Are you looking forward to starting a website design business in Nigeria, or have started soliciting for website design jobs, but business is not what you think it is? Whether you will be using wordpress themes to develop sites or from scratch, there're website design business challenges you should know and plan for them ahead of time. As far as the internet is there, we can't do without a website and search engine optimization in Nigeria; because these ensure that an online presence is maintained by companies, organizations and individuals. This thread today is to help you to know the challenges web designers face in Nigeria, so to factor that in as you venture into web design services in Nigeria.   

Listed below are 6 common website design business challenges in Nigeria

1.   I want a website like this and that:  A prospect will contact you about website design in Nigeria and tells you that it wants a website like Facebook, CNN, United nation, PayPal, etc.  And ask what would it cost?  You the website designer will spend days studying, analyzing, and creating proposal and demos; only to find out the prospect can't afford it.  The budget of this prospect might be N70, 000 and he/she wants to have this type of website.  What this prospect doesn't know is that these websites go beyond the interface they're seeing. For example, Facebook has tens of thousands of applications running in it.

2.   Appointment issue:  Some prospects will give an appointment at his/her office, 10 am, and show up by 12 noon, or have another appointment that stays longer than expected while you stay at reception waiting till his/she is through. Therefore, your time will be wasted, in some cases, this leads to disrespect; as it would look like you don't have another thing you're doing (making you look worthless), or you're there to beg for money.

3.   Cheap or free:  Many internet services in Nigeria started as free services – free ebooks, free downloads, search engine free, email free, social media participation free, free themes, free software, etc. Therefore, many Nigerian companies expect free website or want it to be relatively cheap. Those who are in digital marketing in Nigeria are currently facing similar challenges.  Many Nigerians don't know that the internet has passed this stage and the world has moved on, but they still want something for nothing. This is one of the reasons the Nigerian eCommerce industry are yet to move forward by Nigerians – because Nigerian online entrepreneurs do have big dreams but want to achieve it with nothing.

4.   Not knowing what they want:  Many Nigerian website design prospects do not know what they want - color, image, website type; and in terms of the objective of having a website. Therefore, they can tell you blue color in the morning and later in the evening red color; send images today, next two days instruct you not to use those ones and will forward different ones, yet change mind again; until he/she gets confused and finally point their competitors' websites as the type of website he/she wants.

5.   In ability to renew:  Because of the number 4 reason above, and other reasons many Nigerian websites are not being renewed after the website hosting and domain expired. At the end they don't know whether the website is contributing to their business progress or not, as a result, it will be hard for them to pay for renewal. It doesn't matter how cheap the hosting and domain is.

6.   Misunderstanding about content development:  Website generally comprises four things – content, hosting, domain registration, web manager/developer, and designing of the website. Some prospects expect a web designer to populate their website with contents – articles, images, and videos. To them these are website and their website designer should provide them all these.

These are 6 common website design business challenges in Nigeria you should know. So if you're planning to start a website design firm, sit down with your team to map out strategies on how to deal with these issues, because they will come; without adequate planning, you and your team are likely to be frustrated.

If you're a website designer, what are your challenges?

According to me your post is very informative.

Another challenge in the website development industry is those that are into website maintenance services in Nigeria, they often work so hard to convince companies and website owners of the need for website maintenance. So many companies out there believe that all they needed is just to have a website and that is all.


Yes, domain registration, hosting and the website design are fine. Furthermore, you need a website administrator to help you manage your website and ensure optimal website function 247.