Website development · 7 min read
How to structure an Arabic and English website for search
Separate URLs, hreflang, right-to-left layouts and why automatic translation isn't enough.
A bilingual website can reach far more of the Saudi market, but only if search engines can understand which page is for which audience.
Give each language its own URL
Use a clear structure such as /en/ and /ar/ so each version can be crawled and indexed. Avoid switching language with cookies or scripts on the same URL, search engines may only ever see one version.
Use hreflang correctly
Hreflang tags tell Google that two pages are equivalents in different languages. Each page should reference itself and its alternate, and the references must be reciprocal.
Design for right-to-left
Arabic pages need a mirrored layout: navigation, icons, form fields and reading order all flip. Set the lang and dir attributes on the page, and choose fonts designed for Arabic.
Localise, don't just translate
Machine translation often produces text that is technically correct but unnatural. Arabic content should be written or reviewed by a fluent specialist, and keyword research should be done separately for Arabic, people often use different terms than a direct translation suggests.