Arabic SEO in Saudi Arabia: How to Rank in Arabic and English

Arabic SEO is the practice of optimising Arabic-language pages so they rank for the way people in Saudi Arabia actually search in Arabic. For Saudi businesses it works best as bilingual SEO: separate Arabic and English URLs linked with hreflang, native keyword research in each language, and separate measurement for each audience.

The opportunity is large and still under-served. The Communications, Space and Technology Commission (CST) reported in its Saudi Internet Report 2024, published in May 2025, that internet penetration in the Kingdom reached 99% and that phones account for 99.4% of browsing compared with other devices. Yet many company websites are still built in English first, with an Arabic version bolted on later as a translation layer, or not at all. The result is predictable: English pages that rank, and an Arabic-speaking market that never finds the business. Bilingual SEO fixes this by treating Arabic as a first-class market rather than a translation.

Why does Arabic SEO matter for Saudi businesses?

Saudi buyers move between languages. A procurement manager may research a technical term in English, then search for a local supplier in Arabic. A business owner may type a transliterated word such as "سيو" rather than the formal phrase. If your site only performs well in one language, you lose half of these journeys.

There are three practical reasons to invest in Arabic SEO now:

• Lower competition. Arabic results for many B2B and technical queries are thinner than their English equivalents, so well-structured Arabic pages can rank faster.
• Higher trust. Content written natively in Arabic signals that a company actually serves the Saudi market, which matters for government-adjacent and enterprise buyers.
• AI answers draw on both languages. Assistants and AI Overviews answer Arabic questions with Arabic sources. If you have none, you are not in the answer.

How should a bilingual website be structured for Google?

Structure is where most bilingual sites fail, and no amount of good copy compensates for it. Google's own guidance on managing multilingual sites recommends using different URLs for each language version of a page rather than relying on cookies or browser settings to switch content.

Give each language its own URL

Search engines index one language per URL. A site that switches language with JavaScript on a single address leaves the second language effectively invisible. The reliable pattern is a dedicated path for each language, for example /services/ and /ar/services/, with both versions listed in the XML sitemap and linked to each other through a visible language switcher.

Implement hreflang correctly

Hreflang annotations tell Google that two URLs are language alternates of the same page. According to Google's documentation on localised versions of pages, the rules that matter most are:

• Each language version must list itself as well as every other language version; links that are not returned may be ignored.
• Alternate URLs must be fully qualified, including https.
• Language codes use ISO 639-1 (for example ar, en), optionally followed by an ISO 3166-1 Alpha 2 region code (for example ar-SA).
• An x-default value can define the fallback page for users whose language you do not target.
• You can declare hreflang in the HTML head, in HTTP headers or in the sitemap. Pick one method and maintain it consistently.

Google also states that it does not use hreflang or the HTML lang attribute to detect a page's language. It reads the visible content. That is another reason the Arabic page must contain genuine Arabic text, not English text with an Arabic menu.

Do not auto-redirect by language

Redirecting visitors automatically based on their browser language feels helpful but can stop users and crawlers from reaching all versions. Googlebot usually crawls without an Accept-Language header, so it may never see your Arabic pages. Offer a clear switcher and let the user choose.

Bilingual setup	Indexable in both languages?	Maintenance effort	Verdict
One URL, language toggled by JavaScript or cookie	No, usually only the default language is indexed	Low at first, costly later	Avoid
Subfolders (example.sa/ and example.sa/ar/)	Yes, with hreflang	Low, one domain and one authority	Recommended for most businesses
Subdomains (ar.example.sa)	Yes, with hreflang	Medium, separate configuration	Workable if the platform requires it
Separate domains per language	Yes, with hreflang	High, authority split across domains	Rarely justified for one market

How do people in Saudi Arabia search in Arabic?

Arabic keyword research cannot start from a translated English list. Saudi searchers phrase queries in several overlapping ways:

• Modern Standard Arabic for formal or technical topics, such as "تحسين محركات البحث".
• Transliterated loanwords written in Arabic script, such as "سيو" or "ويب".
• Gulf dialect phrasing for everyday services and questions.
• Mixed queries that combine Arabic with English brand or product names, such as "نظام ERP".
• Spelling variants, including alef with or without hamza (أ / ا), taa marbuta and haa (ة / ه), and yaa and alef maqsura (ي / ى).

