---
title: "Chicago Web Design, Website Development and SEO"
description: "SEO, web design, AI search and Google Ads for Chicago and its suburbs, from Evanston to Joliet, with med spa, roofing and landlord work built on Illinois rules."
url: https://kihanmarketing.com/locations/chicago/
published: 2026-09-30
updated: 2026-10-21
---

# Chicago Web Design, Website Development and SEO

Plus AI search, Google Ads and local search from Evanston to Joliet

Kihan Marketing is a digital marketing agency. Businesses in Chicago and its suburbs come to us for SEO, website design and development, AI search, Google and Meta Ads, local SEO and social media. For landlords, med spas, roofers and brokerages, every page starts from the Illinois and Chicago rules that apply to their trade.

From Evanston to Joliet, get your business found on Google and named in the answers ChatGPT and AI Overviews give. We work remotely, inside accounts that stay in your name.

## SEO services for Chicago businesses

We handle the technical [SEO](https://kihanmarketing.com/services/seo/), schema markup, content and link building for Chicago-area businesses, then build a page for each service and each place you serve.

Fewer than three in ten people in the Chicago metro live inside the city limits, so a site that only says "Chicago" leaves out most of the market. Schaumburg, Skokie and Bolingbrook each get their own page, written from what is true in that village.

- Technical SEO and site audits
- Schema markup
- Content that answers real questions
- Link building
- Pages for each suburb you serve
- Search Console set up in your name

## Website design and development in Chicago

We design and build [websites](https://kihanmarketing.com/services/web-development/) on WordPress or Next.js, with custom code where a site needs it, and we take on redesigns, speed work and maintenance.

Illinois has a law on information technology accessibility, the IITAA. It requires state agencies and public universities to meet WCAG 2.1 at level AA, and it does not directly apply to private businesses.

Our [ADA compliance](https://kihanmarketing.com/services/web-development/#ada-compliance) work tests your site against WCAG 2.2 at level AA, fixes what fails and checks it again with a keyboard and a screen reader. It is technical work, not legal advice.

- New websites and redesigns
- WordPress development
- Next.js, React and custom code
- ADA compliance (WCAG 2.2 AA)
- Speed work and maintenance

## Websites and results we are proud of

### Apartment community

A community website we revamped for an apartment management company.

- Industry: Apartment community
- Services: Website revamp

[View the project](https://kihanmarketing.com/projects/summit-vista-apartments-port-orchard/)

### Roofing company

Single location SEO grown into a site of more than 250 pages. It covers more than 40 towns and neighborhoods in Central Texas and has a roofing video library, the Knowledge Center, inside it.

- Industry: Roofing
- Services: SEO, Website build, AI citation

[View the project](https://kihanmarketing.com/projects/driftwood-builders-roofing/)

### Real estate agent

Started as a landing page and Meta ads for one development, then widened into a site covering realty, visas, island updates, concierge and vacation rentals.

- Industry: Real estate development
- Services: Landing page, Meta ads, Website

[View the project](https://kihanmarketing.com/projects/wei-landgraf/)

### Cryotherapy studio

Moved to a new website with its own booking page. Google Ads click-through rate went from 0.13 percent in Q4 2023 to 4.64 percent in Q3 2026.

- Industry: Med spa and wellness
- Services: Website, SEO, Google Ads, Meta ads

[View the project](https://kihanmarketing.com/projects/cryo-sanctuary/)

## AI search, ads, local and social in Chicago

### AI search

We work to get your business named in Google's AI Overviews, ChatGPT and Perplexity, the work known as answer engine optimization (AEO) or generative engine optimization (GEO).

Google says AI Overviews need nothing extra: a page only has to be indexed and able to show a snippet. It also advises keeping your Business Profile up to date. So we write short answers to the questions Chicago-area customers ask. Do you cover Naperville and Aurora, or only Cook County? Is my building covered by the city’s landlord ordinance? Do you come out to Evanston, or only the city?

### Google and Meta Ads

We manage pay-per-click (PPC) campaigns on [Google Ads](https://kihanmarketing.com/services/paid-ads/), and paid social on Facebook and Instagram. We can build TikTok and LinkedIn campaigns when they fit.

Chicago’s place names can mislead a campaign. North Chicago is in Lake County, Illinois. West Chicago is in DuPage County, and East Chicago is across the state line in Indiana. The metro also has two Lake Counties, one in each state. So we choose every ad location on the map, name the state, and add negative keywords for look-alike towns you do not serve.

### Local SEO

We run [local SEO](https://kihanmarketing.com/services/local-seo/) and the Google Business Profile itself: categories, services, hours, photos and a weekly review process.

A Schaumburg company that also works in Palatine and Arlington Heights cannot open a profile at a virtual office in either village or put either name in its business name. It lists them as service areas instead, up to 20. Around Chicago that limit fills quickly, so we pick the 20 places where your customers actually are.

