Web design · Chicago area
Web design for Chicago-area small businesses, written and built for you
For owners who need a proper website and have no time to build one. We write the words, design the site and put it on your own domain for a flat $500 ($49 to start, the rest when you approve), with a first preview in 72 hours.
Why a website
The cheapest employee you’ll hire
A website answers what people want to know before they call: what you do, what it costs, where you are and when you’re open. It works while you’re busy, and it vouches for you when you’re closed.
Your Google listing gets you found. Your website is where people decide to call.
Two plans
Launch or Growth. Flat prices, no monthly fee required.
Launch
$500 one time
- A one-page site, with the copy written for you
- A custom design that works on phones
- SEO basics, plus a contact or booking link
- Domain and business email set up. The first year of the domain is included.
- One revision round
- First preview in 72 hours
Suits a business with one clear offer, where most customers just need to call you or find you.
Growth
$800 one time
- Everything in Launch
- Up to five pages or sections
- A booking system or lead form, set up
- Google Business Profile setup (what that covers)
- Two revision rounds
- First preview in five business days
Suits a business with several services, a menu or price list, or customers who book or send enquiries.
Want to change the words yourself? Growth + Editing is $1,600. It’s the Growth site plus our own editor, so you can change your words, photos and hours through a simple form, with no code and no plugins. Mosques, clinics, charities and schools have their own plans on the pricing page.
Care is optional: $49 a month. It covers hosting, keeping your domain and security certificate running, a daily check that the site is up, every version saved so any change can be undone, up to 4 small edits a month, a monthly traffic summary and email support. Domain renewal is included. Without Care, the domain renews at $15 a year and the site is still yours.
Not included
What these prices don’t cover
- Launch doesn’t include extra pages, online checkout or logo design.
- Growth doesn’t include online stores or custom applications.
- Anything outside your plan is quoted separately. You approve it before any work starts.
- We don’t manage Google Ads or social media accounts yet (see below).
- We turn down alcohol, gambling, adult content, cannabis and interest-based lending.
If your project isn’t a fit, our reply will say so plainly.
How it works
A brief, a draft, your changes, then launch
- The brief. It takes about 15 minutes online: your business, your customers, what the site should get people to do, and any photos or logo you already have. Nothing is charged.
- Our reply. Within one business day you get a fixed quote and any questions we have.
- The draft. You pay the $49 draft fee, which is credited in full to your plan. The clock starts once the fee and your answers are both in. Your preview arrives in 72 hours on Launch, or five business days on Growth.
- Your changes. Send them as one email per revision round, and we turn them around.
- Launch. Approve the site and pay the balance: $451 on Launch, $751 on Growth. We then put it live on your domain.
There are no sales calls. Everything happens by email. If you’d like one short walkthrough call after you buy, it’s free and optional.
If the draft misses and you’d rather walk away, tell us and we’ll refund half the draft fee. The most you can lose is $24.50.
The person who reads your email is the person who builds your site.
Ownership
The site is yours
- Your domain is registered in your name, with you as the legal owner.
- The files, copy and design are yours once you make the final payment.
- If you want the domain at another registrar, we’ll transfer it free within 3 business days of you asking.
- If you cancel Care, you get a zip of your complete site within 7 days, and the site stays live for 30 days while you move.
Our work
Sites we built that are live today
Xtreme Cuts
Palos Hills · xtremecutspalos.com
A barbershop on 103rd Street that had no website. Walk-in and appointment prices are side by side, and every barber is named.
IRJ Home Inspections
Palos Hills · irjhomeinspections.com
A home inspector who moved off a one-page GoDaddy site. His prices are published, and his email kept working through the move.
Shawerma G
Chicago Ridge · shawermag.net
A Syrian shawerma truck that had an expired Squarespace page. Now the number to call and tonight’s hours are the first things you see.
Midwest Pulmonary, Critical Care & Sleep
Chicago Ridge and Palos Heights · midwestpulmonarysleep.com
A physician group’s site with a doctor finder. Every credential on it traces to a public source.
Shawarma Stop
Elgin and Lake in the Hills · shawarmastopusa.com
The menu comes from the restaurant’s own Clover system, and every item links straight to ordering.
Angel Smiles Dental
Crown Point, Indiana · angelsmilesdental.com
A family practice whose site was stuck in its old developer’s WordPress account. We moved it without interrupting the office’s email.
Who it’s for
Local businesses around Chicago, and owners across the US
Safina Studio is based in Bridgeview, in Chicago’s southwest suburbs. Most of our clients are nearby: a barbershop, a shawarma restaurant with two stores, a food truck, a home inspector, a dental practice and a physician group.
Everything runs by email, so distance doesn’t matter. We build for small businesses anywhere in the US.
Coming soon: Google Ads and social media management
We're building both now. If you want in when they open, email us and we'll write once, when there's something real to offer. No dates or prices until then.
Questions
What owners ask first
How much does a small business website cost?
With us, it costs $500 for Launch or $800 for Growth, paid once, plus optional Care from $49 a month. Upwork’s guide puts a small-business site at $500–$2,000 to build, before ongoing fees. Our cost guide has the full comparison.
Is there a monthly fee?
Only if you choose one. Care is $49 a month and optional. Without Care, the domain is $15 a year from the second year; the first year is included.
How long does it take?
On Launch, your first preview arrives 72 hours after we have your draft fee and your answers. On Growth it’s five business days. The site goes live once you’ve sent your changes and approved it.
Do I need a website if I already have a Google Business Profile?
Most businesses do. The profile gets you found; the website is where people check you out before they call. Google also turned off the free websites it used to make for Business Profiles in 2024.
Can I update the site myself?
On Launch and Growth, you email us your changes, and Care covers up to 4 small edits a month. Growth + Editing ($1,600) gives you our editor, so you can change words, photos and hours yourself. Without Care, email us the change and we’ll quote it first.
Do I have to meet you or get on a call?
No. The brief, the draft, your revisions and the launch all happen by email.
More numbers in the cost guide.
Start with the brief
It takes about 15 minutes and nothing is charged. You’ll get a fixed price back within one business day.
Start your site · $500Sources