There are many potential criterion for what constitutes the best on the internet, in any space. For websites, it could be the quality of the interface, ease of use, type of content, functionality, interactive capabilities and the kind of web development tools used in the background. These aspects come together to make a website an attractive landing space for internet users – but what also makes a website work is what the website is for: providing information, keeping you up-to-date about the world or your social circle, buying and selling products, discussing issues with other people on the internet, and so on.
At the end of the day, though, what matters most is the traffic that the website is pulling. The top websites are those that users are voting in through visits for the overall best service that a webpage is delivering. In that context, the top Pakistani websites are the ones that are most popular.
The following websites are chosen for providing local content in Pakistan and their Alexa rankings. It is not surprising that the top Pakistani websites are providing local content in Urdu – it speaks to the demographics of the country. These are mostly news sites providing access to TV channels as well as local content in the form of news and information tailored for a Pakistani audience.
1. Hamari Web
This website aims to be the central portal for all things that internet can provide – news, online market place, content, yellow pages, videos, music – you name it and they have it. They have listings of doctors, live (licensed) video streaming of Pakistani TV channels, stock exchange numbers, results for local exams. The net is cast extremely wide and that is their USP – a kind of one-stop shop.
The design is not smooth and can feel cluttered with so much happening on the same page all at once, but I suspect regular users are concentrated on their top services such as the TV streaming service or news and are able to navigate the page easily.
2. Daily Express
The presence of the popular English daily Express Tribune on social media and the web doesn’t mean that the Urdu daily is not getting it’s fair share (larger share) of attention on the internet. The interface is simple – you can chose between six local versions of the daily newspaper (Islamabad, Karachi, Lahore, Peshawar, Multan and Quetta) and read the paper with an easy-to-navigate interface that enable you to browse the paper and open specific stories in new windows.
3. Tune.pk
In the YouTube counterfactual that Pakistan has been for the past 3 years, Tune.pk is one of the leading alternative video viewing and sharing services available in the country. The presence of the white and gold dress social media story and cricket-related videos on its landing page shows that the team behind this website is keeping up with trends and providing local content as well.
Local funny videos, music videos and cricket videos are the top 3 categories, which shows that the website is user-centric and not just dumping videos on the website.
4. Urdu Point
This website is entirely in Urdu script. The main categories are the newspaper, live TV streaming of popular Pakistani channels, poetry, literature, comedy, cooking, showbiz, Islam, health, technology, weather and business. Just a comprehensive news content portal providing all that content in Urdu and doing a great job at it.
5. Daily Pakistan
Another newspaper website that incorporates live TV channel streaming. The content is all in Urdu with fewer categories giving it a cleaner look that actually helps it stand out from the websites above – the text is in cleaner blocks and easier to read and browse through.
What websites would you add to the list? Why? Leave us a note in the comments.
