- Why I needed sites in Zanzibar
- Who I worked with and how we talked
- Two real builds (tools, time, price, wins, misses)
- Results that made me smile (and frown)
- Tips if you’re hiring in Zanzibar
- Would I do it again?
Why I even needed a site out there
I spend a lot of time in Zanzibar. I help small places with their online stuff—guesthouses, tour folks, kite schools. Sand in my shoes, laptop in my bag. It’s a mix that suits me.
Last year, I hired two local web design teams. Real work. Real money. Real deadlines. Did it work? Yes. Was it perfect? No. But let me explain.
For anyone who wants the blow-by-blow version, I put together a dedicated write-up on hiring web designers in Zanzibar.
How we worked (and a tiny culture note)
We met in Stone Town first. Short chats in little cafes. Hot tea. Busy streets. We planned with voice notes on WhatsApp. We used Figma for mockups. We sent files with Google Drive. It felt simple, even when power flickered at night. That happens. People roll with it.
Also—everyone is kind. Karibu. They care about local style. Bold colors like kanga cloth. Brass door icons. That vibe actually helped the designs.
Build One: A Beach Lodge in Jambiani (WordPress)
What we built
- 8 pages: Home, Rooms, Gallery, Restaurant, Location, Blog, Contact, Book Now
- Room calendar with WooCommerce Bookings
- Payments with DPO Pay (USD and TZS)
- Blog for “what to do” posts
- WhatsApp chat button for fast replies
Tools we used
- WordPress with Astra theme and Elementor
- WP Rocket for speed
- Imagify for WebP images
- Cloudflare free CDN
- Hostinger for hosting
- Domain: .co.tz bought through Extreme Web Technologies
Time and cost
- 3 weeks from first draft to launch
- $1,450 all in (design, setup, basic copy, one photo day)
What went great
- Mobile looked clean. Big buttons. Easy scroll.
- Colors matched the lodge: coral, teal, sandy beige. Felt like sunrise on the east coast.
- The owner wanted the Stone Town door icon set. We made tiny line icons. Cute, but not childish.
- The booking flow worked on slow 3G. That mattered.
What bugged me
- Two short delays from power cuts during a stormy week. Not fun.
- The image gallery first loaded slow. We had to compress photos again.
- The DPO setup needed extra calls. Paperwork dragged.
Numbers that matter
- Lighthouse after tweaks: 91 desktop, 84 mobile
- LCP on mobile: 2.6s down to 2.2s after lazy loading
- Bookings: +19% in July-August, compared to last year
- Top blog post: “Best tide times for Jambiani beach” pulled steady traffic
Build Two: A Kitesurf School in Paje (Webflow)
What we built
- One long home page to start, plus a Lessons page
- Class schedule block with a simple form
- Quick-pay links through Pesapal and cash on arrival
- Auto email reply in MailerLite
- Reviews pulled in from Google via manual updates (kept it simple)
Tools we used
- Webflow for layout and CMS
- Tiny PNG for image compression
- FormSubmit for lightweight forms
- Namecheap for domain
- Cloudflare again
Time and cost
- 2 weeks, fast sprint
- $1,100 for design, build, and a half-day photo shoot at sunrise (yes, sand in my camera bag)
What went great
- The hero video was a 9-second loop. Low size. Big wow.
- Strong contrast for sun glare. White text. Dark overlays. Easy to read on the beach.
- The owner used WhatsApp voice notes for copy. We wrote clean, short lines from that. It worked.
What bugged me
- The Pesapal button flow opened a new tab. A few users got confused.
- Webflow hosting price was fine for us, but the owner asked for a cheaper plan. We kept it for speed.
Numbers that matter
- Lighthouse: 95 desktop, 89 mobile
- Mobile bounce rate: down from 64% to 41% after launch
- Conversions: +27% trial lesson sign-ups in high wind weeks
The little stuff no one tells you
- Photos sell. We skipped stock. We shot real rooms and real boards. One hour at golden hour changed the whole feel.
- WhatsApp rules. Guests ask fast questions there. Add the chat button. It pays for itself.
- Some younger guests swear by Kik for quick media exchanges. If you’re wondering how to handle photo requests on that app without crossing any lines, skim this practical overview of Kik nudes—it breaks down privacy settings, etiquette, and safety tips so you can stay professional while still giving visitors the visuals they want.
- Local payments matter. DPO or Pesapal over straight card-only setups saved bookings.
- Content beats fancy shapes. Three clear buttons on top: Book, Call, WhatsApp. Done.
Money, time, and small surprises
- Averaged $1,200 per site for the builds I did. Simple sites can be less. Booking sites can be more.
- Timelines kept to 2–3 weeks. Add 1 week for content or if a storm hits.
- Payments: I paid part by M-Pesa and part by bank transfer. USD or TZS both worked.
A tiny headache: One Thursday night, the power went out mid-upload. We pushed the launch to Saturday morning. Stress? A bit. But the team kept me posted, minute by minute. That helped.
SEO and speed, in plain terms
- Titles and meta: We wrote clear titles like “Beach Lodge in Jambiani” and “Kitesurf Lessons Paje.” Not cute. Just clear.
- Image names: jambiani-room-1.webp, not IMG_1043. Small thing, big help.
- Schema: We added LocalBusiness. Think of it like a label for Google. It helps maps.
- Caching: WP Rocket on WordPress. Webflow handled its own side. Fast is kind.
If you want more hands-on tutorials and examples of lightweight, high-converting pages, check out Bingo Web Design’s free guides—they mirror many of the tricks we used here.
After three months, both sites showed up on page one for a few long searches like “paje kite lessons price” and “jambiani beachfront rooms.”
The good, the bad, the salty
What I loved
- Design with a local heart. Kanga colors. Door icons. Real faces.
- Smooth chat on WhatsApp. Fewer meetings. More doing.
- Quick fixes after launch. No drama.
What I didn’t love
- Payment gateway setup took patience.
- Power blips. Plan a cushion.
- Gallery speed on mobile needed extra care.
Tips if you’re hiring in Zanzibar
- Ask for a mobile speed test report. Lighthouse or PageSpeed is fine.
- Add a WhatsApp button. People trust it.
- Get one short photo shoot. Light sells rooms and tours.
- Use WebP images. Keep hero videos under 10 seconds.
- Pick one gateway locals use: DPO or Pesapal. Test it on a phone.
- Write copy like a friend. Short lines. Clear prices. Real times.
- Set a two-week checkup after launch. Fix small stuff fast.
For context, these web-first best practices aren’t just for beach lodges and kite schools. They also translate to service niches half a world away—from plumbers to, yes, discreet companionship agencies. A quick scroll through the site for Waukee escorts shows how concise contact buttons, crystal-clear service descriptions, and mobile-ready galleries can build trust and drive bookings even in a highly competitive adult industry.
Looking for a contrast with island life? My experience hiring web design teams in Chester reveals how a colder climate can still deliver warm designs.
Would I do it again?
Yes. I would. I like the care. I like the style. I like the way the teams listen. It felt human. It felt local.
Was it perfect? No. But the sites brought real bookings. Guests found the pages, sent a message, and showed up with sandy feet and big smiles.
If you want web design in Zanzibar, keep it simple, keep it fast, and let the island shine through. You know what? That mix works. Every single time.
If you’re curious how those lessons translate to the UK mainland, here’s my first-hand take on web design in Cheshire.
— Kayla Sox