The difference is measurable. In Semrush's Saudi database in October 2026, the transliterated "سيو" showed an estimated 880 monthly searches, against roughly 320 for the formal "تحسين محركات البحث". Treat such tool figures as directional estimates, but the lesson holds: you need the words customers use, not the words a translator would choose. Build an Arabic keyword map per page, then write Arabic titles, headings and body copy around those phrases, using variants naturally rather than repeating one form.

What should Arabic on-page optimisation include?

Once the structure and keywords are right, each Arabic page needs the same on-page care as its English twin, written natively rather than translated:

• Unique Arabic title tags and meta descriptions, with the main keyword near the start.
• Correct lang="ar" and dir="rtl" attributes, and a layout that mirrors properly from right to left, including icons, forms and tables.
• Question-style headings that match how Arabic queries are phrased.
• Internal links between Arabic pages, so Arabic content builds its own topical authority.
• Structured data (Organisation, Service, Article, FAQ where eligible) in each language, matching the visible text on that page.
• Fast, mobile-first pages, since nearly all browsing in the Kingdom happens on phones. Our guide to choosing between a website, web app and mobile app covers the build side.

Consistency of your company details also matters. Use the same Arabic and English company name, address and contact details across your site, Google Business Profile and directories, so search engines and AI systems connect them to one entity.

How do you optimise for AI answers in both languages?

Search now includes AI Overviews, AI Mode and assistants such as ChatGPT and Perplexity, which summarise answers and cite sources. Google's guidance on AI features and your website is clear that there are no extra technical requirements: a page must be indexed and eligible to appear in Search with a snippet, and normal SEO best practice applies, including structured data that matches visible content.

What changes is the writing. Answer engines quote passages that answer a question directly. That means opening each page with a short, self-contained answer, using question-led headings, adding comparison tables and step lists, and keeping facts specific and dated. This approach, often called answer-engine optimisation (AEO), works in Arabic exactly as it does in English. We explain it in more depth in our guide to AEO and GEO for Saudi businesses.

What does a 90-day bilingual SEO plan look like?

1. Weeks 1 to 2: audit. Check indexing of both languages in Google Search Console, hreflang errors, duplicate titles, page speed on mobile and right-to-left rendering.
2. Weeks 2 to 4: research. Build separate Arabic and English keyword maps for each service, including dialect, transliterated and mixed queries.
3. Weeks 3 to 6: fix the foundations. Move to one URL per language, implement hreflang and sitemaps, and add structured data in both languages.
4. Weeks 5 to 9: rewrite priority pages. Start with the service pages that generate revenue, writing Arabic natively rather than translating.
5. Weeks 8 to 12: publish answer-first content. Add articles and FAQs that answer the questions buyers ask in each language.
6. Ongoing: measure and iterate. Review rankings, clicks and conversions per language every month and adjust.

How should you measure Arabic and English SEO separately?

Track each language as its own channel. In Google Search Console, filter performance by the /ar/ URL prefix, or add the Arabic section as its own property, so you can see Arabic queries, impressions and click-through rates in isolation. In Google Analytics 4, segment sessions and conversions by page path or language. The two audiences behave differently: Arabic visitors may arrive through different queries, convert through WhatsApp rather than forms, or prefer different content formats. Combined numbers hide where growth is coming from and where the gaps are.

Good reporting answers three questions each month: which Arabic and English queries are gaining impressions, which pages convert in each language, and where competitors outrank you in Arabic but not English.

Where should you start?

If your Arabic pages are translations of English pages on the same URL, start with structure: separate URLs, hreflang and native Arabic copy on your top service pages. If the structure is already sound, the next gain usually comes from Arabic keyword research and answer-first content. Amwaj Solutions plans and delivers bilingual SEO and AEO programmes as part of our SEO services, and builds bilingual sites through our website development service. To review your current setup, request a consultation.