Many Saudi buyers search in Arabic, even when they also search in English. Companies that only optimise English pages miss a large share of demand. Arabic SEO is not translation; it requires its own research, content and technical setup.
Keyword research in Arabic
- Research Arabic terms directly rather than translating English keywords. People may search for a service using different words than the English equivalent.
- Capture spelling variants. Arabic searches vary with hamza forms, taa marbuta versus haa, and alif variants. Search engines handle some variation, but check which forms are common.
- Consider dialect and transliteration. Some users search in Saudi colloquial terms or Arabizi. Include natural variants in content where they fit.
- Add location. Combine services with cities, such as Riyadh or Jeddah, in Arabic.
Example: an English target like "software development company Saudi Arabia" might correspond to Arabic searches such as شركة برمجة في السعودية or شركة تطوير برمجيات بالرياض.
Content that ranks
- Write natively in Arabic with clear structure and headings.
- Answer the questions buyers ask, including cost, process and timelines.
- Use Arabic in titles, meta descriptions, headings, image alt text and URLs where appropriate.
- Keep Arabic pages as complete as English ones; thin translated pages rarely rank.
Technical setup
- Use separate URLs for each language, such as /ar/ for Arabic.
- Set
lang="ar"anddir="rtl"on Arabic pages. - Add hreflang tags linking language versions.
- Include both versions in your XML sitemap.
- Make sure Arabic pages load fast and render correctly on mobile.
Local signals
Create and optimise your Google Business Profile in Arabic and English, collect reviews, and list your business in relevant Saudi directories. See local SEO in Riyadh and Jeddah.
Links and authority
Earn links from Arabic-language industry sites, Saudi business media and partners. Quality and relevance matter more than volume.
Measure separately
Track Arabic and English rankings, traffic and conversions separately in Search Console and analytics so you can see what each language contributes.
Our Arabic SEO services cover research, content and technical setup. Also read the technical SEO checklist.
Frequently asked questions
Should Arabic and English be on the same page?
No. Use separate pages for each language with hreflang tags. Mixed-language pages are harder to rank and to read.
Is machine translation good enough for Arabic SEO?
Rarely. Natively written content performs better with both search engines and readers.