01
Figma design system
Tokens, components, variants, auto-layout, interactive states, documentation.
§§ · web design agency
Web design agency for sites that convert, not just sit there.
Editorial-grade visual design, conversion-engineered from wireframe to ship. Design system, Figma handoff, Core Web Vitals green at launch. 2,000+ brands shipped across 55+ countries.
A web design agency researches audiences, defines information architecture, designs a visual system, and engineers a website that meets a named business goal. That goal is usually conversion, SEO, brand equity, or all three. Visual systems are drawn in Figma, engineered against Core Web Vitals, and shipped to meet WCAG 2.2 AA. The visual part is what people see. The strategic part is what makes the visual part earn its price.
The work splits into six categories at Digital Heroes. Discovery reconciles the brand, the audience, and the KPI. Information architecture and wireframes decide what goes where, in what order, at what scale. Visual design turns the wireframe into a design system and a set of comps — an editorial visual identity, not a template. Engineering ships the site in Next.js, Webflow, Shopify, or Framer. Performance and accessibility get tuned against budgets, not assumptions. Post-launch, we A/B test what the funnel actually rewards.
The reason design and engineering sit under one roof here: handoffs lose fidelity. When the person shipping the Figma file and the person shipping the component are on the same Slack thread, the gap between the comp and the production build collapses to zero. For reference, see our web development service (for teams commissioning engineering only) or UI/UX design service (for product and app design specifically).
tl;dr
- A web design agency researches, defines architecture, designs visual systems, and engineers sites against a named business goal.
- Every engagement ships ten deliverables: Figma system, type and colour ramps, responsive grid, components, motion tokens, WCAG 2.2 AA, CWV budget, asset pipeline, CMS, SEO baseline.
- Four fidelity stages: wireframe, low-fi, mid-fi, shipped. You approve each before the next starts.
- Five conversion levers ship into every build: message hierarchy, friction audit, proof architecture, speed as conversion, post-launch testing.
- Pricing: $8K-$15K landing page (3 weeks), $18K-$35K marketing site (6 weeks), $45K-$120K full brand website (8-12 weeks).
When to hire a web design agency.
Six honest signals. Hire an agency when: the site must sell to a named KPI, brand is a competitive edge (Notion, Linear, Stripe, Vercel territory), you need a documented design system not a one-off site, your Core Web Vitals are red, you ship multi-region, or you have zero in-house design. Hit three or more, the agency price pays itself back.
- 01
The site must sell
Conversion is the KPI. A 0.4-point lift at your traffic level pays for the whole build in a quarter. A template won't ship the funnel thinking that gets you there.
- 02
Brand is a competitive edge, not a tax
Category includes Notion, Linear, Stripe, Vercel, Arc, Aesop. Your customers judge you on the site's craft before anyone reads a word. Template sites broadcast "not serious."
- 03
You need a design system, not a site
Your content team will ship new pages for the next three years without you. Without a documented system (tokens, components, usage rules), every new page is a one-off that breaks the brand by month six.
- 04
Your current site's Core Web Vitals are red
LCP over 4 seconds, INP over 500ms, CLS over 0.25. You're losing organic impressions to competitors whose sites pass. Performance tuning alone rarely fixes this — the design decisions have to change.
- 05
You're shipping to multiple regions or languages
Hreflang, region-specific CTAs, currency handling, RTL layouts. Template marketplaces cover English-first, single-region cases. Multi-region needs a system built for it.
- 06
You have zero in-house design
One founder, one engineer, no designer. A freelance contractor can ship a page; they can't give you a system, a process, or opinions that carry through the next hire. Agencies do that.
§ 03 · the process
Wireframe → low-fi → hi-fi → ship.
Four fidelity stages, each a check-in: wireframe (information architecture in Figma), low-fi (typography hierarchy in greyscale), mid-fi (brand colour, real content, motion tokens), shipped (high-fi, engineered, WCAG 2.2 AA, CWV green). You approve each before the next starts. No surprise reveals.
- § 01 · wk 1–2
Wireframe
Information architecture, page flows, layout grid, content inventory. Zero visual. Pure logic.
- § 02 · wk 2
Low-fidelity
Typography hierarchy, spacing rhythm, image placeholders, grid decisions. Still greyscale.
- § 03 · wk 2–3
Mid-fidelity
Brand color, typography pairings, real content, first animation tokens, responsive variants.
- § 04 · wk 3–6
Shipped
High-fidelity visual, engineered components, motion, edge cases, accessibility, Core Web Vitals green.
