This is 100% true: websites still matter in 2025, so you need to learn how to build a website, even if you haven’t built one before.
People love to say “just use social media” but let’s be honest: social platforms are like rented land. One random ban, one algorithm tantrum, and your entire business can disappear overnight. You say it’s your page, or wall, or account, or whatever, but we all know someone else owns it.
Even a simple website with your phone number slapped at the top can make a difference. And yes, you can build the website yourself, but there is a learning curve. You’ll pay either in stress or in cash.
Start With a Good Domain Name
I’ll cut to the chase: Exact Match Domains still work. For example, if you sell roller skates, nairobirollerskates dot com will still perform. People once claimed Google hated EMDs but that myth died long ago.
Your domain doesn’t have to be an EMD. Just pick something short, punchy, and memorable. Something that tells Google, AI tools, and humans what the site is about. If I built a site that builds sites, I could call it websiteloom.com. Clean and clear. Look at Kenyan giants: Equity, Safaricom, Airtel, KCB. Short names that hit instantly.
Domains cost around KES2,000 and up depending on age. People still buy old domains. I know folks who dropped 50K on one expired domain and built sites earning $3K a month. Expired domains often come with good backlinks and trust signals.
And yes, backlinks still matter in 2025. People don’t talk much about link building here, but links are still quietly running the show.
Get Solid Web Hosting
Shared hosting is fine when you’re starting out, as long as you avoid companies with a bad history of managing client websites. I won’t name names because I’m not here to drag brands, but do a bit of digging. Read reviews before you buy anything.
If you buy hosting for a year from companies like Hostinger, GreenGeeks, SiteGround, Namecheap, and the rest, you usually get a free domain. Pick a provider known for uptime and speed.
You can absolutely use Kenyan hosting providers, but personally? I prefer bigger international brands with a reputation to protect. I haven’t had issues with Hostinger, SiteGround, GreenGeeks, or Cloudways.
If you’re serving the Kenyan market, choose the closest server location. Most international companies let you pick your server location. If there’s an option in South Africa, Germany, or France, go with that. And again, there’s nothing wrong with using a Kenyan hosting company.
Install WordPress (or Use Your Favorite CMS)
You don’t have to use WordPress, but IMO, it’s the best choice for most businesses, personal blogs, and even large websites. Some banks in Kenya have WordPress websites, and I’m talking about their public sites, not their banking systems. Those are completely different things.
Even the White House Trusts WordPress
Even the White House website is built with WordPress. How about that? Big brands use WordPress too, including TechCrunch, BBC America, Sony Music, Time, and Vogue. If all these sites can run on WordPress without any issues, your business will be more than fine.
Some Web Devs Hate WordPress
Some web developers don’t like WordPress, but clients love it because they can edit a paragraph or publish a new post without calling a developer every time. That’s why custom WordPress builds are still popular this year, and I believe they’ll stay that way for a long time.
Once you install WordPress, choose a fast theme. I recommend GeneratePress or Astra because they’re extremely light. I like fast websites. Google likes them fast. Visitors like them fast.
Ask Your Web Dev for a Custom CMS
If you decide to hire a web developer to build a custom-coded website, ask them to create a custom content management system so you can manage your content without issues. And just so we’re clear, a web designer is not the same thing as a web developer.
Some designers who can’t write a single line of code still call themselves web developers. One person can be both, but it’s good to know the difference when you’re hiring people.
Use a Good URL Structure
Before posting anything, go to your WordPress dashboard.
Navigate to Settings → Permalinks and select Post Name.
This creates clean URLs like websiteloom.com/do-you-still-need-a-website-in-2025/. Readers don’t want links that look messy or are full of random characters.
Make sure search engines are allowed to index your site.
On your WordPress dashboard, Go to Settings → Reading and look for “Search Engine Visibility.”
Do not check that box. If you check it, search engines will ignore your site completely.
I haven’t created my own full walkthrough video on building a WordPress site from scratch yet, but it’s in the works and I’ll update this post as soon as it’s ready. For now, this YouTube tutorial will guide you through everything you need, section by section. It covers buying a domain, choosing hosting, setting up WordPress, installing plugins, and working with themes. It’s solid enough to get you building with confidence.
Create a Simple Logo
Make a quick 512×512 logo in Canva and upload it on your site as your favicon. That little icon makes it easier for people to spot your tab when they have eighteen tabs open haha.