### Social media

We plan [social media](https://kihanmarketing.com/services/social-media/) around the Chicago calendar. The river is dyed green for St. Patrick’s Day in March, Taste of Chicago runs July 8 to 12 in 2026 and the Chicago Marathon comes in October. For property managers we add the start of the city’s heat season on September 15.

For the look of those posts, our [brand design](https://kihanmarketing.com/services/brand-design/) work supplies the logo, identity guidelines and templates, and keeps them in step with your website.

## How the Chicago area splits local search

Around Chicago, local search splits by village and city rather than by county, and distance decides who appears on the map. The metro crosses the state line into Indiana, and the city itself sits almost entirely in Cook County.

1. **Villages, not neighborhoods.** Oak Park, Wilmette and Orland Park are villages in their own right, not Chicago neighborhoods. A page about the city is not a page about any of them.
2. **Cities cross county lines.** Aurora, which has more people than any Illinois city but Chicago, sits in four counties: Kane, DuPage, Will and Kendall. Naperville and Joliet each span two. We draw ad targeting and service areas around the city, not the county.
3. **The map favors what is near.** Google says its local results are mainly based on relevance, distance and popularity, and distance means how far a business is from the searcher. A Naperville business is unlikely to appear for someone in Evanston, more than 30 miles away, and sharing a metro does not close that gap.

### Chicagoland in numbers

- **9.43M** people in the 13-county Chicago metro in 2025, third in size among US metros
- **284** municipalities in the seven northeastern Illinois counties, most of them villages
- **27.4%** of homes in the city are in two- to four-unit buildings, against 7.7% nationally
- **38.8%** of homes in the city were built in 1939 or earlier, against 11.7% nationally

## Marketing for Chicago med spas, roofers, landlords and brokers

Illinois writes advertising rules for doctors, roofers and real estate brokers, and Chicago adds rules of its own for landlords.

### Med spa and healthcare SEO

Illinois bars claims of superior care, so our SEO, Google Ads and booking pages for Chicago med spas never rank one clinic above another. In Illinois, we write all three to the Medical Practice Act.

Illinois bars physicians from "claims of superior quality of care to entice the public" and from advertising fee comparisons with other licensees. It also bars "guarantees of success" and statements that "play upon the vanity or fears of the public". Every ad must carry the licensee’s title as it appears on the license, or the initials the Act allows.

A state memo updated in October 2025 says every med spa falls under those advertising rules. It must be owned and run by a physician, or for some services by an advanced practice registered nurse. A salon may not put "medical" in its business name. So a Chicago med spa page names the medical director and who performs each treatment.

- Illinois rule: 225 ILCS 60/26
- Also: State med spa memo, October 2025
- Services: Med spa SEO, Google Ads, booking pages

[Med spa SEO](https://kihanmarketing.com/med-spa-marketing/med-spa-seo/)

### Roofing

Chicago roofers get SEO, storm pages and Google Ads from us that cover the city as well as the suburbs and show the Illinois license number. On July 15, 2024, a derecho brought 32 confirmed tornadoes to the National Weather Service’s Chicago forecast area, a record for one event. Four touched down inside the city limits, also a record, and one damaged terminal roofing at O’Hare. Storm repair pages need to cover the city as well as the suburbs.

Under the Illinois Roofing Industry Licensing Act, every ad must show the roofing contractor license number and the licensee’s name as it appears on the license. Every contract must also state that when the owner pays with insurance, the roofer cannot pay, waive or rebate any part of the deductible. So "we cover your deductible" never goes in an ad.

- Illinois rule: 225 ILCS 335/5 and 5.5
- Storm record: Four tornadoes inside the city, July 15, 2024
- Services: Roofing SEO, storm pages, Google Ads

[Roofing marketing](https://kihanmarketing.com/roofing-marketing/)

### Property management

For Chicago landlords and managers we build websites, listing templates and owner FAQs around the city’s landlord ordinance and the Illinois source of income rule. In the city, 54 percent of occupied homes are rented, against 34.5 percent across the metro. The Residential Landlord and Tenant Ordinance covers most of those units, though units in owner-occupied buildings of six units or fewer are exempt. Its summary must be attached to every written lease and renewal.

For tenants not in the eviction process, a landlord must give notice before ending a month-to-month tenancy, declining to renew or raising the rent. It is 30 days if the tenant has lived there under six months, 60 days up to three years and 120 days after that. Renewal emails and owner FAQs should say so.

Since January 2023 the Illinois Human Rights Act has protected source of income in housing, and the state says a listing may not say "Section 8 not accepted". So listing and ad templates never say a voucher is not accepted.

- Chicago rule: Residential Landlord and Tenant Ordinance
- Illinois rule: Human Rights Act, source of income
- Notice: 30, 60 or 120 days

[Property management marketing](https://kihanmarketing.com/property-management-marketing/)

### Real estate

Our SEO and site pages for Chicago brokerages name the sponsoring broker on every ad and never borrow another firm’s name to win traffic. In Illinois all advertising must include the sponsoring broker’s name. When an agent advertises a property online, the page must also show the city and state of the broker’s registered office, or link directly to its virtual office.

