Be careful while applying for UAE visit visa online

Manama : Bahraini residents might end up paying about triple the amount for a UAE visit visa, if they are not careful enough. 

A short term visit visa to UAE costs about BD24, but some of the websites are offering it for BD70. Some online users, who are unaware of this, are choosing the more expensive option after finding it on Google. 

Residents can apply for a UAE e-visa online through the official UAE government website. However, finding the official website by searching on Google is not so easy since there are numerous other websites that are slotted higher up in the Google search results. 

Recently, a Manama resident reportedly paid BD70 for a UAE visit visa. 

“I clicked on the search result which was the one on top. The application process would have been exactly the same if I had used the official website. I applied in the wrong place and overpaid. I hope that others can learn from my experience and not make the same mistake that I did,” said Harish. 

When contacted, a representative from the UAE embassy revealed that the official websites to get the e-visa are www.government.ae and www.ednrd.ae. 

“You can set up an account on those websites and complete the necessary steps. The cost of the visa would be approximately BD24,” the representative said. 

‘SEO’ and ‘Google Ads’ to climb up the search results

In an interview with DT News yesterday, Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) expert and owner of Smart Touch, Ali AlAwadhi, explained that the websites achieve a high placement on the Google results by using SEO. 

“Google uses a complex algorithm to calculate which results go on top,” he said. 

“The algorithm considers a lot of factors such as the most relevant searched terms. Good user experience on the website, good interaction with the website and low bounce rates some of the facts that affects how high up the websites are.” he said.

However, he said that the top results might not always be what the user is looking for. 

“Users also need to be careful while browsing the organic results. The results on top may not be the ones you want. If you do not analyse the content properly then it is your mistake,” he said. 

Companies can pay to appear on top of the results using the ‘Google Ads’ service by Google. 

“Earlier it was very clear that it was an ad, it used to be in a different colour box. The users were neglecting it and went straight to the organic results, the advertisers were not happy with this. Later, Google changed it and made the ads look exactly like the organic results except that there is a small text stating ‘ad’. 

“It is the user who should pay attention to this and decide whether they want to click it or not,” he added.