Starter Site in Chicago
Professional starter site services for Chicago businesses. Strategy, execution, and results.
What's Included
Every Starter Site ships with the same professional foundation, regardless of industry or business size.
- 5 custom-designed pages. Typically Home, About, Services, Contact, and one additional page of your choice. Blog landing, portfolio, testimonials, pricing, FAQ, or whatever your business needs most.
- Custom design. We design your site around your brand. Your colors, your fonts, your photography, your voice. Not a template with your logo swapped in.
- Working contact form. Connected and delivering messages to your email inbox. No broken forms, no messages vanishing into a spam folder. We test delivery before launch.
- Mobile-responsive layout. Built mobile-first, so it works perfectly on iPhone, Android, tablets, and desktop. Over 60% of web traffic in Chicago comes from mobile devices. Your site will be ready for all of them.
- SEO foundation. Proper title tags, meta descriptions, heading structure, image alt text, XML sitemap, and robots.txt. You will not rank number one overnight, but you will have the technical foundation that makes ranking possible.
- Performance optimization. Next.js server-side rendering, optimized images, minimal JavaScript bundle, lazy loading. Your site scores 90+ on Google PageSpeed Insights out of the box.
- SSL certificate. HTTPS enabled from launch. Required by Google for ranking and required by your customers for trust.
- Analytics integration. Google Analytics or Plausible connected so you can see who visits, from where, and what they do.
- Hosting guidance. We deploy your site and walk you through your hosting setup so you understand what you are paying for and how to manage it going forward.
- Source code ownership. You own everything. The design, the code, the content. No vendor lock-in. If you want to move to a different developer in a year, you take everything with you.
Who the Starter Site Is Built For in Chicago
The Starter Site fits businesses that need a professional web presence quickly, without the overhead of a $5,000 to $15,000 custom project. These are the businesses we see most often in Chicago.
Contractors and trades. Electricians in Bridgeport, plumbers in Avondale, HVAC companies serving the Northwest Side. You land work through referrals and need a site that looks legitimate when someone searches your name before calling. Your site needs to load fast on a phone, show your service area, and make it easy to request a quote.
Restaurants and food businesses. New spots in Logan Square, catering companies in Pilsen, bakeries in Bridgeport. You need a menu, hours, location, and a way for people to reach you. Not a full ordering platform. Just a clean site that shows up when someone searches "best tacos near me" in your neighborhood.
Professional services. Therapists, accountants, consultants, and coaches opening practices across the city. You need credibility online before your first client walks through the door. A Starter Site gives you that presence in three days instead of three months.
Real estate agents. Independent agents and small brokerages in the Chicago market need a personal site separate from their brokerage page. Property listings, neighborhood expertise, contact information, and testimonials.
Fitness and wellness. Personal trainers, yoga instructors, massage therapists, and wellness practitioners in neighborhoods from Logan Square to Pilsen. You need class schedules, pricing, your story, and a booking link or contact form.
Creative professionals. Photographers, designers, videographers, and musicians across Chicago who need a portfolio site that loads fast and looks sharp. Five pages is plenty for a portfolio, bio, services, and contact page.
Nonprofit organizations. Small nonprofits and community organizations across Bridgeport, Pilsen, and the South Side that need a web presence to support grant applications, donor outreach, and community engagement.
New businesses. Anyone opening a new business in Chicago who needs to establish an online presence before launch day. Whether you are opening a shop in Avondale or starting a consulting practice from your Logan Square apartment, three days from brief to launch means your site is ready before your first customer arrives.
What to Expect
The three-day process is structured so you spend minimal time on your end while we handle the heavy work.
Day 1: Discovery and Design. You fill out a brief intake form covering your business, your audience, your preferences, and your content. We review it, pull together a design direction, and build out the site structure. If you have a logo, brand colors, and photos ready, we start designing immediately. If you need guidance on any of those, we provide recommendations. By the end of Day 1, we have a design direction and page layouts in progress.
Day 2: Build and Refine. We build out all five pages, integrate your contact form, optimize images, set up SEO elements, and connect analytics. You receive a preview link to review the site. Feedback is welcome. We build in a revision window so you can request adjustments to copy, layout, or design details before launch.
Day 3: Launch. We finalize revisions, run performance and mobile testing, configure your domain, enable SSL, and push the site live. We verify that your contact form delivers correctly, your analytics are tracking, and your site loads fast on mobile. You get a walkthrough of how to request changes going forward.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes. The Starter Site is built on a framework that scales. Adding pages, a blog, an online store, or additional features later is straightforward. Many Chicago clients start with the Starter Site and expand as their business grows. We offer ongoing development for clients who want to build on their site over time. **Do I need to provide my own content and photos?** We work with what you have. If you have professional photos and written content, we will use them. If you are starting from scratch, we can write your page copy and source stock photography that fits your brand. Most Chicago businesses have some materials ready. A logo, a few photos from a phone, a paragraph about what they do. That is enough to get started. **What if I already have a domain name?** We will connect your existing domain to the new site. If you do not have a domain yet, we will help you register one. Domain registration is typically $12 to $15 per year through providers like Namecheap or Google Domains. **How does hosting work?** We deploy your site to modern hosting infrastructure. Hosting costs are typically $0 to $20 per month depending on traffic volume. We explain your options and help you choose what fits your business. You are not locked into any specific provider. **Is $997 really the full price?** Yes. $997 covers the complete design, development, and launch of your 5-page site. No hidden fees, no monthly retainers required, no surprise invoices. You own the code and the design outright. The only ongoing costs are your domain renewal and hosting, which you control directly. **What if I need something bigger than 5 pages?** If your project requires more than five pages, custom functionality like booking systems or e-commerce, or integration with third-party platforms, we offer larger packages. The Starter Site is designed for businesses that need a professional presence quickly. For more complex projects, we scope and price based on your specific requirements.