Chicago Website Design Company

How much web design costs in Chicago depends on the number of designs needed, the level of customization, the complexity of functionality, and other factors related to the scope of the project. The choice of vendor also matters. Hourly rates typically fall between $100–$200, with website costs ranging from $2,000 for a simple “online business card” to over $100,000 for large enterprise sites with extensive custom features.

Hexxen’s web design packages start at $6,500–$9,500 for “starter” sites that include core SEO and mobile-friendly, conversion-focused designs that can help most organizations get on their feet. Our “growth” builds range from $13,500–$20,000, with more pages, advanced forms, and lead tracking for businesses with larger marketing needs. For more complicated projects, our fully custom builds start at $25,000 and can include specialized functionality, third-party integrations, and more extensive content structures.

If your current website works well but looks outdated, has confusing navigation, or needs better content and layouts, a redesign may be enough. There’s no reason to replace the entire site if it still works for you and your customers.

If your website has become difficult to update, relies on outdated technology, or can’t accommodate the features and integrations you want, a complete rebuild may make more sense.

Either way, we’ll review what’s worth keeping, including existing content, URLs, and functionality, before recommending how much needs to change.

You can learn more in our blog post: Should I Redesign My Website or Build a New One?

You can. For some smaller or startup companies it might the better option than a custom-built site. But there are also reasons some companies should shy away from it.

Pros:

• Your site can be ready in hours or days, instead of the 2-6 months a custom site might take. Custom projects involve planning, design approvals, development, content, and testing before launch.
• It’s cheaper than hiring a Chicago website design agency, especially if you only need a few pages.
• Most online pre-built templates don’t require any knowledge of code.

Cons:

• Your site will look and feel like plenty of other sites on the internet. If customers recognize the same layout they’ve seen dozens of times, they may think your company is just like any other.
• You’re limited in how much you can change the design, layout, and functionality. There’s very little room for the site to scale with your business.
• While Wix or Squarespace may take care of the design, you won’t have a team of professional content writers, developers, and SEO experts to help your site perform as well as possible.
• Custom integrations, like lead tracking or intake systems, are much more difficult to add on a pre-built site.

Most people choose pre-built templates because of the cost. But be aware that if your templated site doesn’t end up meeting your needs, you may eventually have to pay for a custom website anyway. At that point, the money you spent on the template becomes a sunk cost.

There’s also a middle ground. Hexxen can use a website we’ve already designed as the starting point for your project. Your site might share its general layout with another business, but you’ll still get professional development, your own branding and content, and the ability to add custom features and integrations. It can save you money on the design without having to rely on a DIY website builder.

Smaller website projects can take one to two months. Larger builds may take two to six months, while fully custom projects can take six months to a year. The schedule also depends on how quickly we receive content, feedback, and approvals. The timelines for each project are included in our contracts.

Keep in mind that the above timelines only include the work. With any Chicago web design company, there will be about two weeks of back and forth while you discuss your project needs and the agency prepares a proposal.

Usually, yes, especially if you’re working with a web design company that also has an SEO team.

All of our sites come with what we call “baseline SEO,” which includes optimizing image names and alt text, meta titles and descriptions, local schema where appropriate, and on-page optimization such as keyword usage and headers. Most Chicago web design companies with dedicated SEO teams should offer something similar.

The main exception is what we call “dev-only” companies, which focus primarily on building websites, load speeds, security, and functionality. They may be great at development, but without SEO specialists involved, important on-page optimization work can get overlooked. Before hiring a company, make sure you know exactly what SEO services are included.

With Hexxen, you own your website and all of the content we produce for you. Our month-to-month contracts allow clients to cancel ongoing services at any time with at least 30 days’ notice.

If you decide to change providers, you’re not stuck with us for another 10 months while waiting for a year-long contract to end. And because you own your website and content, you can take them with you instead of having to start over from scratch.

Web hosting is what keeps your website online. Your site’s files are stored on a server so visitors can access them at any time. Website maintenance is the ongoing work needed to update software and security, fix bugs, and address technical issues as they come up.

Hexxen offers both web hosting and maintenance services, so you can have the same team that built your website continue taking care of it. We can also handle new pages, design changes, and additional features as your needs change.

You’re also free to use another provider for hosting or maintenance. We’ll discuss your options before launch so you know who’s responsible for keeping your website running.

Absolutely. A new website gives you a place to send potential customers, but people still need to find it. Even a great-looking site won’t automatically rank for competitive Chicago searches or generate a steady flow of visitors.

