How to choose a web designer in Dar es Salaam

You post in a business WhatsApp group that you need a website. By the evening you have six phone numbers, three price lists sent as images, and a friend who knows someone who can do it cheaper. Everyone says they are good, and you still have to pick one.

Before I designed websites, I spent years writing briefs for studios and checking their work for lodges, a school and other brands. These are the checks I would make before paying any web designer in Dar es Salaam, me included.

Can you open their websites on your phone?

Ask for links to live websites. A screenshot or a PDF shows how a design looked on the day it was made. A live link shows how the website works now.

Open each link on your phone, on mobile data, the way your customers will. In Tanzania, phones made up 69.15% of page views in October 2026 (StatCounter). On each website, check these things:

• Does the text fit the screen without zooming?
• Does the WhatsApp button open a chat with the business?
• Do the other buttons and the contact form work?
• Can you find the location, the phone number and the opening hours quickly?
• Does the page open in a few seconds on mobile data?

You can test my work the same way. Work shows the websites I designed and built as my own projects, and each one is live.

Who writes the copy, and when do you see it?

The copy is the text on each page. It tells a visitor what you offer, who it is for and how to contact you. Ask who writes it.

On the Tanzanian price pages I read on 3 November 2026, copywriting was part of only one package, the most expensive one on that page. If the designer expects you to write the copy, you will need time for it before the design can start. If the designer writes it, ask if you will read and approve the text before the design.

Ask how many rounds of changes are included, and what counts as one change.

Is the domain in your name?

Your domain, for example yourbusiness.co.tz, is your address on the internet. Ask for it to be registered in your business name, with your own email address, and ask for the logins. Do the same for hosting and business email. If a designer keeps these in their own name and later stops replying, moving your website becomes slow and difficult.

Ask what each one costs in year two. At one Tanzanian registrar, a .co.tz domain costs TZS 22,500 for the first year and TZS 24,000 to renew. A .tz domain costs TZS 90,000, then TZS 100,000 to renew. Both are before VAT (checked 3 November 2026).

The five Tanzanian design price pages I read all include the domain and hosting for the first year. After that, you pay. One IT firm, for example, lists renewals of TZS 105,000 to TZS 300,000 a year, depending on the package. What a website costs in Tanzania in 2026 has more figures.

What happens once it’s live?

A few months after your website goes live, you will want to change a price, add a service or replace a photo. Ask who does that, how quickly, and what it costs.

Some designers sell a monthly care plan for this, and one I read starts at TZS 100,000 a month (checked 3 November 2026). Care should also cover updates, backups and a check that the contact form still sends. My own care plan is called Website Care. What does website maintenance cover? explains it in full.

Is the agreement in writing?

Before you pay a deposit, ask for a written quote that lists:

• the pages, and what goes on each one
• what is included, and what costs extra
• how many rounds of changes you get
• the dates, and what the designer needs from you before they start
• the deposit, and when the balance is due
• what happens if the project stops halfway

A deposit before work starts is a fair request, because it books the designer’s time. With me, a 75% deposit books your start date, and the other 25% is paid before the website goes live. Until then, the website stays on a test link.

When should you choose someone else?

Think again if a designer:

• can only send screenshots, with no live links
• wants to register your domain in their own name
• promises first place on Google
• sends a price with no written list of what it includes
• cannot tell you who writes the copy
• takes days to answer simple questions before you have paid anything

How to choose a web designer has more questions to ask, with the answers that should worry you.

How I work with businesses in Dar es Salaam

I’m based in Dar es Salaam and I work online. A project runs on WhatsApp messages, voice notes and email, with Zoom or Google Meet when a video call helps.

Every website goes through research, strategy, copywriting, art direction, design, build, testing and handover. I build websites of up to 5, 10 or 20 pages, or a custom website designed from scratch, and Website Care looks after them each month once they are live. If you already have a domain and hosting, I build on them. Services lists what each package includes. For businesses outside Dar es Salaam, What a business website in Tanzania needs in 2026 links to a guide for each city.

Short answers for business owners in Dar