Web Design Agencies in Chicago, Illinois: Research-Led Projects, Small-Business Sites, and Six Firms to Compare
Contents: 6 sections
Michigan Avenue is the address for two of these Chicago firms, Flamingo Agency works from Lakeview, and Solid Digital describes itself as located in downtown Chicago. What they offer runs from WordPress sites for small businesses to research-led design and integrated marketing, and two of the six, 10com Web Development and thunder::tech, also list offices in other states. Before you call anyone, decide roughly how much research and planning your project needs before design begins.
Discovery, B2B Sites, and Small-Business Builds in Chicago
What a discovery phase is for
Some Chicago firms put research at the front of how they describe their work. One Design Company says it transforms “research and insight into memorable web design, development and brand strategy,” and describes its work as sitting “at the intersection of research, communication, design, and technology.” thunder::tech says its brand strategy “starts with stakeholder interviews, research and surveys of brand messaging and brand identity,” and describes a process that runs from “initial discovery and kickoff to reporting meetings and check-ins.”
Discovery is the part of a project where the firm learns about your business, your audience, and your goals before anything is designed. When a firm proposes it, ask what it will produce in writing. Useful outputs include a summary of what the firm learned, a list of the site’s goals, a site map, and a plan for the content each page needs. Ask whether discovery is priced as its own phase, and whether you keep the written outputs if you decide not to continue with the same firm.
Who the research will hear from
Ask who the firm plans to interview or survey: your leadership, your sales or service staff, your current customers, or people who chose a competitor. Ask how the findings will be shared with you, and how you will see them reflected in the site map and page designs that follow.
If your team is small, say how much time your people can give to interviews and reviews. A firm can plan around limited availability when it knows about it at the start.
Redesigns: from the site you have to a new site map
If you are replacing an existing site, discovery should include the site you already have. Ask whether the firm will review every current page and sort each one into keep, rewrite, combine, or remove, and whether you will see that list before the new site map is drawn. Ask which of your current pages people visit most, and how the firm will find out. Then ask how each old page address will send visitors on to the right new page once the new site is live, so that bookmarks, links from other sites, and search results keep working.
For a small business with a few dozen pages, this review can be short. For a large B2B site, it can be a piece of work in its own right, which is one more reason to ask how discovery is scoped and priced.
B2B websites and the readers they serve
Two firms on this page name B2B work directly. Solid Digital describes its Chicago practice as B2B website design and WordPress development and lists branding and website design for B2B SaaS, non-profits, and healthcare. thunder::tech says it works across a variety of B2B and B2C industries.
A B2B site may need to serve more than one reader: the person who will use your product or service, the person who approves the purchase, and sometimes a technical reviewer who checks whether it fits. Ask how the firm plans pages for each of them, where each one is expected to enter the site, and what the site asks each one to do next.
Small-business sites on WordPress, with search built in
Other Chicago firms describe their work around small businesses. Flamingo Agency calls itself “a web design agency creating custom WordPress websites for small businesses” and says it builds all of its websites on WordPress with Elementor, so that business owners can update content without needing to code. 1Brand Design describes its work as “Chicago web design, SEO & branding for small businesses,” and its services run from full WordPress sites to simple landing pages. 10com Web Development also pairs web design with search, saying it provides “custom web design, SEO, and digital marketing strategies tailored to your business.”
A small-business project may not need a long discovery phase, but it still needs the same answers in shorter form. Ask each firm how it would scale its planning to your project: how many conversations it needs before design starts, what it will ask you to prepare, and what it will produce before the first design is shown.
Who writes the words
1Brand Design lists copywriting among its services and says that “A beautiful website design still needs to convey a marketing message through impactful copywriting & a well-planned SEO strategy.” Whichever firm you choose, ask who will write each page, who will edit it, and whether search work shapes the copy before it is written or after.
