AJ's Fiji Tourism Website Design
So much more than “just another web designer”.
Looking to get the best possible Fiji tourism related website that money can buy? One that not only looks beautiful, but is fast loading, complies with regulations, and actully gets traffic? Then read on!
Let’s face it. It’s been a very tough couple of years for Fiji tourism. But there is a light at the end of the tunnel, as we start to enter the “living with Covid” strategies that most governments are introducing. What does this mean for Fiji tourism? In a nutshell, it will mean less tourists in the future. We are unlikely to see the million+ visitors per year again. So less tourists means that those business owners that are most effective at reaching out to those that do come, will fare better than those that don’t. In other words… an effective website is an absolute necessity moving forward.
Nisa Bula, I’m AJ and on this page I’m going to introduce myself to you, and give you some idea of my skills and experience. Some of you reading this might already know me… I have been involved one way or another with Fiji tourism websites for many years now. But for those that don’t know me, here’s a very brief into.
I have been designing and creating successful websites for over 15 years now. Customers come from across the globe. NZ, Australia, Fiji (of course), the USA and Canada, Europe, the Carribean, and many other locations. Most of the design work I do is through word of mouth and reputation, I don’t advertise. Many of the websites are tourism related, although not exclusively. But tourism sites are probably what I’m best known for.
Chances are, you have probably seen one of my designs somewhere, but just didn’t know it was mine. As an example, ever heard of the very successful Fiji tourism site, FijiBudgetVacations.com? Yes, I created that site back in 2007, and built it up to become one of the most well trafficked Fiji tourism niche sites. It has since been sold to the “Go Local” Fiji tourism company, and they still own it as far as I know.
Good Web Design Is As Much Art As It Is Science
You will be familiar with an old expression, “the whole is greater than the sum of the parts”. I believe it is attributed to Aristotle. But what does that mean, exactly? Here’s my interpretation. Take a look at this very famous painting below.
Isn’t that just beautiful? And yet, the parts that go into it are a piece of canvas, some oil paints, and a frame. It’s not the “parts” that are important, it’s how they are combined and put together that create the painting.
I feel like a great website design is similar in some respects. The parts are various programming and markup languages (html, css, javascript and php to name a few), content, and a framework to glue it all together. The ways that these can be created used and assembled are almost endless, as are the results.
The science is knowing all there is to know about paint, canvas and brushes. The art is using those to create something beautiful and functional.
What Will You Charge Me To Design A Website?
That is probably the first question someone would ask. And yet… it’s actually one of the least important things (as long as you have a respectable budget). But let’s set some expectations for a start shall we?
If you are going to come to me and say “I can get a local design company to do me a website for (example) fj$400, will you do it for less?” then I’m afraid we dont’ have much to talk about. Sorry, but we have to be realistic. I spend on average 50-100 hours creating the best possible website for a customer, so just do the math.
I can almost guarantee that you might as well take that fj$400 you gave to the local design company and just throw it away, for all the good it’s going to do you. Sure, you saved some money upfront, but that investment isn’t going to earn you anything. YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR, most of the time.
Expect to budget in the region of NZ$1500 for a typical business website. That can be a bit less for a more simplistic brochure type site, or a bit more if you want more complex functionality such as selling a product, taking bookings etc. But it’s a good ballpark figure.
I’m happy to discuss payment plans for those that feel that is out of reach.
Now that we have got the price out of the way, let’s talk about what you will actually get for your money. Picture this…
- A beautiful and professional looking site that you will be proud to show to friends and family
- A website that loads quickly, and meets all the accessibility requirements
- A website that has a chance to get good traffic numbers, and can convert leads into customers
- A site that you easily can edit and update yourself
- All that complicated and technical stuff behind the scenes is done for you before you take possesion of the site
Questions You Should Ask Your Web Designer
It’s possible you have already organised a web designer, or are in the process of doing so. Or even that you feel you don’t want to spend much money on a new site. If that’s the case, you need to ask the designer a few questions before you commit and hand over any money.
What You Need: Your new website should… look fantastic on any device. From small phones to widescreen TV and everything in-between. It should be fast loading, I can guarantee you that my designs are some of the fastest loading you will find anywhere. It should be accessible, to comply with Accessibility Discrimination laws and guidelines. And it should also be easy for your visitors to use. At the end of the day, the site is for THEM.
Is your web designer fully up to date with all design best practices? If your designer suggests you put a slideshow at the top of the homepage, run a mile. They don’t convert (numerous studies prove that) and they slow the site dramatically. If they don’t mention the need for a business website to meet the Website Accesibility act, run two miles. And if they don’t take the time to find out what results you hope to get, and discuss your options to achieve those, walk away.
How Much It Costs: Make sure that quotes or estimates are fully inclusive. Some design companies offer a base price that seems reasonably cheap… until you find all the extras you need to purchase just to get a decent site. If I give you a price, then that’s what you pay, no unexpected surprises. It won’t cost extra for things like an HTTP certificate, or connecting up email, or adding an image gallery.
Do You Get Ongoing Support? It doesn’t matter how great a job your designer does, there will probably come a time after it’s completed when you need some help. Maybe you can’t figure out how to do something in your site dashboard, or a hosting update went wrong and broke the design.
I’m not a “take your money and run” kinda guy. I take pride in my work, and I will NEVER build a site that I wouldn’t be proud to put my name on. That’s why I don’t take full payment up-front. I want you to be totally happy with your new design. I stand behind my work 100%, so if something should go wrong due to the work that I’ve done, I will fix it and get you back up and running as quickly as possible.
What Do You Get For Your Money, When I design You A New Site?
Probably more than you might think. A lot more.
- A fast loading, accessible, mobile friendly WordPress site, built to the highest standards, and using all best practices in construction
- If it is a new website, I will help you choose a good domain name (if you don’t have one yet) as well as suggest the best hosting packages and guide you through getting these in place.
- If you have an exisiting site, I will check your hosting and advise on whether it’s cost efficient and up to standard with speed and security. If it’s not, I will help get you onto something better.
- Your site will have all the necessary add-ons that you need to comply with web standards. That includes HTTPS security certificate (that is what gives you that padlock icon in a website address), cookie consent, as well as a comprehensive privacy policy as required by Google.
- A basic site will include the following pages (at a minimum)… homepage with intro on who you are and what you do, contact page, with a form that we can link to your gmail so you can check emails on the go, and reply from your phone using your website address as the sender. A Privacy Policy… Google appreciates these, so you really do need one. An About Us page… again, Google likes to see these. A Products page (where applicable) with photos of your products. A gallery page where you can show off your products, your staff, anything you like. The gallery will be fast loading and usuable on phones.
- Training: Once your new site is up and running, you will need training on how to edit the site, add new content, pictures etc. I won’t set a time limit on this like some designers do (2 hrs free training for example). It might take 2 hrs, it might take 10, let’s not put pressure onto you to learn new things before a certain deadline is reached. You don’t need to be a “techie” to use a wordpress dashboard… if you can use Microsoft word, you can certainly use WP, I guarantee it!
A few examples of recent design work
Ready To Talk?
Just reach out to me using the button below, and we can have a no obligation chat about what I can do for your tourism related business. It just might be the best decision you’ve ever made.