Name of your website?Afrizim
Your name?
Ann Pearse
Your Location (city, etc)
Durban, KwaZulu-Natal
Please give us a short summary of your website?
a one stop travel site - easy to navigate site - simple booking procedure - 1000 pages of safari options - mainly for Botswana, Zambia and Zimbabwe. ~
What inspired you to launch your own website?
we had a vision - a niche market for travel in Zimbabwe - the vision got blurred and very fuzzy when the government invaded the white owned farms and the tourists went one way.
When did you launch your first website, and what was it?
1997 - afrizim.com
How did you decide on a name for your website?
in those days there was limited time for an alternative to your first choice - since all listings were alphabetically listed it made sense to choose the first 3 words of Africa and the 3 first from zimbabwe
What makes it different from other, similar offerings?
the easy navigation - contact details are given on each page and some payments can be made on line - we know the lodges and the areas and can offer specialised advise
What is your eventual goal? (To sell it, keep it for income, secure a book or other mainstream media deal?)
to keep it for income
How does your investment of time and money balance against your success?
the balance is good
If you had an unlimited development budget for development, how would you change your site?
we enjoy working on a limited budget - it is more challenging and satisfying than just going for the big bucks
If your site got really big, really quickly, would you be able to keep up with the demand?
possibly
What unexpected costs and headaches have you had to deal with?
the biggest headache was suddenly diversifying from zimbabwe into neighbouring countries while still keeping high rankings
What has been your biggest challenge?
the lack of competition in the telecommunications industry in South Africa meant we had to work a lot of unsociable hours at very high cost
What method has been most successful for promoting your website?
Keeping the needs of the client foremost with SEO secondary. As the search engines evolved the rankings crept up, but you have to be patient
How has running your website differed from your expectations?
no expectations - we went with the flow and enjoying the evolution of the internet
How long have you run the site already, and how long will you continue to keep it up if you don't enjoy big gains in traffic, income or popularity?
since 1998 - will continue on indefinitely or if someone makes us an offer we cannot understand
What is your website address?
Afrizim
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