If you want your website to show up on search engines when Arabic users search for something, you need strong SEO. Arabic SEO isn’t the same as English SEO. It has its own rules, challenges, and tricks.
A lot of digital marketers struggle with it. They either translate content directly from English or don’t focus on what Arabic users type into search queries. The result? Poor rankings, low traffic, and lost opportunities.
If your website targets Arab countries, you need an SEO campaign that fits how Arabic speakers search online. Let’s go over five common mistakes and how you can fix them to improve search results and user experience.
Unique Challenges in Arabic SEO
Optimizing content for Arabic-speaking users comes with several challenges that do not exist in English SEO. Some of these include:
- Right-to-left script: Arabic text flows from right to left, which can cause layout and formatting issues if not properly handled.
- Multiple dialects: Different countries use different words and phrases for the same concept.
- Keyword complexities: Many Arabic words have multiple meanings, making it harder to pinpoint the right search queries to target.
- Limited SEO tools: Many widely used SEO tools, such as SEMrush, Ahrefs, Google Keyword Planner, do not support Arabic as well as they do English.
Mastering Arabic SEO isn’t easy, so let’s take a look at five common mistakes in Arabic SEO and how to correct them.
1. Confusing Cultural Context:
One of the biggest mistakes in Arabic SEO is using imagery, language, or topics that don’t align with cultural values. This can make content feel out of place, causing users to leave the page quickly. High bounce rates signal to search engines that the content isn’t relevant, which can lower rankings over time.
Example:
A beauty brand running an SEO-focused blog about makeup trends included images of models without hijabs when targeting audiences in Saudi Arabia, where modesty guidelines require women in advertisements to wear a hijab. This misalignment with local standards could reduce user trust, lower engagement, which could negatively impact search performance.
How to Fix:
- Choose regionally appropriate images that reflect cultural norms and expectations.
- Optimize alt text and image descriptions with relevant, non-offensive keywords to maintain SEO strength.
- Test visuals with local focus groups or consult native marketers to ensure cultural compatibility.
2. Poor Keyword Research:
Choosing the right keywords is essential for a successful SEO campaign. Many businesses make the mistake of directly translating English keywords into Arabic without considering how Arabic users search. This results in poor targeting, lower rankings, and missed opportunities to attract the right audience.
Example:
A smartphone brand translated “best smartphone deals” to “أفضل صفقات الهواتف الذكية”, assuming it was the correct equivalent. However, most Arabic-speaking users in the GCC area search for “عروض الجوالات” (mobile phone offers) when looking for discounts. Since the company didn’t use the commonly searched term, their website struggled to rank in search results, reducing traffic and sales.
How to Fix:
- Conduct local SEO research to identify the best keywords for each country.
- Check Google’s auto-suggest feature to see what Arabic users are searching for.
- Work with native Arabic speakers to ensure the chosen keywords sound natural.
3. Inaccurate Translation:
Many businesses assume that simply translating their English website into Arabic will be enough for search engine optimization. However, direct translation often fails to capture the meaning, intent, and cultural nuances of the original text. This makes content sound unnatural, confusing, or even misleading to Arabic-speaking users.
How This Affects SEO:
- Lower Readability: Poorly translated content is difficult to understand, leading to high bounce rates and lower rankings.
- Loss of Search Intent: A direct translation may not match the actual search terms users type into Google.
- Reduced Credibility: Arabic readers can quickly tell when content has been translated poorly, making the website seem untrustworthy.
Example:
A restaurant in Dubai wanted to say “We deliver food fast” and translated it as “نحن نوصل الطعام بسرعة”. While technically correct, this phrase does not sound natural in Arabic. A better version would be “توصيل طعام سريع”, which is shorter and sounds more like something a real person would say.
How to Fix:
- Instead of direct translations, have a native Arabic speaker rewrite the content in a way that sounds natural.
- Focus on user experience by making the language simple and engaging.
- Use Arabic search queries to guide content development.
