How to choose the right website designer in Zanzibar

Choosing the right website designer for your business in Zanzibar can be difficult.  Tanzania is gradually filling up with web developers.  But how do you spot an experienced Digital Marketing Agency with solid experience?

Overseas is another option.  The Internet is teeming with web designers all over the globe, ranging from freelancers to seasoned award-winning agencies.

How many web developers are there in the world? According to a Statisica the web development industry continues to boom and rapidly expand in terms of the number of active developers worldwide. As of 2023, there were roughly 27.7 million web developers in the global market. The majority of the current market consists of male developers—80% vs. approximately 20% female.

Do you go with the reputable, well-established companies or do you take a chance on a newbie  designer who offers very cheap options? How can you determine which one to partner with to produce your desired results? 

Fear not, here are our top  tips to help you choose the right web developer in Zanzibar or, in fact wherever you are located, if the market you work in is highly competitive.  

What is web design and what do web designers do?

Let’s begin with the fundamentals. Understanding what a web designer does in some depth will always help you choose one because you’ll know what to search for. Even though they are called “designers,” web designers don’t just use mood boards and colour swatches. Web design is, of course, primarily concerned with aesthetics and creating beautiful websites, but it is only one aspect of a comprehensive, specialised service that tries to assist your entire business online.

Web designers have the technical expertise and skills to create user-friendly, mobile-responsive, secure, search engine-optimized websites. In other words they make sure your business or product has maximum exposure, and is easily found by your potential customers.  Good web designers also make sure that sites integrate easily with other online marketing channels like social media, email, banks, channel-mangers, and they deliberately construct sites to lead visitors through the buying process if you want an online store.

Web Designer or Web Developer

Due to the extensive nature of website design, a lot of website agencies divide the work between two roles: a web designer handles the visual and graphic design, and a web developer handles the technical coding and website creation. Having said that, the majority of web designers also possess web development expertise, and in certain organisations, the entire process of design and development may be overseen by a single, really experienced or skilled individual. 

5 Tips for choosing the right web design agency in Zanzibar

1. Think about your website requirements

Identifying your company’s needs should be your first step. Do you require an online store? Do you want to have online reservations, bookings or handle rental or delivery? How many pages are necessary? How would you like to organise your products if you have a lot of them? Can I have my website appear in multiple languages? And a million and one other questions.

You can use your competitors to get ideas or look at businesses that are similar to yours. It is worth noting that to be seen on the internet you have to be listed in Search Engines like Google, otherwise your shiny new website will have no visitors,  and zero traffic means your website is wasted effort.  So, when you look at other websites look at the ones that have a lot of visitors.  You can ask any potential web developer to give you facts and figures on why a competitor’s website is getting far more visitors than most.  You will then begin to learn some of the elements that make up a successful websites.

A professional web design agency will guide you through this process even if it may seem a little intimidating at first. Getting the brief right from the start will ultimately save you money and produce better outcomes, so be prepared to have one or more meetings with website developers.  If they tell you that it can be done with little discussion, interaction, or analysis walk away!  Always look at any proposals they give you and look at the time they take finding out about your business.

2. Decide your budget

It’s crucial to create a rough budget before approaching web designers so you know what you can spend. There are many options, and prices can vary widely, as we’ve already indicated. Due to the bespoke nature of web design, many designers won’t post detailed prices on their websites, therefore you will need to approach them with a list of your first requirements to get an idea of the cost. If you receive a quote that is too high, you may always talk about how to scale back your project to obtain a more reasonable price.

However, it’s essential to manage your expectations and keep in mind the guiding principle of ‘GOOD, FAST, or CHEAP’. Pick your priorities because the best web designers will only offer 2 of these criteria in a single project.  

You can really only choose any two from these three:

• A. Good & Fast

• B. Fast & Cheap

• C. Good & Cheap

But if any Website Designer in Zanzibar offers all three, just walk away, because they will not be able to deliver!

3. Check their website, and their clients’ websites

Most professional designers will have a website design portfolio of previous work on their website, so you can browse and see if you like their work. Look for concepts or methods that you like, and see if you can identify any of the local firms or brands mentioned. To get a feel for how the prior client’s website works as a user, go through and explore it.