The same rules count it as deceptive to use a domain name, social media handle, metatag or keyword "intended to deceptively direct, drive or divert internet traffic". A team name with a word like "realty" or "properties" must be followed by "team".

- Illinois rules: 68 Ill. Adm. Code 1450.715 and 1450.720
- Our client: Real estate agency, Sint Maarten
- Result: Clicks 1,545 to 2,478, July to September 2026 against 2025

[See the real estate project](https://kihanmarketing.com/projects/island-dreams-realty/)

More on [real estate marketing](https://kihanmarketing.com/real-estate-marketing/), or see every industry we work with in the [portfolio](https://kihanmarketing.com/portfolio/).

## Who does the work

**Kiran Dasgupta**, Founder and Lead Strategist. Kiran Dasgupta founded Kihan Marketing and leads every engagement. He writes about SEO, AI search, property management marketing and choosing an agency.

- [Kiran Dasgupta](https://kihanmarketing.com/kiran/): Founder and Lead Strategist
- [Hannah Pepito](https://kihanmarketing.com/hannah/): Co-founder and Project Manager
- [Shahzad Farooq](https://kihanmarketing.com/shahzad/): Co-founder and Senior Web Developer
- [Najma Khan](https://kihanmarketing.com/najma/): Graphic Designer
- [Atisam Elahi](https://kihanmarketing.com/atisam/): SEO Strategist
- [Ifrah Shah](https://kihanmarketing.com/ifrah/): Social Media Expert

## How to choose the best digital marketing agency in Chicago

Whoever you hire for SEO, web design or ads, us included, ask these five questions. The answers show whether they know Cook County from DuPage, and Illinois from Indiana.

1. **Ask whose name is on the accounts.** Your Google Ads account, Business Profile, analytics and domain should all be registered to you.
2. **Ask an Illinois question.** An agency pitching med spas should know what 225 ILCS 60/26 bars in a doctor’s ad. One pitching roofers should know what every Illinois roofing ad has to show.
3. **Ask which Lake County they mean.** The metro has two, one in Illinois and one in Indiana. An answer that names the state is a good sign.
4. **Ask where they would start.** Evanston, Naperville and Joliet are different searches. Listen for one place to start and the reason for it. A plan to cover every suburb on day one is a warning sign.
5. **Read the reviews for detail.** Useful reviews name the work, such as a rebuilt site or a fixed profile. Kihan Marketing is rated 5.0 on Google.

## Your Chicago questions, answered

### Do you have an office in Chicago?

No. We work remotely, in accounts registered to you: Google Ads, the Business Profile, Search Console and the website itself. You can see every change we make.

### Do you work in the suburbs as well as the city?

Yes. We plan pages, profile service areas and ad targeting around the suburbs you actually serve, such as Evanston, Schaumburg, Naperville or Joliet, instead of one campaign for all of Chicago.

### Do you offer ADA compliance for Chicago websites?

Yes, as technical work. We test the site against WCAG 2.2 at level AA and fix what fails, such as color contrast, image descriptions, headings, form labels, focus order and captions. Then we check it again with a keyboard and a screen reader. We never use overlay widgets. It is not legal advice, and no one can promise a site will never be sued.

### What are AEO and GEO?

Answer engine optimization and generative engine optimization: getting your business named when Google’s AI Overviews, ChatGPT or Perplexity answer a question. A renter might ask whether a Chicago landlord owes interest on a security deposit. A property manager’s page that answers plainly is the one an assistant can quote.

### Do Chicago landlords owe interest on security deposits?

For most rental units in the city, yes. The Residential Landlord and Tenant Ordinance exempts units in owner-occupied buildings of six units or fewer. Where it applies, a landlord pays interest on deposits held more than six months. The City Comptroller sets the rate each year, and for 2026 it is 0.01 percent. To deduct for damage, the landlord must give an itemized statement within 30 days of move-out. The deposit and any interest owed, minus unpaid rent and damage, must go back within 45 days. This is a summary, not legal advice.

### When should a Chicago business get ready for winter?

Before the snow. At O’Hare the first measurable snow normally falls around November 18 and the first inch around December 7, and a normal season brings 38.4 inches. We put winter service pages and ads live in the fall. If snow closes you for the day, add special hours to your Business Profile so the listing shows you closed.

## Other city pages in the region

- [Milwaukee, Wisconsin](https://kihanmarketing.com/locations/milwaukee/)
- [Indianapolis, Indiana](https://kihanmarketing.com/locations/indianapolis/)
- [Dayton, Ohio](https://kihanmarketing.com/locations/dayton/)
- [Detroit, Michigan](https://kihanmarketing.com/locations/detroit/)
- [Minneapolis, Minnesota](https://kihanmarketing.com/locations/minneapolis/)

## Got a project in Chicago?

Send us the suburbs you serve, and our marketing audit will show where your business appears in map results and where it does not.

(425) 954-3452, info@kihanmarketing.com