Simple Guide on Setting up a Website in Kenya

In this age, having your business online seems essential. Businesses that check all the online presence boxes (social media, Google listing and website) have a better chance of reaching potential customers. Setting up a social media page is as simple as registering your business on Google Business.

Setting up a website in Kenya, is also simple but challenging to most people.

Today, we are going to take you through the whole web design process so you can have your site set up in no time. Let’s dive in.

Choose a Hosting that Suits You

Hosting is basically a house for your website, where all the data that you want the website to contain will be stored. There are several web hostings that you might have come across, the most famous one being WordPress, does that sound familiar? If not, maybe you have come across GoDaddy or Wix.

There are lots of hosting out there that if we start talking about each and every one of them, you’ll be confused. Let’s look at the most important aspect that we all should consider when making any purchase, cost: (if you are in Kenya there are even more affordable options)

Hosting	Cost (billed annually)	Storage
Host Pinnacle	ksh. 4060	35 GB
Blue Host	ksh. 7930	10 GB
True Host	ksh. 2900	30 GB
WordPress	ksh. 39,000	50 GB
Wix	ksh. 45,240	50 GB

If you own a store and want a simple website to sell your products, you should use Shopify.

Choose a Domain Name

Picking a domain for your business should be simple as it sounds but that’s never the case. I have heard several cases where people needed to change their domains because they never felt like it depicted what the business stood for.

Don’t feel trapped building authority on a wrong domain. Take your time to choose a name that you would want your business to use even after 20 years.

You won’t have to pay for the domain in the first year with the hosts listed above. If you already have hosting and need a new domain, we recommend registering at TrueHost or HostPinnacle. They are the most affordable options so far offering .co.ke domains at ksh. 750 and ksh. 900 (excluding tax) respectively.

Pick a Web Builder

After purchasing hosting and domain, login to the hosting space and choose a platform you would like to build your site from.

Since you might be new to web design, we recommend WordPress or Wix. They are the simplest web builders for newbies.

Some of you might prefer a coded website. Coded websites will save you the trouble of having to upgrade the plugins and themes everytime there is an update. They are a permanent alternative to plugins and add ons. This option is a little costly depending on the design of the website you want.

Create a Wix or WordPress admin acc.

After selecting either of the two web builders, a new window will show up directing you to create an account on the Web builder.

This is the backend, where you will be required to login whenever you want to develop or design your site.

Start Creating your Website

Let’s put it to context;

You just registered your domain as “newbiz.com”

you chose wordpress as your builder.

To access the backend of your site you will add “/wp-admin” to the domain; “newbiz.com/wp-admin”

Know the exact kind of website that will be useful for your business. Here are the different kinds of websites used by Kenyan businesses.

Types of Websites to Create Depending on Business

Portfolio Website

This is a simple website to showcase your expertise and experience.

A portfolio is mostly used by freelancers. If you are in this niche you should consider having this kind of website, it adds that professional touch to your personality.

It is the simplest of all and should take you less than a day to create.

E-commerce Website

This is the kind of website stores and supermarkets use to sell products. On this kind of website you want customers to shop products directly through the web by adding products to a cart and placing an order.

A good example of such website is Jumia, Kilimall or Naivas website.

This is essential for store owners who want to expand their business by increasing sales. In this era, more than 60% of customers would look something up online before purchasing. This is true for Kenyan consumers too.

You can add to that convenience by doing delivery.

Creating this kind of website could take a few days since you need to add the products for sale with descriptions and prices.

Listing Type Website

In the real estate industry, agencies use this to display the properties they have for sale or rent. Property listing requires Google API key unlike the previous two website.

Note: These last two types of website require regular updates as products or properties have to be taken off the website if out of stock and new offers should be made public.

Portal/Account Website

In this category we have banks, fintechs and schools. Banks and fintechs need portals for clients to manage their accounts remotely. It has become a necessity as all banks are moving to the digital space to serve their clients better.

Schools especially universities and high schools need portals for their students and lecturers to also access their accounts. It ensures smoother running of things especially school fees payment and enquiries.

Now this kind of website require expertise in creation of such sites.

Choose a Theme That Would be Easy to Customize while Setting up The Site

WordPress has hundreds of free themes that you can customize to your liking. Choose one that would give you a hard time customising.

Also consider the plugins that your theme of choice comes with.

Congratulations, you Created Your First Website

This whole process should take you 3 to 4 hours but if it takes you a whole week, it’s understandable. Creating something for the first time is like creating a complex work of art, it will engage your brain to the maximum.

If you won’t get crafty, your competitor will, Kenyan businesses are taking over the online space with official websites.

PS: This guide is for simple websites and not the portal type.

We would have wished you good luck as always but you don’t need luck if you have a clear plan. Peace!