At TIM Africa, we recently took our own advice.
Our newly redesigned website is officially live, marking a significant step in how we present our brand and services. But this project was about more than refreshing colours, updating images or changing a few pages. We completely redesigned and rebuilt our digital home, bringing together strategy, design, content creation, AI assisted development and performance optimisation.
Here’s how we approached the rebuild, what we learned along the way and how the finished website performed just two days after launch.
1. Why We Needed to Rebuild the TIM Africa Website
In a nutshell our old website simply didn't reflect the breadth of what we do. We're still very much a podcasting and content production business but TIM Africa has grown into an agency that brings together development, content creation and performance marketing.
We needed a website that reflected that evolution.
The brief wasn’t simply to make the website look 'better'. It was to create something that clearly articulated our agency capability, reinforced our brand and made it easier for visitors to understand how we could help their businesses. We also wanted our website to reflect one of our core beliefs: different capabilities deliver more value when they work together.
This thinking became the foundation of our new website and its three core service areas. Rather than presenting these as disconnected services, the new website demonstrates how BUILD, CREATE and GROW work together as one connected system.
We develop websites, apps, digital platforms, online stores and custom tools designed to deliver seamless digital experiences and support business objectives.
We produce content that connects brands with their audiences through video production, content creation, podcasting, copywriting, graphic design and creative campaigns.
We combine performance marketing, paid media, SEO, AEO, email marketing and reporting to improve client's objectives through measurable results.
2. What We Did Before Starting the Design
We knew that jumping straight into designing pages without a clear plan could result in a visually appealing website that didn’t necessarily achieve its objectives. Our process began with:
Strategy and Discovery
We began with brainstorming sessions and a detailed brief to define the website's objectives, identify gaps and establish a clear direction for the rebuild.
Sitemap and Website Structure
We developed low fidelity sitemaps, refined the page structure and updated our navigation to make services and information easier to find.
Content and Creative Direction
We refreshed our copywriting, established a consistent visual direction and created original assets to better showcase our work, team and capabilities.
Services and Legal Foundations
We reviewed our services, packages and pricing while preparing essential legal documentation, including POPIA information, our PAIA Manual and Terms and Conditions.
3. From Development to Deployment
Once the website had been developed and refined, the next stage was preparing it for launch.
We used GitHub and Vercel as part of our development and deployment workflow. The website progressed through staging and production environments, allowing us to review the implementation before its final deployment.
4. The Performance Results: Putting Our New Website to the Test
Just two days after the new TIM Africa website went live, we tested its technical performance using GTmetrix and Google Lighthouse. The initial results exceeded our expectations.
GTmetrix Results
Google Lighthouse Results
These results represent our initial technical performance benchmarks, rather than a guarantee of identical scores for every visitor. They also don’t tell the entire story of a website’s effectiveness. Engagement, conversions and business outcomes are equally important measures of success.
Nevertheless, the results gave us a strong starting point and demonstrated the value of considering technical performance throughout the rebuild.
5. What We Learned From Rebuilding Our Own Website
It reinforced the importance of understanding the problem before designing the solution.
It also demonstrated how AI can support a more efficient development workflow when paired with clear objectives and technical oversight. Most importantly, it reminded us that design, development, content and performance shouldn’t operate independently.
Our new website is an example of that approach in action.
Explore the New TIM Africa Website
You’re already here, so have fun looking around. Explore our work, meet the players and discover how TIM Africa helps brands BUILD, CREATE and GROW.
We’d love to hear what you think. If something stands out, or something could work better, let us know.
Is your current website still representing your business effectively, or is it time for a rethink?
Get in touch to explore how we can help you build a digital platform designed around your business objectives.