Look for variety in their designs because a smart web designer will create a site that is personalised to your brand’s requirements. If everything appears to be same, you will also receive identical results.

This is important because you want to stand out from the crowd, especially of you are a store, a hotel or any business that relies on the tourism sector business because the competition is tough.  Many websites look similar because they were all built using standard platforms (eg Wix, SquareSpace GoDaddy) which require little skill and are very inflexible.

So, keep a look out for websites that are solid and well-designed and bespoke. Web design firms with a solid track record may release statistics to demonstrate how their work has helped the bottom lines of past clients’ businesses, including improvements in visitor counts, decreased bounce rates, faster load times, more sales, and even return on investment.

Look at reviews

Look for reviews and testimonials from previous clients as most established designers will have these. And it’s better to consult independent sites like Google My Business or other review sites. Also, research the clients’ names to check they are legitimate businesses and take a look at their website while you’re there. You can always check out the web designer’s social media profiles as well for star ratings, comments, etc. As a completely open forum, social media can give you an insight into how a business is perceived.

Ask friends or other businesses 

Don’t be hesitant to request recommendations. It’s always a good idea to work with someone who has a demonstrated track record, so ask friends and relatives if they know of any good reliable and affordable web designers. Additionally, you might ask other Zanzibar businesses who they have worked with. You can search the internet for websites with a design you like. The majority of designers provide a link back in the footer of a website after they are acknowledged, making it simple to obtain their contact information.

5. Give them a call or email and test them

There is no easier way to find out about a company than to just contact them. Dial their number, WhatsApp them or send them an email. What feeling do you have? How do they treat customers? Are these people you might imagine yourself working with? If you feel okay after your first interaction, schedule a video call or in-person meeting to get to know them better and go over your needs in greater detail.

Ask them to perform a free audit of your current website if you have one and see what their reporting is like.  Is it comprehensive and is it clear? Can they provide you with a time-line for the project?  Do they use tools that speed-up the communication process? Are their explanations honest, clear and genuine?  Or are they just ‘salesmen’? 

Maybe even ask them a question that you know the answer to, or one you have researched or previously had advice on.  Do they give you the correct answer?

5. Finally look for a balanced professional approach

All web designers understand how to create an appealing design, but not all have the knowledge and experience to take the wider picture into account. The ultimate goal of your online marketing is your website (and even sometimes your offline marketing too). To really increase revenue, your site must collaborate with a variety of components, including Google Business, social media and search engines. Therefore, it’s crucial to get a web designer who has a solid grasp of the complete procedure and who can help your organisation online as opposed to just creating a website.

Do they understand your business sector?  For example if you are a hotel do they fully understand, room bookings, channel managers, payment gateways, and the way hotels are generally managed etc. ?  Do they fully grasp the bigger, wider picture and do they have express knowledge and wisdom with confidence?  If you require a website in a variety of languages, can they do this and do they understand how to correctly integrate languages into Search Engines like Google?  If you work in the tourism sector or your customers or clients live overseas, make sure the website developer or the team have strong international knowledge.  Make sure they have trained in the industry in other countries, or have been in the digital marketing business overseas.  There is simply no substitute for a team with solid international experience.

Please remember that it is your business that you will be placing in their hands.  So, make sure you have a lot of questions to ask them.  Because at the end of the day you should really trust them with it.

Searching for a web designer in Zanzibar?

So that was our top 5 tips to help you in find the best web designer in Zanzibar for your company.

Check out some of our websites right now if you need some inspiration.

Simply IT has been in the web design industry in Zanzibar for more than 8 years.  We have a large international team of developers and designers with decades of overseas experience, and we have amassed a large client base in Zanzibar, Tanzania, East Africa, Asia and Europe, who are glad to leave positive reviews.

We take a holistic, big-picture approach to web design, making sure that all of our sites are fast, user-friendly, well-maintained, and securely hosted (if you choose to host them with us).

And our outcomes are credible.  We do not promise you something we cannot deliver.  The conversion rate for one of our most recent website redesign projects increased by 315%!

Contact our Zanzibar web designer team if you’d like to learn more about how we can support your business online.  

They know how to give your business the WOW factor online!