4. Neglecting Arabic Grammar and Syntax:
Arabic has complex grammar rules, and even small mistakes can change the meaning of a sentence or make it sound unnatural. Poor grammar not only affects user experience but can also hurt search engine rankings, as search engines prioritize high-quality content.
Example:
A technology company translated “Buy the best laptop today” as “شراء أفضل لاب توب اليوم”, which is unnatural in Arabic. The proper structure should be “اشترِ أفضل لاب توب اليوم”, where the verb comes first. Incorrect phrasing makes content harder to read, reduces engagement, and negatively impacts SEO rankings because search engines favor content that is well-structured and user-friendly.
How to Fix:
- Have a native Arabic proofreader check the content before publishing.
- Read the text aloud to ensure it sounds natural.
- Avoid relying on machine translations, as they often make grammatical mistakes.
5. Inconsistent Use of Arabic Dialects:
Arabic is a diverse language with many dialects and regional variations, which directly impact SEO performance and user engagement. Using the wrong dialect or failing to localize terminology can make content less relevant for users in certain countries, reducing search visibility and conversion rates.
Example:
A clothing brand selling jeans launched an Arabic e-commerce website and optimized its content using the Arabic term “بنطلون جينز” (jeans). This term is widely used in Egypt, making it suitable for those markets.
However, in Gulf countries like Saudi Arabia and the UAE, shoppers are more likely to search for “سروال جينز” when looking for jeans. Since the brand did not include this variation in its SEO strategy, its website failed to appear in search results for users in the Gulf region.
How to Fix:
- Decide whether to use Modern Standard Arabic or a specific dialect.
- If targeting multiple regions, create separate pages with localized content.
- Keep the language consistent throughout the website to improve user experience and SEO.
6. Technical SEO Mistakes That Hurt Arabic Websites:
The final mistake in Arabic SEO is neglecting technical SEO, which many companies overlook. Technical issues can hurt rankings and user experience. Many Arabic websites struggle with problems that prevent search engines from properly crawling and indexing content.
I- Poor Arabic URL Structure:
Some businesses translate URLs into Arabic, creating long, unreadable links that affect SEO.
Bad Example: example.com/أفضل-العروض-على-الهواتف-الذكية (Encoded, it becomes unreadable.)
Better: example.com/mobile-deals-sa (Simpler, avoids encoding issues.)
II- Missing or Incorrect Hreflang Tags:
Hreflang tags help Google show the right language version. Without them, Arabic users may land on the English site.
Fix: Add correct hreflang tags:
<link rel=”alternate” hreflang=”ar” href=”https://example.com/ar/” />
<link rel=”alternate” hreflang=”en” href=”https://example.com/en/” />
III- Slow Arabic Font Load Times:
Some Arabic fonts are large and slow down websites, hurting rankings.
Fix: Use optimized fonts like “Cairo”, compress files, and load only necessary styles.
IV- Poor Mobile Optimization:
Most users in Arab countries browse on mobile. If a site isn’t mobile-friendly, it loses rankings.
Fix: Use mobile-first design, enable lazy loading, and optimize Core Web Vitals.
Ignoring technical SEO can lower visibility and traffic. Fixing these issues improves rankings, user experience, and conversions. Need help with a specific issue?
How to Avoid These Mistakes?
Understanding Arabic SEO requires more than just translating content. To improve search engine rankings, businesses should focus on cultural context, keyword research, and proper Arabic grammar. Here are some practical steps:
- Use an Arabic keyword planner to find the best search queries.
- Research local SEO trends for each region to use the right terminology.
- Optimize content for user experience by ensuring it sounds natural.
- Implement hreflang tags to tell search engines which language version of a page to show.
- Test Arabic content with native speakers to catch mistakes before publishing.
By avoiding these common mistakes, businesses can improve their Arabic search engine optimization and connect more effectively with audiences across Arabic-speaking regions.
For professional SEO assistance, Dot IT provides expert guidance on optimizing Arabic websites to improve visibility and rankings in search results.