Hexxen offers ongoing Chicago SEO services to improve your search visibility and attract people looking for your products or services. These services include a dedicated account manager who actually works on your site, meaning the person who answers the phone when you call will be the same person responsible for making sure the work is done right.

We also offer paid advertising and other digital marketing services if you want to reach customers through multiple channels.

While we pride ourselves on being a one-stop shop for web design, SEO, marketing, and development, we also frequently work alongside other vendors and service providers our clients choose to keep involved. Some clients come to us specifically for SEO, web design, development, paid marketing, or another immediate need. Others benefit from combining several services because the website, search strategy, campaigns, and technology all affect one another.

There are plenty of talented people in our industry, and there’s no reason we can’t work successfully alongside them as long as everyone is focused on the same goal: growing your business.

You don’t technically need one. A Google Business Profile allows your company to appear in Google Maps and local search results, display your hours, collect reviews, and provide customers with your contact information.

But there’s only so much you can communicate through a Google Business Profile. Your website gives you room to explain individual services, introduce your team, showcase your work, answer customer questions, and make a stronger case for why someone should choose your business.

A website also gives you the opportunity to rank in traditional organic search results, not only Google’s local listings. For most Chicago businesses, having both is the better option.

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) applies to many businesses open to the public, including retailers, restaurants, hotels, medical practices, and other service providers. Its accessibility obligations extend to the services those businesses provide through their websites.

Website accessibility can involve readable text and color contrast, image descriptions for screen readers, keyboard navigation, video captions, and forms that people with disabilities can complete.

The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) provide technical standards commonly used to evaluate these features. Illinois also has its own Information Technology Accessibility Act, although that law applies to state agencies and public universities rather than ordinary private businesses.

The exact requirements depend on the organization and the website. Accessibility is worth addressing during design and development rather than trying to fix every issue after launch.

Illinois has several privacy and data protection laws that can affect how your website collects and handles information.

The Illinois Personal Information Protection Act requires businesses handling certain personal information to maintain reasonable security measures and provides rules for notifying people about data breaches.

The state’s Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA) imposes additional requirements when businesses collect certain biometric information, such as fingerprints or facial geometry scans. Those requirements can include written notice, consent, and policies for retaining and destroying the information.

Ordinary contact forms, analytics tools, advertising pixels, chat systems, and cookies also deserve attention. You should understand what information each tool collects, how it’s used, and whether additional disclosures or consent are required. Illinois doesn’t have one universal cookie-consent requirement for every business website, but other applicable privacy laws may affect your setup.

Yes. If you’re selling products or subscriptions online, Illinois has consumer protection and tax requirements that can affect your website’s functionality.

For ecommerce businesses, this includes handling applicable sales taxes and clearly presenting prices, shipping information, and purchase terms.

Illinois also has an Automatic Contract Renewal Act that applies to many consumer subscriptions. Covered businesses must clearly disclose recurring charges and renewal terms, obtain the required consent, and provide cancellation information. Consumers who sign up for covered subscriptions online must also be able to cancel online.

These requirements can affect how checkout pages, subscription forms, customer accounts, and cancellation processes are designed. It’s worth establishing what your business needs to comply with before those features are built.

It shouldn’t if you’re working with a Chicago web design company that understands SEO. A properly planned redesign can improve your website’s appearance, functionality, and performance while preserving the rankings and traffic you’ve already earned.

Problems arise when companies remove pages that rank well, change URLs without proper redirects, or replace valuable content without considering its SEO performance. These mistakes can cause significant drops in rankings and traffic.

Some temporary ranking fluctuations are possible as Google processes the changes, but the goal is to improve your website without sacrificing what’s already working.

Absolutely. If you already have a logo, brand guidelines, photography, videos, or website content you’re happy with, there’s no reason to throw everything away.

During Discovery, we’ll review what you already have and determine what can be reused, what needs updating, and what should be replaced. Some websites need completely new branding and content, while others just need a better way to present what they already have.

We also have content writers, designers, and media production professionals who can help create new materials when needed. You don’t have to pay to recreate everything just because you’re getting a new website.

Sure. AI website builders have improved considerably, and you can use them to put together a basic website without knowing how to code. If you’re starting a small business and just need a few pages online, that might be enough. But AI only knows how to pull from what is already online; it’s not great at coming up with new ideas or personalizing a site to your business specifically.

But, you still need to decide what pages to include, organize your services, check that the content is accurate, test your forms, and make sure the site works the way you want it to. Custom functionality and third-party integrations can also become more complicated.

AI can help with parts of that process, but you’ll still need to know what you’re doing or spend time figuring it out. If your website is an important source of customers and revenue, professional design and development is usually worth the initial investment.