Being a relatively large city, Mwanza boasts with having Lake Victoria and thus making it a fast growing economy in the country of Tanzania. For that reason alone, business owners might be looking out for an online presence, preferably a website that shows potential customers what they do and so on. The task of finding a reliable web developer can be tedious, and what many business owners do is hire “friends” to just get over with it for as cheap as possible. Of course, that has its benefits in the short run, but the impact in the long run could be damaging to the business.

With over 1.14 billion websites all over the world, its only right to find a web designer that can at least make it to the top 100 websites within the geographical location your business resides. The competition within the industry is growing high day by day, but there are a few ways to get it right the first time round, if you are starting out of course.

1. Do Your Research
You should first scan around your area of business and specifically look at your direct competition or partners in the field you are in. This will give you a clue to whether they are using a website to boost their online presence or not. Depending on what you do, its possible you don’t even need a website. You might just need lots of business cards and flyers.

2.Compare Offers from Website Companies
Ask your next door web design agency how much they charge for a website, and what deliverables they offer with their packages. Do this for at least three to five agencies and find out if what they offer is in alignment with what your business goals and objectives are. If you are lucky, you can find a real client from one of the agencies and hunt for their experience with them. This will help you make a wise decision before investing in a website.

3. Respect the Agency
Do not have that sense of entitlement when you have agreed on a web design project. Just because you are paying for the service, it doesn’t mean you can boss the agency around. The field of web design requires the same or even more work load like an engineer or doctor, the difference is that designers use their “artistic brain” and do not sweat physically. Do not undermine their craft or you might end up with cheap and poor work elsewhere.

4. Talk to People
Try and talk to people about what you need. It is a proven fact that word of mouth is more powerful than an advertisement in the newspaper. We as people tend to trust what people we respect have to say on a ny particular subject. In this case, if two or three of your peers recommend you to a particular web design agency, then maybe you ought to consider working with them for your project.

5. Have a Plan
Once you are ready to have a website, you should have a plan on three areas. First, you need to have an idea of how much it will cost. Second, you must know how it will be operated and updated once its launched, and thirdly you must have a time-frame on how long you want the process to last. And be prepared to leave a deposit once you agree with your website designer. Do not think they will design your work for free and wait for you to pay them sometime in the future. As the saying goes, if you don’t pay, you won’t pay attention.

In conclusion, Mwanza has many web design agencies and they all have their specific niche, strengths and weaknesses. The main focus should be on what you want for your business, and not what they sell you or convince you to have. The most important thing is to always build a lasting relationship with these firms and expect to work for years down the line. This industry is more technologically advanced as there are new software coming out and updated every day. Having that in perspective, you will benefit more in the years to come than just viewing this as a “give and take” process.