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Dubai World owned developer Nakheel, famous for the Palm and World land reclamation projects, narrowly came fifth with a 69.3% approval rating from poll respondents.
The survey highlights the need by regional organisations to enhance their internet services and accessibility in order to be placed on a par with global standards.
'We phrased the question specifically to have the local websites compared to expectations of global international brands because that is exactly where these brands exist in the borderless digital environment,' says Dan Healy, CEO of market research company Real Opinions, who undertook the survey.
'Organisations should not be content with just being better than their main competitor in this region, they should look at the bigger picture should they truly wish to be recognised as an international global brand in this evolving environment.'
The remaining three companies on the survey all failed to hit two thirds user approval, despite the fact that all but one, telecom firm Du which received 50.1%, target an international client base.
Etisalat, which has expanded into new international markets across the region in recent years, came top of the final three with 62.2%, while Al Jazeera only managed 60.9%.
The figures take into account averages derived from respondents who had actually actively visited the websites.
Visible UAE brands
Worryingly for those companies trying to make an impact in a particularly crowded online marketplace only three of the brands on the survey, Emirates, Etisalat and Emaar had been visited by more than two thirds of respondents.
Emirates once again led the way, with almost 93% of all users saying that they had visited and used the site. Al Jazeera trailed behind with only 46% having logged on to the website.
This result underscores the massive ongoing global advertising and sponsorship campaigns that the Dubai-based airline has undertaken, ensuring that the brand has been kept at the forefront of public awareness.
Crucial website attributes
When questioned as to what aspect of a business website was most crucial, five categories of attributes were marked by over 80% of respondents as 'Very important': Ease of navigation; product information; website and transaction security; up-to-date information; and reliability of delivery.
Only half of those polled felt that the overall design and look were 'very important', while only 34% placed the same value on feedback from other customers.
With an increasing number of customers now having a first contact with companies over the internet, the survey highlights the need for regional brands of all sizes to actively pursue digital best practices.
'The internet is unique as users are literally leaning forward participating in the medium. The most important element website designers need to ensure is to provide information visitors to the website are looking for and to help them find it easily, it's all about usability,' says Healy.
'Our past research has shown there is a window of literally seconds before a visitor leaves your site if they can't find what they came for.'
As well as building a reputation for accessibility, security and reliability, companies must ensure that their online services have been well enough marketed or are prominent enough to ensure that potential customers are aware of them as a first port of call.
Staff