Working With a Chicago Firm
10com Web Development and 1Brand Design both give addresses on Michigan Avenue, in the 60601 and 60611 ZIP codes. thunder::tech is on West Wacker Drive (60601), One Design Company on West Superior Street (60654), and Flamingo Agency on North Southport Avenue in Lakeview (60613). Solid Digital describes itself as located in downtown Chicago, and its listing gives the city.
thunder::tech offers clients “the opportunity to meet online or in person at our downtown Chicago office for official meetings, quick check-ins or just a chat over coffee.” 10com names Chicago as its headquarters and lists offices in Fort Worth, Green Bay, and Appleton, and thunder::tech lists offices in Chicago and Cleveland.
Four of the firms publish 312 numbers, and 1Brand Design publishes a 773 number.
Chicago Web Design Firms
10com Web Development
- Address: 205 N Michigan Ave, Suite 810, Chicago, IL 60601
- Phone: (312) 321-7496
- Website: 10comwebdevelopment.com
10com says it provides “custom web design, SEO, and digital marketing strategies tailored to your business” and describes its staff as designers, developers, and SEO experts. Besides its Chicago office, the company lists locations in Fort Worth, Texas, and in Green Bay and Appleton, Wisconsin.
1Brand Design
- Address: 444 North Michigan Avenue, Suite 1200, Chicago, IL 60611
- Phone: 773-680-4999
- Website: 1brand.design
1Brand Design describes its work as “Chicago web design, SEO & branding for small businesses,” and it lists graphic design and digital marketing among its services.
Flamingo Agency
- Address: 3752 N Southport Ave, Chicago, IL 60613
- Phone: 312-967-7044
- Website: flamingoagency.com
Flamingo Agency describes itself as “a web design agency creating custom WordPress websites for small businesses” and says its office is in Chicago’s Lakeview neighborhood.
One Design Company
- Address: 230 W Superior, Suite 700, Chicago, IL 60654
- Phone: 312 602 3335
- Website: onedesigncompany.com
One Design Company says it transforms “research and insight into memorable web design, development and brand strategy.”
Solid Digital
- Location: Chicago, IL
- Website: soliddigital.com
Solid Digital describes itself as “an award-winning web design and digital marketing agency located in Chicago, Illinois,” and says it has worked with organizations from B2B SaaS to healthcare technology since 2007.
thunder::tech
- Address: 77 W Wacker Dr., Suite 4500, Chicago, IL 60601
- Phone: 312-291-4618
- Website: thundertech.com
thunder::tech calls itself “A Chicago Web Design and Integrated Marketing agency” and lists offices in Chicago and Cleveland.
Matching Your Project to These Firms
Each entry reflects how the firm describes its own work.
| If your project needs | Firms that list it |
|---|---|
| Research-led web design, development, and brand strategy | One Design Company |
| Discovery and brand research with integrated marketing | thunder::tech |
| A B2B website with WordPress development | Solid Digital |
| A WordPress site for a small business that the owner can edit | Flamingo Agency |
| A small-business site with SEO, branding, and copywriting | 1Brand Design |
| Custom web design with SEO, from a firm with offices in several states | 10com Web Development |
Questions Chicago Businesses Ask
Which Chicago firms lead with research?
One Design Company says it transforms “research and insight” into web design, development, and brand strategy, and thunder::tech says its brand strategy starts with stakeholder interviews, research, and surveys.
Which firms work with B2B companies?
Solid Digital describes B2B website design and WordPress development and says it has worked with organizations from B2B SaaS to healthcare technology. thunder::tech says it works across B2B and B2C industries.
Which firms focus on small businesses?
Flamingo Agency and 1Brand Design both describe their work as web design for small businesses, and both name WordPress.
Can I meet a Chicago firm in person?
thunder::tech offers meetings online or in person at its downtown Chicago office. With the other firms, raise it on the first call.
Which firms have offices outside Chicago?
10com lists offices in Fort Worth, Green Bay, and Appleton, and thunder::tech lists an office in Cleveland.
How Firms Are Listed
Firms appear in alphabetical order, which is not a ranking. A firm is included when its own website places it in Chicago and lists website design among its services, and when that website could be opened for checking. The list does not cover every web design firm in Chicago. Addresses, phone numbers, and service descriptions come from each firm’s website and were checked in September 2026. A street address is shown when the firm publishes one; otherwise the listing gives the city, and a firm that publishes no phone number is listed with its website only.