Chicago’s web design industry has developed its own character separate from the coasts, shaped by the city’s deep base of B2B companies, nonprofits, associations, and mid-market enterprises. Agencies here tend to prioritize strategic depth and long-term client partnerships over flashy portfolios built on short engagements.
1. Orbit Media Studios
Donating more than $800,000 in web design services to Chicago-area nonprofits is not a typical line item in an agency’s history, but for Orbit Media Studios – a Certified B Corporation – it reflects the way founders Andy Crestodina and Barrett Lombardo have built the firm since 2001. The agency operates from 4043 North Ravenswood Avenue in Chicago’s Ravenswood neighborhood and maintains a fully in-house team with an average employee tenure of 7.8 years. That retention metric is notable in an industry where turnover runs high. Current CEO Todd Gettelfinger oversees an operation that has completed more than 1,000 web design projects since 2001 and earned Clutch’s Top Global Leader designation in both 2023 and 2024. Orbit has also appeared on the Inc. 5000 list and won both the Web Excellence Awards and the Golden Trumpet Award.
Services
Web Design: SEO-driven, conversion-optimized custom website design for B2B and nonprofit clients anchors Orbit’s practice. Design decisions are evaluated against traffic and conversion data, not only visual criteria, making the process iterative and measurable from the first wireframe.
Web Development: Full-stack development is handled entirely by an in-house team with no outsourcing. This policy is a deliberate structural choice at Orbit, ensuring that the team that designs a site also understands how it will be built and that quality control runs through a single accountable organization.
Digital Marketing and SEO: Search engine optimization, content strategy, and analytics services extend client relationships beyond the launch of a new site. Co-founder Andy Crestodina is one of the most widely cited content marketing and SEO educators in the industry, which means the agency’s digital marketing practice is built on a foundation of genuine depth.
Conversion Rate Optimization: UX improvements and A/B testing to improve lead generation are offered as an ongoing service. CRO work addresses the gap between sites that attract traffic and sites that turn that traffic into business outcomes.
Website Strategy: Content strategy, user research, and information architecture services provide the planning foundation that web design and development execute against. Strategy engagements are often the starting point for clients who need to understand their audience before committing to a design direction.
Key People
Andy Crestodina co-founded Orbit Media Studios in 2001 and serves as Chief Marketing Officer. He is a recognized author, speaker, and educator in content marketing and analytics. Barrett Lombardo co-founded the agency and serves as Chief Operating Officer. Todd Gettelfinger serves as CEO.
Notable Clients and Portfolio
Orbit Media Studios does not publicly list specific client names, a choice consistent with its B2B and nonprofit focus where client confidentiality is often valued. The agency has completed 1,000+ web design projects across every industry since its 2001 founding. Its Certified B Corporation status and $800,000+ in donated nonprofit services reflect a client base that extends into the civic and social impact sectors beyond standard commercial engagements. Clutch Top Web Developer and Top Web Design Company designations in both 2023 and 2024 confirm the quality of delivered work.
Contact Information
Address: 4043 N Ravenswood Ave, Suite 316, Chicago, IL 60613
Phone: (773) 348-4581
Website: www.orbitmedia.com/
2. Clique Studios
Growing to 35-40 employees and completing 500+ website launches without taking outside investment is an unusual trajectory for a Chicago digital agency, and it is the trajectory Clique Studios has followed since its founding in 2003. Headquartered at 20 North Wacker Drive in Chicago’s Loop with a second office in Denver, the agency specializes in higher education, associations, healthcare, and arts and culture organizations – sectors where institutional trust and long engagement cycles matter more than rapid creative turnover. Partner Derek Nelson has been part of an organization that maintains a 4.9 out of 5 average rating on Clutch across all reviews and averages 6-year employee tenure. Clique has earned 100+ awards including an Awwwards Site of the Day and has been recognized by 10 Best Design as one of the best web design firms in Chicago.
Services
Web Design: Custom website design for higher education, associations, healthcare, and arts and culture organizations reflects Clique’s sector depth. Design decisions account for the accessibility, compliance, and institutional trust requirements of these client categories rather than treating them as standard commercial builds.
Web Development: Full-stack development using WordPress, Laravel, Drupal, React Native, and Node.js gives Clique the technical flexibility to build on the platform that best fits each client’s content management and integration needs. Technology choices are driven by the client’s operational context rather than the agency’s internal preferences.
UX Strategy: User experience research, information architecture, and usability testing are delivered as a distinct strategic service before design begins. For institutions that serve diverse audiences including students, patients, or arts patrons, UX strategy is the difference between a site that serves its users and one that only reflects the institution’s internal hierarchy.
Branding: Brand identity, visual systems, and brand strategy services support clients whose digital work requires a coherent visual foundation. Clique’s branding practice is attuned to the particular challenges of institutional branding where multiple audiences and stakeholders must be served simultaneously.
