Hegarty Services

Hegarty Services has served clients’ website needs in the Bay Area and across the United States since 1997. We provide timely, dependable updating and maintenance services for our customers. In addition, we bring a unique artistic flair and solid technical expertise to our web designs, with ongoing technical innovations as individual customer requirements demand.

Joomla

Many of our clients’ websites are designed in the latest version of Joomla, a popular and technically solid content management system (CMS)—software that keeps track of every piece of content on your website, much like your local public library keeps track of books and stores them. Content can be simple text, photos, music, video, documents, or just about anything you can think of. Since development of the website is done online, this enables you, the client, to make edits to your pages if you so desire. Or, with a minimal amount of instruction, you can learn to manage your entire site. 

WordPress

We also are able to create a WordPress site, if you prefer. WordPress is ideal for blog sites, with additional capability for adding content pages. You can have completely free hosting (for a limited amount of space and amenities) with a free template on WordPress.com, or you can purchase more complex premium WordPress templates. You can pay extra for a domain name of your choice, and you can host your WordPress site on a web host of your choice. Once your WordPress site is up and running, you may choose to manage and update it yourself. Or we can provide those services for you.

We are customer-oriented

With either content management system, it is possible to include many types of interactivity within your website, such as blogs, discussion forums, and viewer comments on your content. You can provide online calendars and mass email newsletters to your constituents. And, of course, we can set up a shopping cart system for online payment of your products and services offered.

Typically, client services included in our design and launch of your website offers you one hour of initial consultation at no charge. We will guide you in the selection of an appropriate web host for your site, domain registration or transfer, assistance with template design/selection, and email configuration, if needed. If you represent a small business, we will develop a prototype for you and your board to review. Ongoing basic service includes:

• • Copy editing of your submitted text (based on standard American English)
  • Basic graphical editing of images provided
  • Website maintenance as required
  • Additional design tasks requested

Additional Services

Other services are available at your quoted hourly rate when required in conjunction with our web design services. Estimates will be given based on the information you give us.

• • Input of text content from printed or handwritten source
  • Shopping carts and appointment booking
  • Mass email newsletters
  • Blog copywriting

 

All websites, custom-designed to meet your needs, are based on our services at $40/hour.

Some examples of estimated website costs:

• • Basic blog site (2-3 hrs) – $80-120
  • Simple unmodified template-based site (3-6 hrs) – $120-240
  • Template-based site with minor modifications (6-12 hrs) – $240-480
  • Fully customized template-based site (12+ hrs) – $480 and up

Please contact us for a quote.

Additional Costs

Costs that the client pays directly to another vendor could include:

• • Domain registration and renewal
  • Web hosting, monthly or annually
  • Premium website template
  • Premium email newsletter
  • Security Certificate to insure the security of payment processing
  • PayPal
  • Merchant account
  • Purchased graphics (be sure to keep your receipts for your purchases)

Web Hosts

The first step in developing a website is to find a web host, the company that will store your website’s files on its servers and deliver them to your readers’ and customers’ browsers. Web hosting services offer varying amounts of monthly data transfers, storage, email, and other features. Even how you pay (month-to-month payments vs. annual payments) can be radically different, too; so taking the time to plot out exactly what your company needs for online success is essential. I place web hosts in importance above domain registrars because the best web hosts also offer domain registration (through a domain registrar of their choice and one that works well with them). We have had many years of experience with Bluehost, Siteground, 1 & 1, Intergen, Hostgator, and Lunarpages (which I would not recommend).

Domain Registration

A domain name tells people (and the computers they use) how to find your homepage on the internet. Each domain name is assigned to a numerical IP (Internet Protocol) address. Since people remember names better than numbers, the domain name, eg. www.yourname.com, translates this number into words. Like a street address that tells people where you live, a domain helps customers drive directly to your website. Before registering a domain name, you must check out the key features of a registrar which are essential to make any company “a best domain registrar” among thousands of others. These key features are: instant 24/7 technical support, live chat facility, reliability, sustainability, credibility, security, pricing, and flexibility. GoDaddy is one of the oldest and most reliable. Another (but more difficult to work with) is Network Solutions. Many web hosts, however, will give you a “free” domain registration for the first year if you continue to register your domain with them.

CMS Platforms

Whether you’re setting up a corporate website, a standard blog, or just want to announce your presence on the web, the age of hand-coding HTML pages and CSS is long behind us, and has been replaced by Content Management Systems. The most widely used CMS platforms are Joomla and WordPress. (See our About Us page for more details.)

Website Templates

You can’t have a website without a template (Joomla) or theme (WordPress). A skilled web designer can take a suitable template of your choice and customize it to fit your vision of what your want your website to look like. For Joomla websites, I would start with one of the default templates included with your new Joomla installation, and then browse through Joomlashack or Joomlashine for additional free templates or templates to purchase. For WordPress sites, I would recommend going with the themes that are natively available from inside your WordPress installation. Both free and premium templates are available.

Email Marketing Providers

Both Joomla and WordPress have provisions for add-on email newsletter components. There are pros and cons to using these built-in provisions rather than a stand-alone third-party email service that can be used independent of your website platform. Two of the most popular are Constant Contact and MailChimp.