Services
Web Developer in Zanzibar
I build websites for hotels, tour operators, restaurants and property businesses in Zanzibar, with a focus on bookings and enquiries.
Who I work with
I build websites for businesses in Zanzibar and mainland Tanzania that need bookings, reservations and enquiries.
- Hotels, lodges and guesthouses that want direct bookings instead of pure OTA dependence
- Tour operators and safari companies losing enquiries between the itinerary and the deposit
- Charter and watersports operators whose season lives or dies on response time
- Restaurants and beach clubs that need to be findable, current and reservable
- Real estate and property businesses selling to buyers who are not in the country yet
What a Zanzibar business website must actually do
The brief here is different from a European or American one, and copying that playbook is why so many local sites underperform. Four things decide whether a website in Zanzibar works.
It has to load on a bad connection. A large share of your traffic is on mobile data, sometimes on 3G, sometimes roaming and impatient. A site that takes eight seconds has already lost to whoever loads in two. Every build I ship is measured on a throttled connection before launch, not on office fibre.
WhatsApp needs to be easy to find. Guests often prefer to message rather than wait for a form reply. I include the room, tour or date in the enquiry so your team has the details it needs.
It has to handle payment realistically. International card payments, mobile money for local customers, and an honest deposit structure. Asking a first time guest for a full bank transfer to an unfamiliar account is where bookings die.
And it has to speak the languages your guests actually book in. That does not mean translating the whole site on day one. It means translating the path from landing to payment for whichever markets matter to you.
What I build
Fast websites built with Next.js or a comparable framework, with a content system your team can use to update rates and information.
- Server rendered pages for speed and search visibility
- Headless CMS so staff can update rooms, tours, rates and gallery without code
- Structured data to help search engines understand your rooms, tours, reviews and FAQs
- GA4 and event tracking that ties an enquiry back to the page and campaign that produced it
- Booking engine, payment gateway and channel manager integrations where they are needed
- Multilingual routing for the markets that justify it
- Image pipeline in WebP with lazy loading, because photography is your product and also your biggest weight
Honest timelines
The single biggest variable is not design, it is content. A business with photography, room descriptions, tour itineraries and current rates ready to hand can launch in a fraction of the time of one where all of that has to be created. When I quote, I quote the content work separately and visibly so you can decide what to handle yourself.
How I work
One conversation about the business before any conversation about design. Then a written scope with what is included, what is not, and what I need from you and by when. Build in the open with a staging link you can watch. Launch, then ninety days of correcting the site against what visitors actually do.
I run my own businesses on exactly this process. When I say a feature is not worth the money, it's because I've paid for it myself.
What it costs and how long it takes
Essential
2 to 3 weeks
A fast website designed for phones, with up to eight pages, a gallery, WhatsApp enquiries, analytics and search basics. For businesses with content ready.
Booking
4 to 6 weeks
Everything in Essential plus booking flow, payments and deposits, structured data, CMS for your team and one language beyond English.
Custom
6 to 10 weeks
Custom design and content direction, integrations with your PMS, channel manager or CRM, and automation on the enquiry side.
Exact figures depend on scope and content readiness. I quote in writing after one conversation, never before.
Proof
Two examples of this work in practice: Rock the Yacht and Pilgram Group International.
Questions people ask
How much does a website cost in Zanzibar?
It depends on scope, but the useful split is three tiers: a focused brochure site, a booking capable site, and a custom build with integrations. I give a written figure after one conversation about what the business needs to do.
Can you work with the booking engine we already have?
Yes, and usually I recommend it. Replacing a working engine is rarely where the return is.
Do you build on WordPress?
Yes. WordPress can suit businesses that publish a lot of content. For booking websites where speed is especially important, I prefer a modern framework with a content management system.
Will my site rank on Google?
The build gives you the foundation: speed, structure, schema, clean URLs. Ranking also needs content published over time. I'm explicit about which part is the build and which is ongoing work.
Do you handle photography?
I direct it and can bring in photographers in Zanzibar. Photography is usually the highest return line in a tourism website budget.
Can guests pay with M Pesa?
Yes. Mobile money for local customers and card payments for international guests: most businesses here need both.
What happens after launch?
Ninety days of corrections based on real visitor behaviour is included in every build. After that, ongoing support is a monthly arrangement if you want it.
Do you work with businesses outside Zanzibar?
Yes. I work with businesses in Dar es Salaam, Arusha and across mainland Tanzania, as well as remotely elsewhere in East Africa.
Who owns the site when it's done?
You do. Code, domain, hosting account and content. You retain full ownership.
Need a website for your business?
WhatsApp is the quickest way to reach me. Email works too; I read every message.