Digital Marketing: SEO, content strategy, and performance marketing services round out Clique’s offering. The Clique University training program extends the agency’s value to clients by building in-house digital capabilities rather than creating dependency on ongoing agency services.
Key People
Derek Nelson is a Partner at Clique Studios and has been publicly identified as part of the agency’s leadership. The agency’s average employee tenure of 6 years reflects a stable internal culture that carries through to consistent client relationships.
Notable Clients and Portfolio
Clique Studios has delivered web design work for the American Bar Association, Northwestern University, and the Cancer Research Foundation. The agency has completed 400+ website redesigns in its focused sectors and 500+ total website launches across its history. Long-term client partnerships with ongoing support through the Clique University training program are a distinguishing feature of the agency’s relationship model. An Awwwards Site of the Day and 100+ total awards confirm the quality of creative output across a portfolio built primarily in education, healthcare, and civic institutions.
Contact Information
Address: 20 N Wacker Drive, Suite 1075, Chicago, IL 60606
Phone: 312-379-9329
Website: cliquestudios.com/
3. Mightybytes
Co-authoring the W3C Web Sustainability Guidelines places Mightybytes in a position no other Chicago web design agency occupies – shaping the global technical standards for how digital work should account for environmental impact. Founded in 1998 by Tim Frick and headquartered at 4001 North Ravenswood Avenue, Mightybytes holds a B Corp score of 171.8 and has been a Certified B Corporation since 2011. The agency primarily serves nonprofit organizations, associations, and universities, bringing accessibility and sustainability disciplines that most commercial agencies treat as compliance requirements rather than core values. Mightybytes won GD USA American Graphic Design Awards for the Joffrey Ballet website and the School of Rock website, two projects that demonstrate the agency’s ability to produce visually compelling work while meeting its own stringent standards for technical performance and accessibility.
Services
Web Design and Development: Accessible and sustainable web design and development with W3C WCAG compliance standards built in from the start distinguishes Mightybytes from agencies that treat accessibility as an afterthought. Every site is built to work for users with disabilities while also minimizing the digital carbon footprint of the technical implementation.
Digital Strategy: Content strategy, UX research, and information architecture for nonprofits and associations form the planning layer that precedes design. Mightybytes’ strategic work is informed by an understanding of the specific audiences and missions that nonprofit and association clients serve.
Experience Design: User interface, user experience, and accessibility-focused design are treated as inseparable disciplines at Mightybytes. The agency’s co-authorship of the W3C Web Sustainability Guidelines means that experience design at Mightybytes is informed by the most current technical thinking on sustainable digital product design.
Digital Marketing: SEO, SEM, PPC, and conversion rate optimization services extend the performance of client websites beyond launch. Marketing services are calibrated for the audience development and fundraising goals that nonprofit and association clients typically pursue rather than for e-commerce conversion.
Website Support and Maintenance: Ongoing technical support and digital systems management for existing sites ensures that the sustainable and accessible sites Mightybytes builds continue to perform at the standards they were built to. Long-term support relationships are a natural extension of the agency’s focus on mission-driven clients with limited internal technical capacity.
Key People
Tim Frick founded Mightybytes in 1998 and continues to lead the agency. His work co-authoring the W3C Web Sustainability Guidelines has established him as one of the most credible voices in sustainable web design globally, a distinction that reflects the depth of the agency’s commitment to its values.
Notable Clients and Portfolio
Mightybytes has delivered web design for the Alliance for the Great Lakes, Chicago Children’s Choir, PCMA, Climate Ride, Joffrey Ballet, and School of Rock. The agency won GD USA American Graphic Design Awards for both the Joffrey Ballet and School of Rock websites. Co-authorship of the W3C Web Sustainability Guidelines is the most significant portfolio item for an agency that has made impact-driven digital work its defining characteristic. The 4.5-star rating on both Clutch and Google and the Illinois Benefit Corporation status confirm a consistent record of quality delivery alongside its mission commitments.
Contact Information
Address: 4001 N Ravenswood Ave, Suite 404, Chicago, IL 60613
Phone: 773-561-7529
Website: www.mightybytes.com/
4. Foxbox Digital
Placing on the Inc. 5000 in three consecutive years – 2022, 2023, and 2024 – and ranking in the top 2% of fastest-growing US companies puts Foxbox Digital’s trajectory in a context that most Chicago agencies cannot match. Founded in 2017 by Rob Volk, who serves as Founder and CEO, the agency recorded 3,375% three-year revenue growth when first recognized by Inc. in 2022. Foxbox pairs Chicago-based leadership and senior architects with distributed development teams across Latin America, a model that combines local strategic accountability with engineering scale. CTO Elliott Torres leads the technical organization. The agency has built AI and ML architecture for Anthem Inc and developed digital products for Home Chef, a subsidiary of Kroger, demonstrating its capacity to deliver engineering-intensive work for large enterprises.
