Web Design from Cologne
a new website?
I'd love to!
giving content
a stage
whatever can be imagined
can also be realised
I’m only satisfied
when you are too
Web design · since 2009
I build websites and online shops with Contao and Shopware: fast, secure and easy to look after. Your site is built by the developer you speak to, not handed through an agency.
I leave out what distracts, so the eye finds what matters.
I explain what your website does in plain words – and translate the technical terms as they come up.
Current software and regular updates keep your website safe.
I write the code myself. A missing function can be built instead of worked around.
Open-source systems with a long track record: Contao for websites, Shopware for online shops.
Responsive means the layout adapts: your website has to read well and work on a phone as well as on a large screen.
Starting out costs enough as it is. New businesses get a discount from me.
Renate Neufeld
... Very reliable and, above all, straightforward to work with. ...
renate-neufeld.de (translated from German)
Herbert Winkens
... A very fair, reliable and expert service ...
supervision-jugendhilfe.de (translated from German)
Catrin Wagner
... An all-round, worry-free service – straightforward, fast and of high quality. Brilliant! ...
millimetertraining-beratung.de (translated from German)
Giuseppe Antinoro
... Professional collaboration with an outstanding result ...
domanda-pb.com (translated from German)
Lena Busch
... the support, even after completion, is absolutely straightforward ...
deichlicht.com (translated from German)
Kevin Leahy
... The website he built for me far exceeded my hopes. ...
custom-hiking-boots.com
Services
From the first idea to everyday operation, you get everything from one place.
Individual websites with a clear structure, built to work on every screen size.
Custom functions and programming, for everything website builders cannot do.
Official Contao partner. Contao is the content management system I build websites with – the software you later edit your own pages in – and I contribute to it with more than 40 open-source extensions of my own.
Setting up, migrating and looking after online shops with Shopware 6.
Search engine optimisation: clean code, fast loading times and content that search engines can read.
Your website stays secure and up to date, month after month.
Over 200 completed projects and 61 client testimonials since 2009 – fairly priced, with a discount for new businesses.
Initial consultation
We discuss on the phone what your website needs to deliver. You speak directly with the developer, not with a sales department.
Concept & quote
You receive a clear quote and know from the outset what costs to expect – with no hidden items.
Design & implementation
I design and develop your website with Contao or Shopware. You see the first draft early on, and we refine it together.
Content & training
Texts and images find their place. So that you can maintain everything yourself, there are tutorial videos and, on request, personal training.
Launch & support
After launch I stay your point of contact – from the update service that keeps the site current to the next round of development.
Selected work
I have been building websites from Cologne since 2009, more than 200 of them, many for companies, institutes and self-employed people in the city. Here are three, with what was built and what the clients said about it.
Campervan rental in Cologne-Mülheim
Campervans and small caravans for hire, with an online availability calendar: guests see at a glance which days a vehicle is free, and the months load without reloading the page. Built with Contao 5 and extensions I wrote for it. Contao presents the project as a case study on contao.org.
“Niels understood straight away what I needed, and even the first draft of the site exceeded what I had expected.”
Furnished apartments for medium-term stays
Two houses in central Cologne (Werderstraße in the Belgian Quarter and Friesenwall in the Friesen Quarter), each apartment category with its own page, photographs and list of facilities. The maps run on OpenStreetMap instead of Google Maps, booking enquiries come in with the requested dates, and the site exists in German and English.
Heinrich Barth Institute, University of Cologne
The website of the Heinrich Barth Institute for the archaeology and environmental history of Africa at the University of Cologne.
“With a great deal of patience and technical skill, heimseiten.de built our new web presence and met every one of our wishes in a short time.”
“Simple is beautiful” is more than a slogan: reduced to the essentials, a website looks more aesthetic than any distracting decoration – no superfluous elements, colours or shapes. Anyone viewing your site feels at ease, because nothing overwhelms them – that looks elegant and high-quality, and it builds trust.
For you, that means in concrete terms:
Your customers instantly find what they are looking for.
A clear structure guides visitors straight to the contact form or the shopping cart.
Trust at first sight.
A professional, uncluttered design signals credibility. If you come across as chaotic, you won't sell anything.
Speed is service.
Nobody likes to wait. Thanks to clean code, your site loads lightning-fast – which pleases your customers and Google alike.
Contao & Shopware
I have worked with Contao for years, and I do so out of conviction: heimseiten.de is an official Contao partner, and more than 40 open-source extensions for the system come from me. For your project that means the person building your website knows Contao from the inside, down to the source code – so a missing function can be developed rather than worked around.
Contao is open source and comes without licence fees, and noticeably fewer security vulnerabilities have become known for Contao than for WordPress. Online shops I build with Shopware 6.
All prices are net and exclude German VAT; new businesses get a discount. The exact price is named in the quote after our first conversation.
About me
I am Niels Hegmans. I have been building websites since 2009 – first as a student, then as a self-employed developer, and I have stayed self-employed because I like working with clients directly.
When you call, you speak to the person who builds your site. There is no relay through three project managers. I combine the technical side (Contao, Shopware, PHP) with an eye for quiet, functional design.
My aim: you concentrate on your business while your website quietly does its work in the background.
Thinking about a project? Let us talk on the phone about what your new website needs to do. I answer in English and in German.
That depends on the scope: a compact company website costs less than an online shop with integrations. A website starts at 1,600 euros, an online shop at 1,900 euros, both net of German VAT. The quote tells you from the outset what costs to expect, and new businesses get a discount.
For a “normal” website, I usually set aside two weeks of development time. Larger projects – such as an online shop with integrations – take correspondingly longer. After the initial consultation, you'll receive a realistic schedule – and since you talk directly to the developer, change requests are often implemented the same day.
I work with Contao for company websites and Shopware for online shops. A content management system is the software you use to edit your own pages later on. Both are open source: no licence fees, no lock-in to a single supplier, and a large developer community behind them.
Yes – that is precisely the goal. You maintain texts, images and pages in the Contao back end, which is built for editors rather than developers. You get tutorial videos to look things up at any time and, if you like, personal training.
I will not leave you on your own: the update service keeps your website secure and up to date, and if you have questions or new ideas you reach me directly.
There is no relay through project managers here: you always talk to the person who builds your website. That means short lines of communication and fair prices – what clients say about it is in the 61 testimonials further up this page.
No. Many projects are in Cologne, others in the surrounding region, in North Rhine-Westphalia, in Hesse and abroad. Within about thirty kilometres I am happy to come to the first meeting in person; after that we work by phone and screen sharing. I answer in English and in German.
Yes, with Shopware 6 – setup, migration from another shop system and ongoing support. An online shop starts at 1,900 euros net; the exact price depends on the scope.
Yes. Clean code and fast loading times are part of every website I build. Beyond that I advise on content and technical questions for search engines, at 90 euros net per hour.
