How we build a business website in a week

Yes, a business website can be built in a week. For a typical site of five or six pages, we usually go live in about seven days, as long as your logo, photos and basic details arrive at the start. Online stores with many products take a little longer.

Most business owners we talk to expect two or three months. Some have already waited that long, with a developer who stopped replying somewhere around the "final changes" stage.

Why most websites take so long

The design and the code are rarely the slow part. Delays usually come from these:

• Waiting for content. The site is built, but there's no text for the About page and no product photos.
• Too many people giving feedback. Every round of changes goes to five people, and each has a different opinion about the shade of blue.
• No clear goal. If nobody decided what the website is for, every page turns into a debate.

Sort these out and a week is realistic.

What happens on each day?

Day 1: Kickoff call

A 30 to 45 minute call, in person if you're in Dar and on video if you're not. We agree on what the site needs to do: bring in WhatsApp enquiries, take bookings, sell products, or look credible when someone Googles your name. We also agree on the pages, and on who from your side gives the final yes.

Days 2 and 3: Design and words

We design the homepage first, in your brand colours, and write the text with you. If you'd rather not write anything, we'll interview you for 20 minutes and write it ourselves. You see the homepage on day 3.

Days 4 and 5: The rest of the site

Once you're happy with the homepage, the other pages follow the same style, so they come together quickly. We add the contact form, WhatsApp button and Google Maps location, plus the SEO basics: page titles, descriptions and a sitemap so Google can find you.

Day 6: Your review

You click through everything on your phone and send us one list of changes. One list, not a trickle of messages over two weeks. That alone saves days.

Day 7: Launch

We connect your domain (yourbusiness.co.tz, .com, whatever you've got), switch on SSL so the padlock shows, submit the site to Google Search Console and hand everything over to you.

The 5 things to have ready

If you send these before the kickoff call, we can almost always keep to the week:

1. Your logo, ideally a PNG or SVG file rather than a screenshot from WhatsApp.
2. Photos of your shop, team, products or work. Real photos beat stock photos almost every time, and phone photos are fine if they're sharp and well lit.
3. Your services or products, with a line or two on each, plus prices if you're happy to show them.
4. Contact details: phone, WhatsApp, email, location and opening hours.
5. Two or three websites you like. They don't need to be in your industry. They just help us understand your taste.

What takes longer than a week

We'd rather be upfront about this. Online stores with hundreds of products, booking systems linked to other software, and sites in several languages take longer, mostly because there's more content to load and test. We'll give you a real date at the start and stick to it.

Is a week too fast to be any good?

A week is possible because most small business sites need a clear headline, proof that you're good at what you do, and an easy way to get in touch. When everyone agrees on that on day one, there's nothing to drag out.

A website isn't finished at launch. The good ones get small improvements every month based on what visitors do. Once yours is live, set up your Google Business Profile and link the two together.

What pages does a typical business website need?

Most small business sites we build have five or six pages. Some need fewer. A one-page site can work well for a new business or a single service.

How we keep the quality high when moving quickly

Speed comes from making decisions early, not from cutting corners. On every project we run the same checks before launch:

• Every page tested on an Android phone and an iPhone, on mobile data.
• Images compressed so pages load quickly.
• Every button and form tested, including the WhatsApp link.
• Page titles and descriptions written for Google.
• Spelling checked in English and Swahili.
• The padlock (SSL) working on every page.

None of this is glamorous, and it's the part that cheap websites usually skip.

What happens after launch?

Launch day isn't the end. In the first month we watch how visitors use the site: which pages they look at, where they leave, and which buttons they tap. Often a small change, like moving the price higher on the page or making the WhatsApp button bigger, brings more enquiries than any redesign. We'd rather make three small improvements based on real visitors than guess at a big one.

You'll also want to point people to the site. Add the link to your Instagram bio, WhatsApp Business profile, Google Business Profile and email signature. Our SEO guide covers how to start getting visitors from Google.

Can you build a website in a week if you're abroad?

Yes. A lot of our clients are outside Tanzania, or are Tanzanian businesses selling to customers overseas. The kickoff call happens on video, content is shared through WhatsApp or email, and reviews happen on a link we send you. The time difference rarely matters, and sometimes it helps: you send feedback in the evening and wake up to the changes.

Who owns the website?

You do. The domain should be registered in your business's name, and you should have access to your hosting and your website files. We've met too many business owners whose previous developer disappeared with the login details. We hand over everything at launch, and if you choose a monthly care plan, we keep it updated for you.

Signs your current website needs replacing

• It looks broken or hard to read on a phone.
• It takes more than a few seconds to load on mobile data.
• The prices, photos or phone numbers are out of date and nobody can edit them.
• Browsers show a "not secure" warning.
• It hasn't brought in a single enquiry you can remember.

If two or more of those sound familiar, it's usually faster and cheaper to start fresh than to patch the old site.

Example: a cleaning company's week

Here's how a typical week looks for a small cleaning company. Monday: a 40 minute call to agree the goal (quote requests on WhatsApp) and five pages. The owner sends the logo, twenty photos from jobs, a price list and three reviews that evening. Wednesday: the homepage design arrives on a link. The owner asks for bigger photos and a "Get a quote" button at the top. Thursday and Friday: services, about, gallery and contact pages are built. Saturday: the owner checks everything on their phone and sends one list of six changes. The following Monday: changes done, domain connected, site live, Google Search Console set up, and the link added to Instagram and Google.

Your plan for this week

1. Write down the one thing you want visitors to do.
2. Collect your logo, photos, services and prices in one folder.
3. Pick two or three websites you like and note why.
4. Decide who in your business gives the final approval.
5. Book a kickoff call.

Frequently asked questions