Build Your Homepage
Learn Gutenberg or Elementor Pro. If you use the free version of Elementor, combine it with some coding skills so you can build a site that’s worth your time. You can use the free version on its own, but you will eventually run into limitations.
Beaver Builder and WPBakery also have free options, and there are plenty of others. I like using free tools like Elementor and ACF together with custom code when I want things to be pixel perfect without paying for expensive plugins.
And if you are not lazy, YouTube can teach you everything you need to know
Pay Attention to This Page: About Us
All pages are important, but if your site could only have two, they should be the home page and the about page. I’ve noticed that many Kenyan websites barely touch this section, and some don’t include it at all. That’s a wasted opportunity.
This page can give you serious leverage when you use it well. Tell an honest story about yourself or your business. Talk about how you started, why you got into it, and what keeps you going. Let people know who is behind the website.
Most importantly, include photos of yourself and your team. If you don’t have a team yet, add photos showing you at work, or photos of your factory, shop, hospital, school, company, or whatever fits what you do. These kinds of visuals help people trust you faster. If you can add a video, even better, because it makes the connection immediate.
Your about page is more than a formality. It’s a doorway into who you are and why your work matters, and visitors feel the difference instantly. Take a look at our about us page.
Set Up Your Social Media Accounts
Get your social accounts sorted. TikTok is extremely powerful right now, so make sure you are on it. Face
book still works, but it can be unpredictable and quick to restrict accounts. If Facebook is already restricting you or you have opened too many accounts in the past, start fresh. Use a new device, a new number, and a new email. I am not joking. It is the simplest way to avoid getting blocked for no clear reason.
Be on LinkedIn as well, because some of the best clients you will ever get hang out there. Quora is another useful platform, even though the audience can be a mixed bag. Take what works for you and leave the rest.
Reddit communities can also send you steady traffic if you participate in a genuine and helpful way. You could even create your own little community there. Just make sure you’re following all the rules, else your community will be banned.
Start Posting
You need to start posting consistently. Post like your survival depends on it, because online, it kind of does. Learn the basics of keyword research. Ask Google, ChatGPT, Perplexity, or anyone who can point you in the right direction. In 2018 you could publish basic, low-effort content and still rank, but those days are gone.
In 2025 you need a full content ecosystem. Facebook, LinkedIn, Reddit, X, Instagram, Quora, your website, your Google Business Profile, and AI search tools should all support one another.
You want tools like Perplexity, Gemini, Grok, Claude, and ChatGPT to view your site as a trusted source. AI SEO is basically traditional SEO with a few extra steps that make it easier for AI systems to understand, trust, and rank your content.
What You Need to Succeed in Online Marketing Today
1.Strong/Good Content
Good content is content that gives people exactly what they came for. It answers their question fast, clearly, and in a way that actually solves their problem.
Your visitors should never feel the need to hit the back button and look for a better explanation. If they stay, read, and do what your page guides them to do, Google and every AI tool crawling the web sees that as a win. If they bounce, something wasn’t helpful enough.
And let’s keep it real. If someone wants to know how to make chapati, don’t waste their time with the history of chapati or stories about your grandmother’s recipe from 1961. Just give them the steps. People want answers, not novels.
2.Consistent Posting
Keep your site alive. A post a day is realistic now with all of the awesome AI tools out there. Be sure to make the content truly helpful because no one wants one more spoonful of AI-flavored slop, right? Right!
Good User Experience
Your pages need to be fast loading. They also should have a clean layout, easy navigation, and be mobile friendly. People judge your site faster than they judge politicians, seriously. Slow loading pages kill trust instantly. Use WP Rocket if you are not a technical person, or hire a developer who understands SEO and can clean code bloat without installing 67 plugins.
Active Social Media
Stay visible. Post a few times a week on the platforms your audience actually uses. AI now scans everything: your posts, your comments, your captions. Every little breadcrumb adds context to who you are and what your brand does.
Show up everywhere. Facebook (no, it is not for “old people,” whoever started that rumor lied), X, LinkedIn, TikTok, Quora, Reddit, everywhere else your crowd hangs out.
Reddit is amazing for marketing if you respect the culture. Be helpful, respect others, and only drop links when it genuinely makes sense. If you spam Reddit, you will regret it very fast. I promise.
