Best Website Design Companies in Nashville: How to Choose

Social Link wrote this guide and is one of the companies in it. We do not rank other companies, and no company paid to be included. How we built this guide.

Seven things that separate a strong web design company

Most portfolios look good. These seven criteria separate the companies whose sites keep working after launch from the ones whose sites only photograph well. You can check each one before you sign.

1. Live sites you can click

Screenshots and mockups can be polished in ways a working site cannot. Ask for three to five sites that are live today, built in the last few years, with the client named. Open them on your phone and fill in a form. If a company can only show images, ask why.

2. Who builds your site

Find out who designs it, who writes the code and who you will talk to every week, and whether they are employees, contractors or an outside partner. Any of these can work. Not knowing is the problem: the person who sells the project is often not the person who builds it.

3. You own the domain, the hosting account and the code

The domain should be registered to your company, with your email as the owner contact. Ask whether you can move the site to another host, whether any theme or code license ends with the contract, and what you receive if you leave. Get the answers in the contract, not on a sales call.

4. Measured speed and accessibility

“Fast” and “mobile-friendly” are not measurements. Ask for the Core Web Vitals of a recent launch (Google’s free PageSpeed Insights reports them) and how the company tests with a keyboard and a screen reader against WCAG 2.2. Run one of their live sites through PageSpeed Insights yourself during the call.

5. A redirect plan that protects your search traffic

If your current site has pages that bring in visitors from Google, a redesign that changes their addresses without one-to-one redirects can lose that traffic. Google’s own site move guidance starts by mapping every old URL to its new one. Ask to see the redirect map from a past project, and who checks for broken pages after launch.

6. Dated cost ranges, with what is included

A price means something only with a date and a list of what it covers. Ask what is left out: copywriting, photography, stock licenses, plugins, hosting and updates. Compare quotes line by line, not total against total.

7. Support after launch

Every site needs updates, backups and fixes. Ask who does that work, how fast they respond, what it costs by the month or by the hour, and whether hosting is part of it. A site nobody maintains falls behind on security updates.

Questions to take into any sales call

Copy this list, ask every company the same questions, and write down the answers.

• Which three live sites would you send me to, and who were the clients?
• Who will design and build my site, and are they on your staff?
• Who will I talk to each week, and how?
• Will the domain and the hosting account be in my company’s name?
• Can I move the site to another host later, and what would I receive?
• What were the Core Web Vitals of your most recent launch?
• How do you test accessibility?
• Will you map every current page that gets search traffic to a new address, and check for broken pages after launch?
• What is your price range, as of what date, and what is not included?
• What does support cost after launch, and what does it cover?

Red flags

• No live sites to click, or sites with no client names.
• No written answer on who owns the domain, the hosting account and the code.
• A site you could not move to another host without rebuilding it.
• No redirect plan for a site that already brings in search traffic.
• One price with no list of what it includes.
• Promises of rankings or traffic from a design project alone.

How to compare two quotes

Two quotes for “a new website” can describe very different projects. Put them side by side and ask each company the same thing about every line below.

A quote that cannot answer a line is not cheaper; it is unfinished.

Nashville web design companies you can check

These companies list website design or development on their own websites and publish a Nashville-area address there. They are in alphabetical order. This is not a ranking and not an endorsement: it is a starting list to check with the questions above. Every fact comes from the company’s own website, checked on October 20, 2026.

A company listed here can ask for a correction through our contact page; we update the table at each quarterly review.

How Social Link answers the same list

We hold ourselves to the same seven criteria. Where we can point to proof, it is linked. Where we cannot, ask us, and expect the same straight answer you would want from anyone else on this list.

FAQ

How much does a website cost in Nashville?

It depends on the number of pages, custom features, content and integrations, so ranges vary widely between companies. Compare quotes that are dated and list what is included, and ask what is left out. A lower price that leaves out copywriting, photography or hosting is not a lower price.

How long does a website project take?

Ask for a written schedule with milestones and the dates your feedback is due. Content is the most common delay: who writes it, and when it is due, should be in the plan before design starts.

Should I hire a web design company based in Nashville?

A local company can run workshops in person and may know your market. It is not required. What matters more is who builds the site, how often you talk to them and whether their work meets the seven criteria in this guide.

Will I own my website when the project ends?

Only if the contract says so. Check three things in writing: the domain is registered to your company, the hosting account is yours or can be moved to you, and no code or theme license ends with the contract.

Can a redesign hurt my Google rankings?

Yes, if page addresses change without redirects or if pages that bring in search traffic are dropped. Ask for a redirect map before launch, and for a check of Google Search Console for broken pages in the weeks after.