mamamealsonwheels a website that lets you order meals from a number of restaurants and then they deliver to your home or office; they also allow you to send shopping lists to them and they can do your shopping for you. First off, I must say that the design is spot on! Really well done. The business idea here is a good one and I hope and pray that these guys get the success they deserve.

natakanyumba – as the name says, these guys assist you in finding the nyumba that you want. It is often said that a website to help Kenya find real estate online is a massive opportunity that has not been adequately addressed. I personally do not like natakanyumba.com’s choice of colours but that is just an opinion. All in all the website is pretty well done. Let’s hope the execution to capture this market is just as good.

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50-50
Kenyan Gamer Supply – a site that sells Xbox Live, PSN and iTunes cards in Kenya. I think it is an interesting business but I feel that the website could have been better made…to me, it seems it needs more graphics and attention to detail, considering what the site is about.

Flops
Bluu Nile Hotel – this site looks like it was done in 1999. The creators definitely need to take a look at modern web design trends. Also, notice the site’s domain “bluu-nile.awardspace.biz”. This site does not exist on its own domain name but uses free web hosting from www.awardspace.biz. Surely in this day and age everyone should realise the importance of a unique domain name that your own, ama?

Source Code – I saw this site’s advert on Facebook. Considering that the site is under construction with over 250 days to go until it launches (according to them), is there any value in spending money on Facebook right now? Not to mention the fact that their demo page is…undone

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Zebu Mob – a site that is a bit like Groupon, the difference being that Zebumob seems to be focused only on advertising instead of selling discount coupons. Interesting approach, eh? Their website is brilliantly done – but it must be said that the Zebumob Facebook app could be made better, considering that much of what Zebumob offers is inside Facebook.

Wadawida – nice simple, clean website that tells you all about the Taita people (of Kenya). I, for one, wish to see more similar sites celebrating our country’s diversity. [Disclosure: I hail from this community. Partly.]

Kenya Memorials – did you recently lose a loved one? Well, now you can immortalise him/her on Kenyamemorials. They also offer a directory of funeral service providers. it may not be a “happy” line of business but the site is well done and it looks like they are doing pretty well. Kudos.

Flops
Newsupdate.co.ke – this site promises to bring you ‘daily Kenyan news updates’. The only problem is that, at a glance, the overwhelming majority of news (‘featured’ news, specifically) on this website is… well, it is not ‘Kenyan news’. Also, at the moment, seems like images on the site are broken. Though to give them credit, the site does have local news that feels like it is from mashinani.

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Nairobi Living – well, it is another directory-type website. Though I must say that Nairobi Living looks to be elegant and well done.

Samosa Queen – a website that represents a business based in Dallas, Texas, USA whereby you can order samosas, mandazi or chapati online. The design is a bit “dated” but it does the job – nice and simple!

50-50
Maridadi.co.ke – is an online clothing store. The design is beautifully done. Kudos to the developers on that front. However, the checkout process is not so intuitive – when you click “buy now” the page refreshes, but it is not immediately apparent what happened. Could be improved.

Flops
Jambo News Pot – this is supposed to be a website which aggregates local news. Unfortunately, the site’s design does it no favours at all and makes the site look haphazard and unorganised. The excessive adverts near the top are also an eyesore (though perhaps they indicate the site is earning the owners a pretty penny). Could be better!Similar Posts:

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screenshot of a DukaPress shop

1. Black Malaika – a really well done website from Tanzania that sells arts and crafts from East Africa. I must say that DukaPress has been very well implemented here.
2. Pamoja Shops – an online community/marketplace focused on the Maasai Market concept. Pamoja Shops offers vendors the opportunity to sign up and open up their own online stores to sell African handicrafts.
3. Rusha Ndege – RushaNdege is an online community of aviation enthusiasts in Kenya. They use DukaPress to power an online shop that sells pilot equipment and accessories.
4. DJ Kalonje – it was a personal pleasure to learn that DJ Kalonje himself uses DukaPress. (DJ Kalonje is an award winning Kenyan DJ.) Kalonje uses DukaPress to sell services. Although I must admit that DukaPress itsels is not well implemented on hist site…
5. Drip n Dry Kenya – describing themselves as “Nairobi’s ultimate dry cleaning services”, Drip n Dry use DukaPress to enable customers to submit inquiries regarding their cleaning services.

So, have you ever wanted to have an online shop? As of this moment, DukaPress has been downloaded 8,972 times and here is a list of some of the most beautiful sites made using DukaPress. All those people cannot be wrong, can they?

Get your own shop today: www.dukapress.org

DukaPress is proudly Kenyan!

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Sandstorm Kenya – the website for Sandstorm Kenya, which makes hand crafted items. We find the website and online shop to be extremely well designed. Kudos!

50-50
Ask a Doc – this is an interesting site that promises answers to all your medical questions. The answers are provided by real doctors. I have not actually received a question to my answer yet (something for them to work on), but the site seems like it can go places. Good job.

UrbanSlice – is a website that is to provide a personal shopping service i.e. you can use UrbanSlice to order from your favourite stores and have them delivered to you, no hassle. The problem is that, currently, it looks like just another online shop and the whole idea of “personal shopping service” seems to be lost. Let’s hope that someone is working on this. otherwise, the site looks good.

State House Girls – the website of State House Girls’ high school. While the web design could certainly do with a little sprucing up – mainly balancing out the page elements and making it look neater – I think the site is pretty good. Someone is certainly working hard to make this site a success. However, perhaps they have overdone it with the ads on the side (I would think that the main purpose of such a site is not to sell ads) and the links for Free and Bulk SMS on the main menu (would high school students really be interested in these?).