Backlinks
Backlinks still matter. A good link is still a good link. And just to be clear, a backlink is when another website or social media post links back to your page. That link tells search engines and AI systems that you’re a trustworthy source. It boosts your authority across the web.
Think of it like votes in a functioning democracy. The candidate with the most votes gets the big seat, and when they talk, everyone pays attention. They might not always be right, but people listen anyway. Backlinks work the same way… minus the politics hehe.
AI Ready Content
Write clearly and helpfully. If your content is solid, AI tools can cite your site as a trusted source.
Local SEO
Local SEO makes sure your business shows up for people in your area, whether that’s a city, county, or a few counties.
Your Google Business Profile is your most powerful tool, especially if you have a physical location. Add clear photos, accurate information, and keep your name, address, and phone consistent everywhere. Local citations, like mentions on directories, review sites, and local blogs, help search engines trust your business. I have ranked sites using just a well-optimized profile and solid citations.
For example, if you run a restaurant or store, you want your business to show up on Google Maps when someone searches “restaurants near me” or “shops near me.” Setting up your profile correctly is simple, but most people miss key details. We can show you how to do it right, optimize your citations, and start getting calls from customers in a few weeks.
Customer Reviews
Reviews are gold. After you serve a happy customer, send them your GBP link and let them write their review in their own voice. Please don’t write it for them using AI. People can tell.
And let the unhappy ones write too. If someone leaves a bad review, reach out, fix the issue, and genuinely try to make things right. Most people just want to feel heard. If you turn the situation around, you can kindly ask them to update their review.
The most important thing? Learn from every interaction. Serving customers is a privilege, so treat it that way.
Instead, nudge them so they do it right. Ask them to:
• mention their general location
• mention the exact service or product they got
• write in their own voice
I mean, fake-sounding reviews are painful to read. They’re disgusting. You can read websiteloom.com reviews here if you’d like to.
UGC (User Generated Content)
AI is crawling every corner of the internet, nonstop. Every bit of chatter about your brand gives it more context, and that context strengthens your entire ecosystem. So get your name showing up on LinkedIn, X, Facebook, Instagram, Quora, and Reddit.
And here’s something people keep sleeping on. Nofollow backlinks actually matter now. I saw a post from a credible SEO source (wish I remembered where), and the expert said that in 2025, nofollow links are almost on the same level as dofollow. That’s really good news@
So spend time in the right subreddits. Be helpful. Add value to conversations. Drop your link naturally and only when it makes sense. Redditors can smell spam instantly. If you force it, the downvotes will come flying in before you even blink.
Keep Your Website Alive and Fresh
Keep things moving. Fresh updates, new posts, and small improvements help your site feel alive. Even a simple posting schedule works. One solid post a day is possible now. The world wants helpful content. What it does not want is another puddle of AI sludge.
Here’s another little piece of advice to keep in mind: update your old posts.
A good friend of mine who does affiliate marketing (if he ever finds this, he will definitely know I am talking about him) was making around $80 to $100 in December 2024. Then one day in early 2025, he got angry, sat down, and started updating his old articles.
Three months later, his traffic jumped and his income went from about $80 to well over $500. Things got even better. Amazon rewards high performers, so they started paying him an extra $300 for hitting $500! That won’t make him rich, but it’s not bad money at all.
Small changes, big results.
So, keep updating your posts and you might get a very good surprise.
Optimize Your WordPress Website for Speed
Slow websites push people away, and they’ll always choose a faster one instead. When you rely on tools like Elementor and other page builders, you end up with a lot of extra code you don’t actually need. That extra bloat slows your site down, which hurts your rankings and eventually your revenue.
A good speed optimization plugin can help. LightSpeed is solid, and Hostinger gives it to you for free. WP Rocket Pro is the strongest option in my opinion. I’m not promoting them, and I don’t even use it on my own sites, but the performance tests speak for themselves.
You can also hire people like us to make your website faster without using plugins. We optimize your images, lazy load content where it makes sense, and clean up your code so your site only runs what it needs and nothing more.
What Are You Waiting for?
Get off the couch and go build something for yourself. And if you don’t have the inclination, the time, or just prefer hiring real professionals for a serious, client-facing website, reach out to us and let’s talk. We like to think we’re the best web design company in Nakuru. I don’t know if we’re the best web designer in Kenya yet, but we’ll get there someday.