I live on the near North Side, not far from the Pearl. I run a small e-commerce shop, and I help a nonprofit on the weekends. I’ve hired more than one web team here in San Antonio, which sounds wild, but it made sense as my needs changed. And you know what? Each team felt very “San Antonio”—smart, friendly, and proud of their craft, with brisket-level patience. For anyone who wants the full play-by-play, my complete breakdown of hiring four web agencies in town is right here.
I’ll keep this simple. Real projects. Real wins. Real bumps. Spurs hat on, coffee in hand.
Where I Started
My old site was slow and messy. It looked fine on desktop, but it broke on some phones. The checkout kept timing out. My bounce rate was scary. I wanted clean design, fast load, and help with SEO. And for the nonprofit, we needed a site that was easy to update and safe for health forms.
So I called four local teams:
- Boss Creative
- Gray Digital Group
- J12 Designs
- Odd Duck Media
Each handled a different piece. No links here; you can Google them. If you’d rather skip the search and dive straight into my honest review of working with San Antonio web designers on real, paid projects, you’ll find it in this write-up.
Boss Creative: The Big Redo With Fiesta Flair
Project: Full rebrand and Shopify redesign for my online gift shop.
What I loved:
- The brand workshop felt like therapy, but fun. They brought a mood board with Fiesta colors, but kept it classy. Think papel picado hints, not a parade on every page.
- The new logo locked in quick. The site looked crisp, with great product photos and a clean cart.
- They set up a simple style guide, so my team could keep things tight after launch.
Numbers that mattered:
- Mobile page speed (Lighthouse) went from 43 to 86.
- Checkout drop-offs fell by about 22% in the first month.
- Conversion rose from 1.2% to 2.1% in 90 days. I know, not perfect science, but the trend stuck.
What bugged me:
- Scope creep fees. We added a small gift wrap feature late, and it cost more than I hoped.
- Timeline slipped two weeks. Not awful, just a tap on my nerves during holiday prep.
Would I hire them again? Yes, for big brand work. They sweat the details.
Gray Digital Group: Healthcare Site, Zero Drama
Project: New WordPress site for a community clinic I support.
What stood out:
- Their discovery was long, but it saved us. They mapped user flows for patients and staff. We cut fluff pages fast.
- ADA basics were baked in. Clear headings, color contrast, better keyboard use. They explained things in plain terms, which helped our board.
- They set up a form path that felt safer. No PHI via email. Just a short intake that kicked off a call. It wasn’t fancy, but it was right.
Trade-offs:
- Process heavy. Lots of checklists and approvals. If you want quick and scrappy, this might feel slow.
- Price was mid-high for nonprofit level, but the site has held up. No surprise fires.
Would I hire them again? Yes, for anything with rules, stakeholders, or risk.
J12 Designs: Fast One-Pager That Didn’t Look Cheap
Project: A one-page site for a pop-up market at the Pearl.
Why I picked them:
- I needed speed. Like, “we go live next week” speed.
- They were cool about it. Short call, clear quote, and a slot for me on Thursday.
How it went:
- They delivered a clean, bold layout with a hero image and a simple schedule. The map and CTA looked great on mobile.
- One stock photo felt a bit cliché. They swapped it the same day.
- We added a signup form with Mailchimp. No fuss.
Tiny gripe:
- After launch, they pitched extra features. Not pushy, but I was tight on budget and felt a little sales fatigue. Still, the site did its job and looked fresh.
Would I hire them again? Yep. For quick hits and clean landing pages.
Odd Duck Media: The Fixers for SEO and Speed
Project: SEO cleanup and speed work on my WordPress blog and product pages.
What changed:
- They moved me to GA4 and set up events that I could read without a headache.
- They fixed weird schema errors and padded meta tags where I was thin.
- Core Web Vitals finally went green on key pages. CLS drops make me oddly happy. Don’t judge.
Results over 4 months:
- Organic traffic up 28% year over year.
- Five top-10 keywords became fifteen. Not magic, just steady work and better content briefs.
- Mobile load time went from 5.8s to 1.9s on my category pages (measured with WebPageTest and their internal tool).
Downsides:
- Reports were dense. I asked for a “just tell me what matters” page.
- My account manager changed once. Hand-off was fine, but I hate re-explaining my goals.
Would I hire them again? Yes. They’re great for clean-up, ongoing SEO, and speed.
Quick Notes You Might Care About
- Budgets I paid: J12 was the lowest by far. Odd Duck was a monthly retainer. Boss Creative and Gray were bigger projects with bigger bills. Nothing shocking for agency work here.
- Communication: Boss and Gray had structured calls and set meeting days. J12 used fast email. Odd Duck used a monthly call and a shared doc.
- Tools: WordPress and Shopify for the sites. GA4, Search Console, and a sanity-checked Ahrefs report for SEO. Nothing weird.
Side note: I also spoke briefly with 2 Experts Design, and their straight-shooting guidance on budgets and timelines was surprisingly helpful even though I didn’t end up hiring them. I also kicked the tires with Sila Web Design LLC before making my picks—my first-person take lives here.
Who I’d Call For What
- Big brand glow-up with careful art direction: Boss Creative
- Regulated or complex content, healthcare, or lots of stakeholders: Gray Digital Group
- Fast campaign site, event splash page, or clean one-pager: J12 Designs
- SEO, speed, and ongoing tweaks that move the needle: Odd Duck Media
A Small San Antonio Thing
Every one of these teams felt local in the best way. Friendly, a little proud, and honest about trade-offs. We even swapped taco spots on calls. Also, go Spurs go. Had to say it.
If you’re stuck, start with your real goal. Faster site? Easier updates? More sales? One clear goal will save you time, money, and a few headaches. Then pick the team that lives in that lane.
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I did, and my bottom line thanked me. My stress level did too.
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