§ 04 · the design system
Every engagement ships a design system.
Ten deliverables, handed off in Figma and docs: Figma system, type and colour ramps, responsive grid, component library, motion system, WCAG 2.2 AA accessibility, CWV budget, asset pipeline, CMS stack, SEO baseline. Your team keeps shipping new pages long after we've shipped the last one, without us.
02
Type + color ramps
Modular type scale, semantic color tokens, dark mode ramps if required.
03
Responsive grid
Mobile 375 · tablet 768 · desktop 1440 · wide 1920. Fluid between.
04
Component library
Nav, hero, feature, pricing, testimonial, logo grid, FAQ, footer, forms, utility states.
05
Motion system
Easing curves, duration tokens, reveal patterns, micro-interactions, reduced-motion fallback.
06
Accessibility
WCAG 2.2 AA contrast, focus order, keyboard nav, ARIA labels, tap-target sizing.
07
CWV budget
LCP ≤ 2.5s, INP ≤ 200ms, CLS ≤ 0.1 at launch, benchmarked monthly.
08
Asset pipeline
AVIF + WebP, responsive srcsets, lazy loading, CDN, LQIP placeholders.
09
CMS + stack
Sanity, Contentful, Payload, Webflow, Shopify, Framer. Right tool per engagement.
10
SEO baseline
Schema.org, OG, sitemap, robots, hreflang, canonical, llms.txt for AI search.
§ 05 · the unfair advantage
We don't just design sites. We engineer conversion.
Template-first agencies sell layouts. We sell outcomes. Every page we ship has a named primary metric (signup rate, demo booking rate, form completion, checkout rate) and a plan to move it. Five conversion levers ship into every build, benchmarked against Nielsen Norman Group research and Baymard checkout data.
lever · 01
Message hierarchy
What's the one sentence above the fold? What earns the scroll to sentence two? Most sites never decide.
lever · 02
Friction audit
Every required field. Every modal. Every extra click between intent and action. We cut until nothing's safe to cut.
lever · 03
Proof architecture
Social proof, logos, testimonials, case study teasers, trust badges. Positioned where doubt peaks, not on the homepage by default.
lever · 04
Speed as conversion
Every 100ms of load time costs measurable conversion. Our performance budget is a conversion lever, not a nice-to-have.
lever · 05
Post-launch testing
The site ships with A/B infrastructure ready. First experiment goes live in week 7. Winners scale. Losers die.
benchmark
1.24% → 2.84%
conversion rate lift (real client)
Typical first-year conversion lift on a full-site redesign. We publish the before-and-after funnel, the exact test sequence, and the revenue attributable to each change. If the numbers don't move, we say so and do the next round of work free. The unfair advantage is caring about the number.
Start a conversion audit§ 06 · responsive by default
One layout. Every viewport.
Responsive isn't three designs pasted together, it's one system that breathes across 360px to 2560px. Mobile-first by default, per MDN media queries guidance. We engineer desktop-confidently and verify everything between with real-device QA.
§ 07 · the timeline
From brief to launch in six weeks.
Every engagement runs the same five acts: Discover (week 1), Design (weeks 2-3), Build (weeks 4-5), Launch (week 6), Optimize (ongoing). Landing pages run 3 weeks; full brand websites run 8-12 weeks. You always know which act you're in and what the next one looks like.
- § 01 · wk 1
Discover
Audience, KPI, brand voice, tech audit, content inventory, named conversion target.
- § 02 · wk 2–3
Design
Wireframes, visual system, component library, responsive comps, motion tokens, accessibility pass.
- § 03 · wk 4–5
Build
Engineering, CMS wiring, content integration, SEO baseline, analytics, CWV tuning.
- § 04 · wk 6
Launch
QA matrix, staging sign-off, DNS cutover, GSC address change, launch-day monitoring.
- § 05 · ongoing
Optimize
A/B tests, funnel tuning, content iteration, monthly performance + conversion review.
Three engagement tiers.
Three engagement tiers: $8K-$15K landing page (3 weeks), $18K-$35K marketing site (6 weeks, 5-8 pages with full design system and CMS), $45K-$120K full brand website (8-12 weeks, multi-region). Published ranges, clear scope, senior delivery. Scope changes get flagged before invoices do.
landing
Landing page
$8K–$15K
Single high-conversion landing page. Research, visual design, responsive engineering, analytics, A/B infra. 3-week sprint.
Start a landing pagemost picked
marketing site
Marketing site
$18K–$35K
5–8 pages. Full design system, component library, CMS, motion, CWV green. 6-week cadence.
