Web Design East Africa

Zanzibar – the jewel of east Africa – attracts thousands of visitors each year including NGO workers on vacation, Italians looking for an even darker tan and some backpackers who just want to escape the concrete jungles.

Tourism is a source of income for many people on Zanzibar. Some tourists spend a lot of money, some spend less money and some does not spend money at all (that would be the NGO folks).

One of many ways to target tourists is via web sites. Unfortunately, several websites that promote companies, services and products on Zanzibar are falling behind. Some have not seen an update for years while others just look like cheap copies of other websites and some that just do not match any European’s expectations of what constitutes excellent content, web design and usability.

A good example of excellent web design that combines pleasant eye candy with actual content and usability is the website for the Serena Inn Hotel. Located on the western tip of Stone Town Serena Inn is probably one of Zanzibar’s best hotels. The Serena Inn Hotel is backed up Small Luxury Hotels of the World, an organisation that probably have funds enough to engage in some serious online marketing as well as web design.

One of the mistakes being made when creating websites in developing areas (East Africa) is the almost constant use of features that only works perfect when the visitor enter the website using a high bandwidth connection. Flash is one of those techniques and even though Flash is a good method to create good looking website, you should refrain from using it as much as possible. If you want to add some cool transitions and stuff like that you should read up on jQuery instead.

Fact: Content is king
People in Europe, the US, the Arab world and Asia come to local websites on Zanzibar for one thing: Information. Information should be your main content. Text is also the best way to attract visitors from search engines. It is kind of difficult for services like Bing and Google to index Flash based image galleries…

Text should be accompanied by images only when the images help promote the text. If you publish a text about safaris it make sense to include some images of animals and nature in the same text.

However, it is true you could also do it the other way around: Promote your services using images (and embedded YouTube clips, not self hosted) and use text to describe the images. It is all about striving for a balance between the both.

How to build a better website
Lets say that you are a tour operator. You offer safaris on land and/or at sea (diving) and want to attract as many customers as possible (who would not?). Forget about graphics and cool effects, and lets focus on the information/content:

1) Tell us about yourself
Show us a picture of you and your staff with full names included. Perhaps you want to include a short description of each person involved in your company. By being open about who you are, you will gain trust prior to the customers´ arrival. Lets hope that you then meet up to the expectations.

2) Tell us about what you have to offer
Describe each service with a fair amount of text and make use of images to enhance the product descriptions. We want to know that when we book your safari, you will give us what we think we are going to receive.

3) Provide us with a contact details
We want to know your name, the name of your business, if your business is part of larger organisation, if you are licensed (if needed), how to get to the point from where you operate, if you can arrange transportation from our hotel (and back), how large each group will be (up to maybe 5 or up to 20 in each group, can make a big difference for some and dhows can easily get very crowed…).

4) Add a decent amount of graphics
When you have created the actual content you may turn your attention to the framework. As always, try to refrain for using large image files for graphics, make use of what CSS has to offer and you will get almost as far as those you rely soley on cool grapics.

5) Forget about statics HTML, use a CMS
CMS, Content Management System, require a database and more than basic skills in mastering a webserver. But once installed the CMS will help you increase the rate at which you publish content, remodel for websites overall look and feel. Examples of good (and free) CMS are Joomla and WordPress.

Although broadband connections reach more and more users all over Africa, low bandwidth connections is still and fact that will remain true for many people the years to come.

When designing web sites aimed at an African audience you must remember the bandwidth issue. It does not matter how cool you think you latest Flash creation is. If your visitors lack broadband connections they will probably never get a chance to view it.

Here is a short list of things to consider early in the developing process of your future web site. These suggestions are in no way the only ones you need to learn about. However, it is a good start and everyone should be able to grasp it.

Separate code and content
If you build static websites you’ll have to live with having a large amount of code and content on the same page. But if you work with dynamic content it is easier to separate them both. Use CSS to style your website, set borders, margins, fonts and so forth. The CSS file is also the place where you set the foundation for your overall layout using div tags, class tags, id tags – Tags that you then include on the main page.

Keep websites small
Less is more and you should always look for the fastest (meaning; smallest) solution when developing websites. No matter if you work with static or dynamic websites, try to minimize the amount of effects, images and (for experienced developers) HTTP requests.

Use easy navigation
Refrain from using Flash or unnecessary JavaScript in your navigational menus. Plain text is easy to navigate through for both visitors and search engines.

Content is king
Your users look for information on various topics, give it to them. If you are a photographer it makes sense to include several bandwidth consuming features on your website like images. But text providers should keep it small but yet informative enough for your visitors to stick around.

Limit the use of images
Unless you are into photography and similar enterprises, please do not use an excessive amount of images on your website. If you want to add color, borders or rounded corners – use Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) instead.

Learn more
Visit www.aptivate.org/webguidelines/