Web design and development in Kenya
Web design in Kenya has evolved as fast as the global industry. Due to the fast flow of information, thanks to the internet, Kenya has been able to evolve at an equally resonating pace as the rest of the world.
A few years back, three fiber optic companies in Europe ported their data cables on the shores of East Africa. That brought with it extremely fast, highly reliable and affordable internet connection.
Web Design and Development Services in Kenya
There is a difference between web design and web development. Though these two fields tend to be similar, they are different.
Web design is an art. It is what people refer to frontend development and entails a mix of structure, colors, and images. It is the visual and aesthetic part of the website. To be a web designer, one has to have a knack for art.
Web Development, on the other hand, is technical. It’s more of a science than an art. Its also referred to as coding. A web developer is able to create website functionality through coding. Web development makes a website functional, but not necessarily elegant.
To be able to successfully start and finish a website, one needs to be able to learn both web design and web development skills.
Web design companies in Kenya
The majority of web designers in Kenya are information technology students. Most small business owners prefer hiring them due to their affordable rates. That is opposed to the medium and large corporations who would go for professional web design companies that can support and maintain them. However, this is changing. A lot of small businesses have realized how powerful the internet has become. They have seen how much value their website is bringing to their businesses. Therefore they opt to engage web development companies who will maintain and support them.
At ADEA, we get a lot of customers coming to us with abandoned websites. This is a common phenomenon in the Kenyan web design space. Once freelancers develop websites, they do not have time to service their clients.
The new breeds of web designers are establishing web design companies. As much as they take in initial web designing projects, they also sign in web maintenance contracts with their clients.
Web design cost in Kenya
Website designing is priced differently depending on the web designer preference. I will discuss different price structures below:
- Pricing Per page: This pricing is pegged on the number of pages designed by the web designer. The more the pages, the higher the price. This is a common pricing strategy that has been adopted by Fiverr.
- Pricing per website is where the web designer packages various website design types and styles. Like in ADEA, you can get either a profile web design or an eCommerce web design.
- Pricing per hour is a common pricing strategy that is common at freelancer. The web designer is billed per the hours he has worked. The work is structured into a one-hour-long section or sessions.
Facts about Websites
In the course of my career as a web designer, I have realized a couple of things about web designing profession in Kenya;
- A Website is like a wife. Once you find its value, you cannot live without it. It’s somehow mandatory.
- A website is a tool, it needs a technique or strategy to run it. Just like a hoe on the garden, you need to use it on the internet to make money online.
- A Website is like a beautiful girl. You need to keep on making it look beautiful. Otherwise, it will lose its luster and the admirer will start looking elsewhere.
- A Website is like a tree, it needs to be pruned and update with relevant content.
- A Website is like a river. Just like water, the content needs to be deep and clean. Quality and quantity matters in almost equal terms.
- A Website is a lifesaver. There was a time my business run completely down. We Closed office and laid off staff. But we continued running our website. The most interesting thing is that our clients did not even notice the changes. And the website was able to spring the business back to life.
Web design jobs in Kenya
Web design jobs in Kenya as adequate. Every business is in need of an extra marketing channel that is affordable and easier to operate. Online marketing is an option.
A lot of web designers keep on asking us where they can be able to get web design jobs. There are various options that a web designer can use to market his web design services
Local marketing: A web designer can approach local business owners and offer to design websites for them. If they already have websites, you can offer to redesign them, if there is a need for a complete website makeover.
Web marketing and Social Media Marketing: There is no way you can be a website designer and not have a website. One of the most effective methods of marketing your web design services is by sharing your website and services on social media platforms.
Pay per click online marketing is another option. At ADEA, we use Google ads and Facebook ads to advertise our web design and hosting services. These two platforms are highly effective.
Search Engine Marketing: You can optimize your website for better search engine rankings. This will ensure that your website is highly visible online and hence people are able to frequently visit it and find what you are offering.
Online Job Websites: You can sign up and profile your skills and services on the freelancing websites. The three websites that we mostly use are Fiverr, Freelancer, and Upwork. At Fiverr, you list your services (they call the gigs) and potential customers who frequent the site looking for designers can hire you. For Freelancer and Upwork, you create your profile and then bid for jobs that are already listed on the website.
Web Designers in Kenya
Let me tell you one or two things about web designers. These are the things that you should be looking for in a web designer. It will also help you better understand the web design as a profession and learn how to deal with web designers;
- Web designers are entrepreneurs, you treat them as employees and they will be gone. Give him space and freedom and he will be comfortable working with you.
- Web designers are like tailors, you need to maintain one and keep a close relationship with them. Always go for web design companies as opposed to freelancers.
- Web designers should be professionals. You need to be more formal with them. Keep it business and they will take care of your business. There were instances when my clients would want a deeper relationship than business. That ruined the already established business relationship.
- Web designers should be full time. Do not go for a freelancer. He will design and leave. You will then have a website which is like a river with stagnant water. Go for a full-time web design company and they will support you all the way.
- Web designers are humans. Well forget the longtime adage; geeks are not humans. They need to be appreciated. This will keep them close to you.
- Web designers are consultants. By the fact that they have interacted with many entrepreneurs and understood their businesses, they can give you one or two valuable advice. Listen to them.
- Web designers should be confidents. They know a few of your business secrets. Take care of them.
Web designing in Kenya
Website designing is an art, not science. Your website needs to be beautiful, functional and communicative. The other techy nitty-gritty is not relevant. The website influences the mind of the visitors and art has more power and influence on the mind than science. While designing a website, focus on the reader.
Web development as a science. The pure technical aspect of web development and coding is pure science. As a successful web designer, you need to learn programming and coding.
Web designing is a professional career. Its not a side hustle as many people think. It’s a high paying job. As a client, consider remunerating accordingly.
Web designing is here to stay. The onset of website builder has sliced the cake but web designers and developers have also evolved. To get a professional, functional website, you need a web designer to work on it.
Web design courses in Kenya
There are various ways you can be able to up your game in web design and development. A friend of mine told me that it is highly beneficial to become a coder if you are an online entrepreneur. This is what made me start learning how to code. There are two ways that you can learn web design and coding;
Colleges and Universities: You can enroll for a course in web design and development in your local colleges or universities. In some of the institutions, they refer the course to Information Technology. Web Design and Programming are specialties.
Online Learning: This is the most affordable, effective and convenient way of learning web design and coding. There are several websites that can teach. My favorite three are Udemy, Pluralsight, and Codecademy Some of these sites even offer certification.
Self-teaching: Coding is not difficult if you are determined to learn it. There is more than adequate online information base to help you with it. Simple google searches can reveal massive information you can use to start your design and coding career. This is an option for those with a tight budget.
Future of web design in Kenya
The future of web design in Kenya is very promising. A lot of business are realizing the value of operating their businesses online. With over 1 million businesses registered in Kenya, the market is still young.
According to the 2019 Kenyan census, it is now a fact that more than 20 million Kenyans have access to the internet on a daily basis. This is a market that we can all tap on as businesses. With affordable and reliable internet available almost everywhere in Kenya, the chances of doing business both nationally and internationally are very high.