuild involving complex content, integrations or a more sophisticated digital experience.

• Ice Nine Online — 444 W Lake St. This is a B2B-focused digital marketing and WordPress development agency, with services spanning B2B websites, demand generation, SEO and branding.

Why contact them: Potentially interesting if you want the new site tightly connected to pipeline generation and want a partner that can help your internal team manage it afterward.

• Operation Technology — 211 W Wacker Dr. A Loop-based web design/development and digital marketing agency that handles custom redesigns along with SEO, content, paid media and analytics.

Why contact them: A more integrated web + digital-marketing option if you want the website and acquisition strategy addressed together.

• ArtVersion® Creative Agency — 211 W Wacker Dr. ArtVersion combines brand strategy, visual design, UX/UI and in-house web development, including corporate and CMS-driven sites.

Why contact them: Particularly relevant if the overhaul also involves repositioning your brand/messaging, not just rebuilding the site.

One more worth putting on the list

Angle180 is at 141 W Jackson Blvd. and focuses specifically on B2B/industrial businesses, with website redesign, UX/UI, inbound marketing, SEO, PPC and conversion optimization. Its industry focus may or may not match an IT services firm, but the B2B orientation makes it worth a conversation.

How I'd structure the RFP

For an IT services company, I wouldn't ask agencies simply for a "website redesign." I'd give the finalists the same brief covering:

1. Positioning & messaging — Can you make a complex IT offering understandable in 5–10 seconds?
2. Information architecture — Services, industries, technologies, case studies and resources organized around how prospects actually buy.
3. Lead generation — Conversion paths, forms, CTAs, meeting/demo booking and attribution.
4. SEO migration — Preserve existing rankings, redirect strategy, technical SEO and content architecture.
5. CMS — What your marketing team can change without developers.
6. Integrations — CRM, marketing automation, analytics, chat, forms, etc.
7. Case-study system — Especially important for demonstrating technical credibility.
8. Post-launch optimization — Analytics, CRO, SEO and ongoing improvements rather than disappearing after launch.

I'd probably send the same RFP to Solid Digital, Marcel Digital, Clique Studios, and Ice Nine first, then use one or two of the others as a price/approach comparison. That gives you substantially different agency approaches without turning the process into 15 sales calls.

If you tell me roughly your current site size, budget range (e.g. $25–50k vs. $50–100k+), and whether you want a rebrand as part of it, I can narrow this to a more targeted shortlist and pull together their relevant IT/B2B case studies and contact pages.

• Solid Digital - 100 N LaSalle St #1400, Chicago, IL 60602, United States
• ArtVersion® Creative Agency - 211 W Wacker Dr Ste 1130, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Americaneagle.com, Inc. - 200 W Jackson Blvd Fl 22, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Operation Technology - 211 W Wacker Dr 3rd Floor, Chicago, IL 60606, 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
• Design In Chicago - 159 N Sangamon St Suite 200, Chicago, IL 60607, United States
• Chicago Website Design SEO Company - 10 S Riverside Plaza #875, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• SITE IT NOW - 1016 W Jackson Blvd, Chicago, IL 60607, United States
• SEOLEVELUP Website Design SEO Company Chicago - 355 N Laflin St Ste 101C, Chicago, IL 60607, United States
• Windy City Web Solutions - 801 S Wells St, Chicago, IL 60607, United States

For a Chicago IT services company doing a full website overhaul, I’d put a short list together around firms that understand B2B, technology, UX, and the technical side of a rebuild—not just visual redesign.

Downtown firms worth contacting

• Solid Digital — 100 N LaSalle St, Loop. Particularly relevant for a B2B technology company: they focus on B2B website design/development, UX/UI, positioning, lead generation, and ongoing digital marketing.
• ArtVersion® Creative Agency — 211 W Wacker Dr, Loop. A Chicago-based design/development firm with experience spanning technology and other complex B2B organizations; combines brand, UX, content, and development. Their site says they've been operating since 1999. ArtVersion
• Americaneagle.com, Inc. — 200 W Jackson Blvd, Loop. A larger, enterprise-oriented option if your overhaul involves sophisticated integrations, security/hosting, ecommerce, or a substantial content platform.
• Operation Technology — 211 W Wacker Dr, Loop. Offers website design/development and redesigns alongside analytics, SEO, and digital marketing, which could be useful if you want the new site tied closely to lead-generation metrics.
• Brand Vision Marketing - Web Design & Branding — 30 N Michigan Ave, downtown. More brand/marketing-oriented, with website redesign, brand strategy, visual identity, and SEO under one roof. Worth considering if the overhaul includes repositioning your company rather than simply rebuilding the site.
• Alpha Efficiency - Web Design Chicago Agency — 875 N Michigan Ave. Provides custom web design/development and digital marketing, with a focus on redesigning established businesses' sites around conversion, speed, and SEO.

One non-Loop option I'd also include

Design In Chicago is in the West Loop/Fulton Market rather than the traditional Loop. They combine branding, web development, marketing, and content production, so they're worth adding if you're open to downtown-adjacent agencies.

For your particular situation, I'd send RFPs to 4–5 firms rather than 10+. I'd make Solid Digital, ArtVersion, Americaneagle.com, and Operation Technology the initial group, then add Brand Vision if branding/messaging is a major part of the project.

One thing I'd explicitly put in the RFP: “We are an IT services company selling B2B services; this is a full strategic redesign, not simply a visual refresh.” Ask each firm to show 2–3 comparable B2B/technology projects, their proposed information architecture, CMS recommendation, SEO migration plan, technical stack, timeline, and who will actually be on your project team.

