Zanzibar has evolved from a fairly quiet island to a more information sharing tourist destination in recent years. The very existence of a much needed broadcasting channel in the form of Mambo Magazine (MM) has help us in the Western, Arabic and Asian parts of the world in our quest to find more than decent and updated intel on what is going on.
Before MM we had to rely on personal stories, more or less objective news reports (this thing with who owns the media is beyond the scope of this article but yet a very interesting discussion) and actual visits to Zanzibar in order to satisfy our needs for accurate information about business, where to stay, what to eat and what to do.
It is true that when you are on Zanzibar many of the information needs outlined above is available to you once you come to Zanzibar. Simply ask any cab driver and he will show you all the sites, guide you to a tour operator and make sure you find a hotel you can afford. There are lots of accommodation alternatives for all budgets and there is plenty to eat on any part of the island (maybe not on the country side but you probably get that).
But with approx. 100,000 visitors to Zanzibar each year one could think that it would be worthwhile to spend some extra money on marketing and especially the cost effective web marketing business.
All you need to do is to go to the nearest internet café, create a Google account and sign up for Blogger (BlogSpot). Or you could use WordPress.com (free), buy a domain name (about 17 USD) and pay WordPress money in order to transform your “awesomehotelinzanzibar.wordpress.com” address into “www.awesomehotelinzanzibar.com” and now you are ready to add content. But do not stop there.
There are way to many websites for Zanzibar businesses that are out-dated, that lack even the basics like “who is the owner”, “who will guarantee that my reservation is there when I arrive” and similar questions that trouble many visitors before they leave their home and board the plane. True, there are many hotels that do provide the information required and that people believe is safe as well trustworthy of the information given via e-mail or phone.
So the second thing to make sure (creating a website was step one) is that your business website is up-to-date when it comes to relevant and trustworthy information. If you made a website back in 2009 and have made no updates to it since then you better log on and do something asap. A simple “we are still alive” update is all you need but of course a more informative update with room rates, tour offers and other events is also something to publish on a regular basis. Your website is alive and so is your business.
The third step, and that is what this article is about, concerns you that have websites for your business and do publish updates on a regular basis. You should take a look on the website and ask yourself the follow questions:
..is the web design modern?
You do not need to buy books from Amazon.com about HTML5 but you do need to look at the layout. There are some really bad examples out there that look like the website was built in 1994 by a 14 year old student that just mastered his first 100 lines of code. Excel in web design and you are one way closer to more guests. But do not use Flash or any other obstructive technique that your local webdesigner thinks is “so cool”. Flashing GIF animations is also a no-no.
..is the navigation menu easy to understand?
You overall layout is one thing but the design elements (or placeholders) are also important to think about. Navigation menus should not be cluttered. Keep it simple and relevant. Try to picture a tourist at his or hers computer, browsing the web and discovering your website in search of a hotel room, place to eat or car to hire. Will they find what they are looking for in 8 seconds or less? If not, rethink you navigational structure.
..can I remove or add images to complement the text?
Images are great. True that they require bandwidth during upload and download, so please try to use decently large images. Or put them on Flickr along with a description and a link to your main website. If you have many images that you want to show to the world consider using a plugin or service for easy sharing of those images. Once again, Flickr could be the answer to all your image related needs.
Approx. 100,000 people come to Zanzibar as tourists each year. Many of them come to Zanzibar to spend a lot of money. Some will spend money that is equal to a Gizenga shop worker´s monthly pay in a matter of days. There is no excuse for not having an attractive website, with relevant and updated information to complement the hospitality given on site.
Future articles will provide insights regarding “advanced but yet affordable website development“, “how to market a website” and “how to use social media like Facebook to market a business“. Stay tuned!
