My first official web design gig for Botle Guest House
27. Oct, 2009
9 Comments
I’m always creating websites/blogs for my own business and not for third parties through my web design services www.4thedesign.com. I’m happy to announce that I’ve been contracted to create a website for Botle Guest House in Dube Village (Soweto), which I’ve recently completed.
The brief basically included doing everything from scratch:
1. DOMAIN NAME
My first point of call, was to search for the shortest domain name available related to the guest house. Checked for botle.co.za and botle.com, unfortunately both were already registered. Both domains are currently parked and not being used.
Client settled for botleguest.co.za which I duly registered through Hetzner. I’m only using Hetzner for domain name registration as hosting will be with Hostgator in the US.
2. WEB HOSTING
Hostgator is my recommended web hosting company, which I’m highly endorsing for any web publisher. Their rates are affordable and have a great support team that operates for 24 hours.
3. LOGO DESIGN
Client requested a simple logo without any symbol. As a three star graded establishment, I offered to add the three stars just below the name Botle Guest House and also add the new website address next to the three stars.
4. WEB DESIGN
I selected to offer an album format layout since guest house uses a lot of photographs to showcase property. Website is powered by wordpress an open source content management system, which is my preferred choice for its flexibility with plug-ins and search engine friendly.
5. SOCIAL MEDIA
I must declare that all the bling/hype about social media does not ring any bell with my client. She falls under the old school, with no informed knowledge about the benefits of Twitter and Facebook together with instant messaging Skype. I resolved to educating her about all these websites for her to see the benefits for her guest house.
Do you need a website/blog?
Should you need a new website or have an old website that requires a revamp, www.4thedesign.com is ready to creating a profitable website for your tourism business today.
My name is Muzi Mohale a full-time travel blogger, your host at Travelwires.com responsible for all editorial on this blog. I blog about the travel and tourism industry in Africa. Apart from blogging about tourism, I also run 
Well done Muzi!
Thank you Christine, unfortunately the blog alone cannot pay the bills. I’ve had to introduce extra means in order to sustain myself, since advertising revenue is not enough to survive.
It looks great Muzi. If only you could blog fulll time. Travelwires has been informative and a pleaseure to read but more fantastic establishments like Botle in Townships need to be represented online if they are to compete with mainstream accommodation providers. So keep up the new addition to your repertoire as long as you dont give up Travelwires.
Hi Deidre, I’ll not give up on Travelwires, it’s an industry that I love and have so much passionate about, just a pity that I cannot sustain myself with the income derived from it…
Hey Muzi,
Nice one, well done! Just a question, why do you use Hetzner for registering the domain? If you are hosting elsewhere, you are paying for something you dont need…if they are charging you of course!
Uniforum charge R50 a year…as a service provider, I dont see why you should pay any more…just my 2c
Cheers for now
- Francois
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Hi Francois, Hostgator doesn’t handle a .co.za that’s the reason I register with hetzner. It’s R79 per year for a local domain with Hetzner.
Muzi Mohale´s last blog ..Which tourism authority has the best designed website?
I agree with Muzi – the R29.00 extra that Hetzner charge for domain name registration is justified just for the fact that they deal with all the admin involved – its easier to pay Hetzner and know that your domains are in safe hands. Other hosting companies charge R114.00 to R150.00 per annum – Hetzner is the only big hosting company that don’t overcharge on this (as far as I am aware). I gladly pay them the extra R29.00 to deal with the admin.
Just my 2c
Yeah, R29 is not really a lot to ask is it.
I just dont see the reason to pay Hetzner to register the domain, when you can just register it yourself directly with Uniforum, and save the R29.
They are just an extra link in the chain if you dont host with them. So when a visitor tries to go to your site, the request goes to uniforum first, who send them to hetzner, who send them to hostgator.
Personally I would prefer it to go direct from uniforum straight to hostgator.
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