It ’ s hard to imagine that it ’ s been over 6 months since Covid-19 transformed the world that we once knew and , in the process , digitally transformed everyone and everything . In half a year , we now work from our homes and children no longer go to school . We are using cashless payments for everything and we do our shopping online as we look to stay safe by staying at home , maintaining much-needed social distancing .

As we look back , we can also look forward to a future which has been irrevocably changed by all things digital - things will never be the same again , for the better it seems . If nothing else , we now realize that our preconceived notions about what can or cannot be done via the internet is in complete tatters . We now live in the future ; a brave new world of endless possibilities that can be delivered by the ever present and increasingly important Internet .

Digital transformation is real

One cannot talk about digital transformation without talking about the Internet . Indeed , digital transformation is largely enabled by and through the Internet itself . It ’ s the connective tissue that binds and glues a myriad of services and products that ebb and flow in bits and bytes through our digital lives . It seems almost unreal that it ’ s only 25 years since the Internet came to Kenya and yet it now touches every part of Kenyan society in ways we couldn ’ t have imagined .

Is your website ticking all the boxes in a digital-first Kenya ?

As Kenya has become digital-first , never before has it been more important to leverage the emerging paradigm shift in more or less the same way we transitioned from the fax machine to email and more recently instant messaging . Consumer behavior has been permanently altered and every business must be compelled to disrupt themselves for a digital context , lest they become irrelevant . At the most basic level , this means ensuring that your business has a website that conforms to current best practices and is consistent with market expectations . As Covid-19 continues to accelerate digital transformation in Kenya and beyond , a well-executed website for your business and / or brand ( s ) has never been more important . From this perspective , here are my thoughts on the 5 ways that can help you bring this to fruition .

As Kenya has become digital-first , never before has it been more important to leverage the emerging paradigm shift in more or less the same way we transitioned from the fax machine to email and more recently instant messaging . Consumer behavior has been permanently altered and every business must be compelled to disrupt themselves for a digital context , lest they become irrelevant .

KeNIC is the domain name registry for . KE domain names in Kenya . Their overarching objective is to ensure that there is a . KE domain name for every name in Kenya . This is undoubtedly a daunting and potentially unrealistic goal but with 100,000 + domain names registered , they have come a long way indeed during 25 years of the Internet in Kenya .

Kenya has a population of over 50 million people and statistics confirm that we have over 20 million Internet users who access the Internet , mostly via their smartphones . From a . KE domain names perspective this means we are just scratching the surface in terms of how many have been registered to-date .

46 MAL38 / 20 ISSUE

MAL38:20 | Page 48

5 Simple Steps For An Affordable Website That Works For Your Business