Cute & Cuddly an online shop for baby clothing. I like the idea, and the design. However, a few improvements need to be made: 1) the shopping and checking out process needs to be made more intuitive; and 2) for users with screen resoltions of 1024 (width) and below, the site design seems broken.

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Shameless Clones
Tokea Online – it seems to be an East African social network (like facebook, but for EA). it looks brand new and so it is “sparse” as far as content goes. But the design, I must say, is well done. Let’s wish them luck!

Update 7/2/2011: it seems that TokeaOnline is a shameless clone of a site design and setup freely available all over the net. Another site using the same setup is FunKenya. it is good to try and build an online business, but one could surely do better…

Flops
mmiarch – this seems to be the website of “mmi architects”. Even by the presumably low Kenyan standards, this website is particularly poorly done. One wonders what the hell the “web designer” was doing…

beckyzshoes – an online shops selling men’s shoes. Except that it is run on a .blogspot blog. FAIL. I cannot believe that these guys actually advertised on Facebook!! if you want to sell anythign online, 1) do not do it from a free website and 2) use professional e-commerce software (like DukaPress which is 100% free).

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Owlses – though it does not exactly serve the Kenyan market, this is a nice shop for T-shirts based on owls. The site’s design is pleasant and professional.

Ticket Masters – this is where you can buy tickets to many events online. The site itself is very well designed and works pretty well. Good job!! Though it would do no harm to keep it more updated…

The Bad
The Kenya Police – this is the site of the Kenya Police. Besides being hacked numerous times a while back, it is not available right now. Makes you wonder, doesn’t it?

Viva – this is a website that sells premium rate SMS services. Unfortunately, the badly dated (as in old) design makes one think it may not be legit. The look and feel of your website tells people a lot about you, and this website does the owners no good at all.

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Here are the 10 best sites that we covered in the year that was 2010:
(in no particular order)

• GetH20 – A (serious) game which simulates the complexity of life in the slums, the scarcity of resources, how to deal with them and prevent escalation of conflict. More.
• EasyFax – this is a website that provides virtual fax services, in Kenya! More.
• Nairobi Swahili this is the website of one Oloo, a Swahili teacher in Nairobi. More.
• Mara Enkipai a website of the Mara Enkipai Safari camp. More.
• Zynde – helps you manage your money better. More.
• Mukuru – allows you to quickly and easily send money to Kenyan mobile phones. More.
• Zetu – made in the mould of www.groupon.com, offering deals whereby you can buy stuff at discounted prices. More.
• GotIssuez – this is a place where you can rant and rate issues that affect you. More.
• eManamaba – promises to make travel simple and hassle free. More.
• BidhaaTele is a massive marketplace where you can find bidhaa tele to buy. More.

The Worst Offenders

The Ministry of Education - click for larger image

1. Zuqka – the lonely spam planet. More.
2. The Kenya Revenue Authority – navigating it is like solving a puzzle. More.
3. Miko Sonko – you’d expect better from THE Sonko. More.
4. The Kenya Teachers’ Service Commission – nothing short of shameful. More.
5. The Kenya Ministry of Education – does it even work? More.

What do you think of our list? Did we miss anything?

May you all have a lovely 2011! See you next year.
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The Good
eManamba – eManamba promises to make travel simple and hassle free. How? Well, through eManamaba, you can book and purchase a bus ticket to many Kenyan, and East African, destinations. You can even choose a seat from those available at the time of your booking. I love it, and I will be sure to try it when I next travel. The site is well done, and it seems to work. Kudos!

BidhaaTele – is a massive marketplace where you can find bidhaa tele to buy – though right now there is not so much probably because they are just starting. The site feels really well done and we must congratulate and thank the site developers for a breath of fresh air: a site that looks good and just works. Kudos, and good luck on the business.

50-50
Kamata School – I like the idea behind this site. Kamata Entertainment are using a blog to market their services (a music school, a DJ academy, and Salsa lessons) online. It is a very good strategy. Kudos. However, I feel that their site is letting them down. I do not particularly like the way the site looks and I think it could be better. However, the main problem is that the site feels a little cluttered and it feels like there is not a strong call to action i.e. they could sell their services more efficiently.

Flops
RimSite – this one is hard to figure out. It looks like a local social network (like facebook) but it also includes a job board where job vacancies are listed. It is a good idea, in principle. But I do not think the owners have executed it very well – the site right now looks like it is a little dead and feels like an adult (X rated) social network? Was that the intention? I do not know. But I do know that the owners did not intend for spam to flourish on their site like it does now. It is hard to build a social network, and I hope RimSite can overcome their current challenges and rise above them.

Ayanah.co.ke – this is a furniture store. Basically it is a website set up by a furniture shop in Nairobi to promote themselves online. Nice, eh? The only problem is that their website could – and should – have been so so much better. The design is really poor – especially the site structure and the use of images instead of text (which means your site fails in SEO). Bad job by the guys who made the site.

epur.biz – this is a kind of online marketplace where sellers can list items on the epur platform and then, one hopes, make money and be happy. The site is badly done, though. I would argue the design itself is what lets epur down the most – it just does not inspire any confidence in me. Couple that with the fact that the site looks “unfinished” and you have a good idea done really badly. The saddest thing is that epur is supposed to be a marketplace but I cannot find any products to buy….Similar Posts:

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