Chicago Web Design Industry Insights [2025 Data]

As web design trends evolve and change year after year, so does the Chicago web design industry.

With customers expecting more from brands each year, it is vital for brands to know the latest trends that will shape how web design is in 2025 and beyond.

Chicago’s demand for a better online experience is rising. This will change how web developers plan their strategies this year.

Chicago web design agencies are the cornerstone of innovation and strategies this year.

Below we’ll talk about how they plan to optimize and implement this year according to all the new emerging trends.

Our Top 7 Chicago Web Design Trends for 2025 and Beyond

1. Mobile-First Web Design

Making sure your website is optimized for mobile devices is obligatory in 2025 and beyond.

As the years go by, more and more people use mobile devices as their main way to browse the web.

In fact, more than 50% of web traffic is from mobile devices alone. This means that now, more than ever, your website should be completely mobile-friendly.

Chicago web design agencies noticed this trend. They started making websites for mobile devices first, then for PCs. This makes it so that every page on the website is responsive and looks good on any device available.

So having a website that is completely responsive on mobile is good, but what features should it have?

• Thumb-friendly navigation: Putting all the information buttons, including CTAs at thumb’s reach, is vital.

• Fast loading speeds: Mobile devices overall take longer than PCs to load a website. Making sure the website loads as fast as possible on mobile is a must if you want to keep your bounce rate low.

• Progressive Web Apps (PWA): this makes it so your website has an app-like look and feel. This makes it a lot nicer for people browsing through your website on their mobile devices.

When you prioritize mobile visitors, you enhance their experience. This leads to higher sales and better SEO rankings.

Want to optimize your website for mobile devices but don’t know where to start? Let us help.

2. Voice Search Optimization

Virtual assistants like Alexa, Siri, and Google Assistant are changing how people search for products and services.

So, it’s clear that optimizing voice search queries is now essential for a strong SEO strategy.

Chicago web design agencies understand the need for strong voice search strategies. That’s why they are adding various methods to their overall plan:

• FAQ content: This helps voice search find a page more easily due to the questions being worded similarly.

• Long-tail keywords: This aligns better with speech patterns and can make a website more likely to appear in voice search.

• Structured data: By organizing pages and content in a certain order, it helps search engines to understand your website better.

Improving your voice search queries ensures your website is set for upcoming voice search trends.

3. Cybersecurity

With the rise of good strategies that promote more website traffic to your site, there are also concerns about web safety and data privacy.

Chicago web design agencies understand how important it is to keep their visitors secure at all times and make an effort to do this.

Websites face many threats from hackers trying to steal information. So, it’s vital for them to protect themselves and their customers.

There are several things every website should have as standard practice against hackers:

• Two-factor authentication (2FA): To prevent data stuffing or stolen information from being used.

• GDPR and CCPA compliance: This lets users know that all their data is completely private.

• SSL certificate: A must-have for both security and SEO.

• Blockchain security: better data integrity and transparency.

There are even more things to do if you want a completely secure website. If you want to learn more about it, then you can check this article here.

4. User Experience and Accessibility

Regardless of the year, a website should always offer an exceptional user experience if it wants to thrive and grow. Chicago web design agencies have known this for years and continue to make it a priority whenever they build websites for clients.

That being said, an important part of having a website with a good user experience is tied to accessibility.

Ten years ago, we didn’t have the tools to make websites accessible to everyone; in 2025, we do.

Making sure your website is ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) compliant is mandatory if you want to rank better in SERPs.

Some of the most important features your website should have for accessibility are:

• Color contrast options ensure your website is easy to read for everyone.

• Keyboard navigation for people with movement disabilities.

• Text-to-speech on every important section of your website.

There are many other features that websites should have added if they want to be ADA-compliant, but those three are the main ones.

Chicago web design companies prioritize accessibility and user experience to improve a website’s usability and enjoyment when browsing the site.

Trying to make your website ADA compliant but feeling a bit lost? We can help.

5. Big eCommerce Changes

Chicago’s eCommerce scene is slowly shifting to a headless CMS. This setup separates the front end from the back end.

There are several benefits that a headless CMS architecture provides.

• Faster page load times and an overall improvement throughout the site.

• Easier time customizing and scaling the website without butchering the website’s design.

• A seamless omnichannel experience that enables content to be sent between websites and apps.

Apart from websites moving a headless CMS, there are also new innovations such as product recommendations that are entirely AI-driven. One-click checkout systems that reduce the amount of work needed to buy a product are also making waves this year.

Chicago web designers see 2025 as a key year for eCommerce. Which is why they are focusing on the basics of new strategies.

6. Minimalism

While minimalist web designs are nothing new, the way they are being used in conjunction with AI paves the way toward heavily interactable designs with no visual clutter.

Chicago web design companies know that striking a balance between engagement and minimalism is key if they want the website to perform well.

Here are some of the key minimalist trends that Chicago web designers are adapting in their strategies:

• Micro interactions: this provides the visitor with enough feedback to keep them entertained while helping you guide them through your pages.

• Dark mode toggle: This lets visitors decide whether they want to use dark mode or not with a click of a switch.

• Bold typography: This provides important information to the visitor while not disrupting the flow of the website.

In 2025, Chicago web design agencies are discovering that a minimalist website can still be interactive. Clients don’t have to sacrifice engagement for simplicity. With enough creativity and engaging elements, web designers can make any website interesting while using a minimalist look.

7. Hyper-Personalization

With each passing year, visitors expect more and more from websites and brands. Be it from personalized recommendations to content that adapts to the things they enjoy.

Chicago web design agencies noticed the trend and are slowly incorporating what is known as hyper-personalization. This trend modifies a website and its content to fully benefit and fit a visitor’s preferences. This includes:

• Predictive recommendations: AI discovers what a visitor enjoys from past actions and suggests similar products.

• Content adaptation: Complete website redesign and changes based on the visitors’ behavior.

• Personalized user journeys: Creating a unique experience for potential customers helps them feel engaged. This approach also motivates them to purchase a product or service.

From how AI is shaping and how trends are performing, it’ll come to a point where hyper-personalization will become the norm.

While we don’t recommend you completely jump ship and use this strategy, it’s something to highly consider adding to your business.

Get a Futureproof Website That Converts With Blacksmith

Staying on top of all the latest trends can be difficult, especially with how fast AI keeps evolving and making trends obsolete.

Worry not, here at Blacksmith, we have a group of web design experts ready to create websites that stand the test of time.

As a Full-Service Web Design Agency in Chicago, we can provide you with an amazing custom-built website that adds all the features and trends mentioned above.

Still unsure if this is what your brand needs to take the next big leap? Let’s get on a call and discuss how this can make 2025 your best year ever.