Greetings – welcome to the website of Starrlight Media. I’ve been building websites on a part time basis for about 15 years. The last 5 or 6 years primarily with WordPress sites. (I’m also a professional cat photographer as Starrlight Photography).
Services:
Currently, I’m only building and supporting new websites on wordpress.com. I’ve written a blog post on the reasons for this if you’re interested. I’m not a WordPress “developer” (only a bit of experience with CSS coding and child themes) and although I’ve built wordpress.org sites (and still maintain one), I prefer the wordpress.com platform for both clients and myself, which provides less “backend” maintenance for security and updates. I’m happy for you, the client, to make updates to your site, at any level you’re comfortable with. Some clients will update design and content of pages as well as making blog posts. Other clients will only make blog posts, which are extremely easy on wordpress.com. There is even an option to do “posts by email”, meaning you can create a new post on your blog/website just by sending an email with attached or embedded photos – no need to log in to the site. I’m currently in the process of creating user-friendly instruction sheets to help my clients edit their sites if they wish. Of course if you are not comfortable making any updates yourself, I can do them for you.
Most of the sites I build are for folks in the cat fancy, hobby breeders, etc, and I manage a breeder directory. I’m not technically a graphic artist but do create simple logos and graphics and am experienced with photo editing. Most of my past working experiences have been in customer/technical support and writing user documentation. I have a lot of experience with organizing and presenting information in a clear and concise manner.
Pricing:
Charges for services are typically $30/hour. Building a new site, using a wordpress.com theme with “basic customization” to design and navigation (included with the theme) will be on average around $500 plus the cost of the WordPress.com plan you choose. A typical site might consist of a blog/news page, a “static” home page, an “About” page, “Contact” page, inquiry form, plus an additional 2-4 (or more) content pages. Social media links, etc included. Additional customization with CSS coding for design, extensive photo editing, or content writing will be additional cost. Some basic training and assistance on learning to edit the site is included but I’m also available for remote or possibly in-person tutoring. There is almost no maintenance needed on the “backend” for wordpress.com sites so after initial set up I only charge, on an hourly basis, for requested content and design updates. No updates – no charges (except for the yearly WordPress account fee).
I do not host sites but have my client sign up for a wordpress.com account where the website is hosted. There are 6 plans available at wordpress.com, including a free plan. The free plan will include a wordpress url (address) for example “starrlightmedia.wordpress.com” and WP will put small ads on your site. If you want to use a custom domain (either new one or existing) and eliminate ads on the site, you’ll need to get at least the personal plan which is $60/year. A custom domain is free the first year, then $18/year, or if you already have a domain managed elsewhere, it is $13/year to “map” it to your WordPress site. Any of the paid plans include support from the extremely helpful folks at WordPress. For a site that needs additional customization not included with the theme, you’d need at least the premium plan for the CSS coding feature. For information on pricing see wordpress.com/pricing/ .
Feel free to check out the “Examples” page and contact me if any questions.
Thanks for your interest! – Diana