Start a marketing sitefull brand
Full brand website
$45K–$120K
15+ pages, multi-region, complete design system, editorial CMS, animations, integrations. 8–12 weeks.
Scope a brand siteverified · certified · proven
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Trustpilot 4.9 ★ · 70 reviews
DUNS 650878346
UN Global Tier 1Web design agency FAQ.
Direct answers on web design pricing, timeline, design-vs-build split, Core Web Vitals, SEO scope, and redesigns. For the canonical schema reference, see schema.org WebPage.
What does a web design agency do?
A web design agency researches audiences, defines information architecture, designs visual systems, and engineers websites that meet specific business goals — conversion, SEO, or brand equity. At Digital Heroes, a web design engagement covers discovery, wireframes, high-fidelity visual design, responsive engineering, Core Web Vitals tuning, SEO technicals, analytics instrumentation, and post-launch optimization.
How much does web design cost from an agency?
Landing pages: $8K–$15K. Marketing sites (5–8 pages, design system, CMS): $18K–$35K. Full brand websites with multi-region, editorial CMS, animations, and integrations: $45K–$120K. We publish scopes before signature — price moves only if scope does.
How long does a web design project take?
Six weeks from brief to launch for a marketing site. Three weeks for a single landing page. Eight to twelve weeks for a full brand website with CMS and integrations. Lifecycle: Discover (1 wk), Design (2 wk), Build (2 wk), Launch (0.5 wk), Optimize ongoing.
Do you build the website you design, or just design it?
We build it. Design and engineering are one team — what you see in Figma is what ships. Stack: Next.js + Tailwind + headless CMS for most marketing sites; Shopify OS 2.0 or Hydrogen for stores; Webflow or Framer when editors prefer visual CMS. If you already have engineers, we hand off a documented Figma system.
What about Core Web Vitals and mobile performance?
We design against a performance budget from day one. Targets: LCP < 2.5s, INP < 200ms, CLS < 0.1. Every image is AVIF with WebP fallback, fonts are self-hosted or preloaded, JavaScript is pruned aggressively, and the system respects reduced-motion preferences.
Do you handle SEO during web design?
Yes. Technical SEO ships with the build — Schema.org JSON-LD per page type, canonical URLs, hreflang for multi-region, XML sitemaps, robots.txt, Open Graph, structured meta, and llms.txt for AI search engines. Content strategy and link building are separate services.
Can you redesign an existing website?
Yes. Redesigns start with an audit — analytics, conversion funnel, CWV, SEO rankings, tech debt, CMS friction. We publish the audit before we sketch a screen. Redesigns typically run six to ten weeks depending on page count and migration complexity. Rankings are preserved through 301 mapping and staged cutover.
§ 13 · web design in 2026
What changed for visual design.
Four currents reshaped web design discipline in 2026: Core Web Vitals enforcement made INP a hard ranking input (FID was retired in September 2024), W3C design tokens crossed into mainstream Figma libraries, AI image generation reset the editorial-photography ladder, and mobile-first thinking quietly became AI-search-first thinking because Google AI Overviews crops your hero to a snippet.
The two specs every 2026 web design brief must respect are public. web.dev's Core Web Vitals article documents the 75th-percentile field thresholds (LCP under 2.5s, INP under 200ms, CLS under 0.1), and the W3C Design Tokens Community Group spec defines the JSON format that lets a design system survive a re-platform. A design that ships without explicit CLS budgets and without a token export is shipping a static visual artifact, not a working brand surface.
AI image generation forced a real conversation about editorial photography. The bar for a hero shot rose, not fell: generative art is now the baseline, so what counts as proof of taste is the visible craft on the next image. Google's visual elements gallery documents how image quality signals roll into the search appearance for a brand. A 2026 site that uses one generative hero plus three human-shot studio frames lands better than a fully generative gallery; readers see the difference, and Google's image-quality signals have caught up.
What this means for your project: brief a 2026 web design against the CWV field thresholds, the design token export format, and a clear point of view on AI versus shot photography. If the studio's deliverable is a Figma file without a token export, a CLS budget, or an INP target, you are buying a pretty picture, not a working website.
Related reading + work: See our brand book versus design system breakdown, the modular type scale guide, the colour system and WCAG compliance piece, and our web development and UI/UX design pages for adjacent work.
ready to ship
Brief us. Plan + timeline in 24 hours.
One business day. A senior designer reviews the brief, writes the plan, sends it back. If we're not the right fit, we say so — and often point you to a better option.
Published · Last updated .