Oracom

More and more young high school graduates are taking to the digital revolution and Web Design in particular has acquired its fair share of admirers and enthusiasts. Long gone are the days when many fled the web design industry the moment they came across intimidating acronyms such as HTML, PSP and JavaScript. These were perceived to be in the realm of only the most technically gifted programmers and many would shy away. However, as technology advances, there has been an inclination towards simplifying programming language in Web Design to a level where it is not programming techniques and skills rule supreme, but imagination, artistry and creativity. Software such as Coffee Cup Visual Site Designer uses the What You See Is What You Get (WYSIWYG) interface that takes away the frustration of hard coding.

Growth in the Information and Communication Technology industry has now come to heavily influence the business environment of the country and as such no major or minor company can survive without a sound ICT policy. Large Multinationals and Institutions have dedicated entire departments to this cause. As such, a good web site is all the more important as many may regard it as the face of the company online. Companies pay hefty amounts of money for a good web design so as to sell its image in the desired and envisioned form. A good web design is drawn from acquiring good web design services with acceptable web design practices which in turn portrays the company in good light, especially for a first time visitor on the website who inevitably forms a lasting first impression of the company based purely on the presentation, accessibility and practicality of the website.

However, every ying has its yang. With the surging growth in ICT and web design, there is the uncontrolled flooding of web designers in the market and by extension a flooding of websites. One may acquire a business website only to find hundreds, even thousands of websites selling the same business or product. Some web designers make the all too common mistake of assuming that once the website has been designed and activated, that their job is as good as done. This is a common and highly detrimental assumption as a website may sit dormant on the web with no visitors and little awareness of its existence. In comes the concept of Search Engine Optimization (SEO). SEO is a method of increasing awareness, accessibility and availability of a website by increasing the ranking of the website on search engines such as Google. This enables any user from any given background to gain access to a search engine optimized website by simply Google searching keywords or phrases contained within that website or related and relevant to that website.

The potential for web design in Kenya is only limited by our imagination and our willingness to embrace the ever dynamic world that is the World Wide Web. Stemming from the fact that Kenya has a knack for trend setting, I dare suggest that very soon we shall have our very own Mark Zuckerberg, dominating the world of Web Design.