If you tell me roughly your current website size, budget (e.g. $25k / $50k / $100k+), and whether you need branding/content/SEO included, I can narrow this to a more targeted shortlist and compare their capabilities.

• 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.

• IA Collaborative - 218 S Wabash Ave 9th Floor, Chicago, IL 60604, United States
• TEAMS Design - 1812 W Hubbard St #200, Chicago, IL 60622, United States
• Highland - 141 W Jackson Blvd, Ste 2200, Chicago, IL 60604
• 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
• aPitchDeck - 333 W Ohio St, Chicago, IL 60654, United States
• MNML - 170 N Sangamon St, Chicago, IL 60607, United States
• UChicagoTech | University of Chicago Center for Technology Development & Ventures - 6030 S Ellis Ave #2S, Chicago, IL 60637, United States
• The Office of Experience, LLC - 980 N Michigan Ave Ste 1090, Chicago, IL 60611, United States
• Silva Brand, LLC - 211 W Wacker Dr 3rd floor, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• FlyDesign - 111 W Jackson Blvd, Chicago, IL 60604, United States
• Sandstorm Design - 4422 N Ravenswood Ave #50, Chicago, IL 60640, United States
• ROOT3 Marketing & Business Development - 2035 W Wabansia Ave, Chicago, IL 60647, United States
• Glantz Design - 1881 Oak Ave, Evanston, IL 60201, United States
• iD Lab - 243 S Wabash Ave, Chicago, IL 60604, United States
• UIC Innovation Center - 1240 W Harrison St, Chicago, IL 60607, United States

For a university spinout turning research into an investable MVP, I’d look for a shop that can do more than “make a nice website.” The key capability is translating technical/research complexity into a credible product story, then carrying that story consistently across the website, pitch deck, and product/demo.

Based on their current capabilities and Chicago presence, I’d shortlist these:

1. IA Collaborative — strongest fit if the technology is genuinely complex or the product definition is still emerging. They combine user research, strategy, product design and innovation, and their work includes commercialization of a VR teaching/learning platform.

Best for: research → product definition → prototype, particularly deep tech/health/enterprise.

2. TEAMS Design — particularly interesting if the spinout has a physical/connected product, scientific instrument, medical device, or hardware component. Their Chicago team combines industrial design, engineering, digital product strategy, interaction design and brand language.

Best for: hardware + software + commercialization story.

3. Highland — a good option if you need to go beyond the marketing site into an actual digital MVP. Their offering spans product discovery, UX research/design and custom software development.

Best for: “we have promising technology but need to turn it into something users can actually try.”

4. Solid Digital — I'd consider them if the immediate objective is a high-quality B2B/enterprise website that makes a technically sophisticated product understandable and generates leads. Their Chicago practice focuses heavily on B2B websites, UX/UI and technology/SaaS companies.

Best for: website + positioning + conversion, once the product story is reasonably settled.

5. Design In Chicago — attractive if you want a single creative partner covering brand strategy, identity, website, pitch decks, presentations and content. Their published capabilities explicitly include pitch decks and sales presentations alongside web and branding.

Best for: getting the whole external-facing identity coherent quickly.

6. aPitchDeck — I'd use them if the fundraising deck is the critical deliverable and you already have someone handling the website. They're specifically focused on investor communications and pitch decks, including narrative development and visual design.

Best for: turning a scientist/founder's research story into an investor presentation.

7. MNML — worth a look for a spinout with a physical product where brand, product design, visualization and commercialization all need to connect. Their work spans product strategy, industrial design, engineering, branding and digital/marketing applications.

Best for: tangible products and hardware-heavy commercialization.

One particularly relevant example

There's also a useful Chicago precedent from Colleen Arturi's work with Modest, a startup whose technology was still under development. The engagement involved defining the value proposition, mapping the user/investor journey, creating the brand and website, and refining the pitch deck. The resulting work deliberately made a technically complex product understandable before the underlying product was fully mature. Colleen Arturi Brand Strategist

That is quite close to the problem I'd expect a university spinout to have.

How I'd choose

I'd divide the shortlist according to what stage you're actually at:

For this particular use case, I would interview 3–4 firms rather than issue a generic website RFP. Give them the same 2–3 page research/product brief and ask each to show how they'd turn it into:

• a one-sentence product proposition
• a 5–7 page website narrative
• a 10–12 slide investor story
• a clickable MVP/product demo
• a visual identity that makes the research feel like a credible company rather than a university lab
• a plan for validating the story with prospective customers/investors

That exercise will reveal much more than looking at portfolios.

One other Chicago resource worth knowing about is UChicagoTech | University of Chicago Center for Technology Development & Ventures if the spinout is affiliated with the University of Chicago; it specifically works on technology commercialization and university-affiliated startups.

If you tell me what the research is (e.g. biotech, AI, materials, medical device, climate, robotics), whether you already have a brand/product name, and roughly what you want to spend ($15–30k / $30–75k / $75k+), I can narrow this to a 3-shop Chicago shortlist with specific reasons and relevant portfolio examples.

• a one-sentence product proposition
• a 5–7 page website narrative
• a 10–12 slide investor story
• a clickable MVP/product demo
• a visual identity that makes the research feel like a credible company rather than a university lab
• a plan for validating the story with prospective customers/investors

That exercise will reveal much more than looking at portfolios.

One other Chicago resource worth knowing about is UChicagoTech if the spinout is affiliated with the University of Chicago; it specifically works on technology commercialization and university-affiliated startups.