Dubai Land Department (DLD) has announced that its website saw a significant increase in traffic last year, receiving over 6.5 million visitors over the course of 2016.

The improvements made to the website by DLD, including added features to ensure ease of browsing and the provision of services in six major international languages – Arabic, English, Spanish, Chinese, French and Russian – are thought to be behind the boost in visitor numbers.

Sultan Butti Bin Mejren, director General at Dubai Land Department said: "The impressive number of registered DLD website visitors assures us that we are on track to achieve our primary goal of converting all our services to smart systems. We will continue to develop our services and strengthen our e-Smart efforts, to contribute to the vision of Dubai becoming the smartest city in the world within the next three years.”

Abdulla Al Yaloug IT director at DLD, said: "These figures reveal that our customers look to our site as a trusted source, not only for rapid and effective access to our services, but also for reassurance on all Dubai land and property matters. We have significantly enhanced the site with a variety of technical improvements, and we are delighted to see its visitor numbers increasing as a result – the greatest of endorsements.”

According to the report issued by DLD, its Rental Increase Calculator was the most frequently used website service in 2016, allowing customers to rapidly calculate the rental increase of leased property. DLD’s Project Status Tracking Service, which offers access to details of developments that occur at market prices across all areas of the city, has also been in high demand and came in second place for visitor numbers.

DLD website users also showed a marked interest in courses held by the Dubai Real Estate Institute, with its Mortgage Qualification Course coming in third place among the most widely used services on the department's website.

The top three used services – Rental Increase Calculator, Project Status Tracking Service and Mortgage Qualification Course – were followed by Service Charges, Maintenance, Daily & Monthly Behaviour Indexes, Search for Approved Brokers, and the Search My Service option for brokers and real estate developers.

DLD’s report also revealed that UAE residents ranked first in terms of website visitor numbers, while the site also received a large number of visitors from Saudi Arabia, as well as a growth in traffic from the UK, India, the United States, Egypt, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain and Pakistan.

Along with access to DLD’s services, the website also includes a Media Office that contains press releases and an image library that are constantly updated to provide visitors with the Department’s latest developments, news and events.

It is noteworthy that the DLD website is aligned with the standards of Dubai Smart Government websites, which focus on arranging and classifying services according to customer segmentation. With these advanced search capabilities, customers are able to search for services using various methods, including DLD provided services, fast services, or available services based on DLD’s preferences.

DLD has ensured that its website is as efficient and user-friendly as possible, while also adopting the most advanced programs to remain at the cutting edge of website design. The website allows users to settle their queries with minimum fuss and maximum efficiency, while also enjoying high quality online service.- TradeArabia News Service