Services
Product and Engineering: Mobile app development, web application development, e-commerce implementation, and React and React Native builds form the core of Foxbox’s production capability. The agency approaches this work from an engineering-first perspective, treating technical architecture as a strategic decision rather than an implementation detail.
Strategy and Advisory: Product strategy, human-centered design, and CTO advisory services reflect Foxbox’s positioning as a partner for clients navigating significant technology decisions. The CTO advisory practice serves companies that need senior technical leadership on an engagement basis rather than full-time.
Cloud and Data: AWS, Azure, AI and ML implementation, Docker, and Kubernetes infrastructure work addresses the back-end requirements of the enterprise clients Foxbox serves. Cloud and data capabilities are increasingly central to the digital product work the agency takes on.
Web Design and UX: User experience design and digital product design translate engineering capability into interfaces that users can actually navigate. The UX practice ensures that technically sophisticated products are also usable products.
eCommerce Development: Custom e-commerce platform design and development for clients requiring more than standard Shopify or WooCommerce implementations. Foxbox’s e-commerce capability is informed by its broader engineering depth rather than limited to plugin configuration and theme customization.
Key People
Rob Volk founded Foxbox Digital in 2017 and serves as Founder and CEO. His leadership guided the agency to three consecutive Inc. 5000 appearances and the 3,375% revenue growth that placed Foxbox in the top 2% of fastest-growing US companies. Elliott Torres serves as CTO and oversees the agency’s technical architecture and engineering organization.
Notable Clients and Portfolio
Foxbox Digital has built AI and ML architecture for Anthem Inc, developed digital products for Home Chef (a Kroger company), and delivered work for VersaPay and Airspace Data. The three consecutive Inc. 5000 appearances in 2022, 2023, and 2024 provide the clearest external measure of the agency’s growth trajectory. The agency’s Chicago-based leadership with Latin America distributed engineering model reflects an operational structure designed to deliver enterprise-scale technical work without proportional fixed cost.
Contact Information
Address: Chicago, IL (specific street address not publicly listed)
Website: www.foxbox.com/
5. Solid Digital
Named the top-ranking global design agency by Clutch in 2021 and built specifically for long-term B2B marketing partnerships, Solid Digital was founded in 2007 by Jesse McCabe in Chicago. The agency operates 20 employees across four continents from its headquarters at 100 North LaSalle Street in the Loop. McCabe built Solid Digital around a retainer-model philosophy – clients do not simply hire the agency to build a website and move on, but enter ongoing Digital Growth programs that combine design, development, and marketing into sustained relationships. A W3 Awards Gold Win for the Edlong website redesign in the food and beverage category stands as a specific project-level recognition alongside the agency’s broader Clutch and Inc. 5000 accolades. Solid Digital holds a 4.9 out of 5 rating on Capterra and has been named a Best and Brightest Company to Work For nationally.
Services
Web Design: Custom WordPress-based website design focused on conversion and revenue outcomes for B2B marketing teams. Design decisions at Solid Digital are evaluated against the lead generation and pipeline goals of each client’s marketing team rather than aesthetic benchmarks alone.
Web Development: UI/UX design and WordPress Elementor development for enterprise and mid-market brands provides the technical layer beneath the agency’s design work. Development is handled in-house to maintain quality control across the full project lifecycle.
Digital Marketing: SEO, content strategy, and conversion rate optimization delivered through ongoing Digital Growth programs extend the agency’s value beyond the initial website build. The retainer model means that digital marketing is not a one-time project but a continuous optimization effort tied to measurable business metrics.
Digital Strategy: Strategic consulting, website audits, and digital growth roadmapping services provide clients with a structured plan before design and development work begins. Strategy engagements are often the entry point for new clients who need to understand their digital position before committing to a redesign.
HubSpot and CRM Integration: CMS, CRM, and marketing automation integration and support reflect the B2B marketing context in which most Solid Digital clients operate. HubSpot integration is frequently a critical requirement for clients whose sales and marketing teams depend on CRM data to qualify leads generated by the website.
Key People
Jesse McCabe founded Solid Digital in 2007 and serves as CEO. His philosophy of long-term partnership over project-based engagements has defined the agency’s model and client relationships since its founding.
Notable Clients and Portfolio
Solid Digital has built and maintained long-term digital programs for IMO Health, Hireology, HiSET, NAVS, Baker Hill, Restaurant365, and Edlong. The agency won a W3 Awards Gold in the Food and Beverage category for the Edlong website redesign. Engagements with IMO Health and Hireology expanded beyond initial redesign projects into full ongoing digital marketing partnerships, reflecting the retainer-model client relationships that define the agency’s approach. The WebAward Competition has recognized Solid Digital with multiple wins, complementing its Clutch, Inc. 5000, and W3 recognitions.
Contact Information
Address: 100 N LaSalle St, Suite 1400, Chicago, IL 60602
Phone: 877-899-9981
Website: www.soliddigital.com/