5 Technical SEO Issues on Arabic Websites

Arabic websites often face unique technical SEO challenges that can hurt rankings and user experience. For businesses targeting Arabic-speaking audiences in the UAE, these issues must be resolved to stay competitive. Here are the top five problems and how to address them:

• RTL Display Problems: Poor right-to-left (RTL) text rendering disrupts readability and user navigation. Proper use of dir="rtl" and CSS adjustments like margin-inline-start are essential.
• Arabic URLs and Encoding: Improper encoding turns Arabic URLs into unreadable strings, confusing users and search engines. Use UTF-8 encoding and clean URL structures.
• Language Tags and Hreflang: Missing or incorrect hreflang tags lead to search engines showing the wrong language version. Use ar-AE for Arabic and en-AE for English pages.
• Font Performance: Slow or unoptimized Arabic fonts cause delays and layout issues, especially on mobile. Implement font subsetting, preloading, and responsive sizing.
• Schema Markup: Incomplete or faulty structured data misrepresents Arabic content, reducing search visibility. Ensure accurate JSON-LD syntax and compliance with local standards.

Quick Comparison:

Fixing these issues improves rankings, user experience, and overall website performance in the UAE market.

Blogging Academy | On Page SEO | Fix SEO Issues | الوحدة 17 : إصلاح مشاكل محركات البحث

1. Right-to-Left Text Display Problems

Right-to-left (RTL) text rendering presents serious challenges for Arabic websites, affecting both their appearance and functionality. When websites fail to implement proper RTL support, both search engine performance and user engagement in the UAE market take a hit.

Impact on Search Engine Crawling and Indexing

Search engines depend on the dir="rtl" attribute and accurate CSS direction properties to process Arabic content effectively. Without these, websites risk poor crawl efficiency and lower-quality search snippets. Adding the HTML lang="ar" attribute alongside proper directional markup helps search engines recognise Arabic text patterns. Websites that skip these elements often struggle with reduced crawl rates, as search engines cannot properly interpret their content structure.

Things get trickier with mixed-language content. Many Arabic websites include English elements like navigation menus, product descriptions, or forms. If bidirectional text isn’t handled correctly, search engines may misinterpret the primary language and content flow. This not only confuses algorithms but also disrupts the visual and functional consistency of the website, as discussed below.

User Experience for Arabic-Speaking Users

Poorly implemented RTL layouts create immediate usability issues, discouraging users from staying on the site. Arabic readers expect a natural right-to-left flow for text, with headings, paragraphs, and interface elements properly aligned.

For instance, navigation menus that remain left-aligned can confuse users who are accustomed to RTL layouts. Failing to mirror interface elements can disorient users, increasing bounce rates. Additionally, generic CSS that doesn’t account for RTL formatting makes Arabic text harder to read, especially on mobile devices. To meet user expectations, websites need to make precise adjustments that cater to local preferences and reading habits.

Compatibility with the UAE's Localisation Standards

In the UAE, websites must respect cultural reading norms when adopting RTL layouts. Audiences expect Arabic websites to follow traditional RTL formatting while also accommodating local standards, such as DD/MM/YYYY date formats and the correct positioning of AED (د.إ) symbols. This is especially critical in a multilingual environment like the UAE, where mixed-language content is common.

Government portals and e-commerce platforms in the UAE increasingly demand proper RTL implementation to comply with accessibility standards. Meeting these expectations requires technical precision, ensuring Arabic text renders consistently across browsers and devices. This is essential for businesses aiming to align with local digital norms and improve their technical SEO performance.

Technical Implementation Complexity

Implementing effective RTL support goes beyond simply changing text direction. It requires advanced HTML and CSS updates. Adjustments like the writing-mode property, text-align rules, and careful margin/padding configurations are key to achieving a seamless layout.

Modern CSS logical properties, such as margin-inline-start and margin-inline-end, are far better suited for RTL compatibility than traditional left/right properties. Unfortunately, many developers overlook these tools, leading to layout issues when switching between Arabic and English content.

JavaScript also plays a role, as it must detect and adapt to RTL layouts. Interactive components like carousels, dropdown menus, and other dynamic elements need to account for text direction. Additionally, third-party plugins often lack built-in RTL support, requiring custom solutions or alternative approaches.

Testing across browsers and mobile devices is crucial to ensure consistent performance. Different browsers handle Arabic text rendering in varying ways, so thorough testing helps resolve visual misalignments and ensures a smoother user experience. These adjustments not only improve the website’s appearance but also enhance search engine crawling and interpretation, boosting overall performance.

2. Arabic URL Structure and Character Encoding

Arabic URL structures and character encoding present technical challenges that can negatively impact both search performance and user accessibility. Without proper encoding, Arabic characters in URLs turn into unreadable percent-encoded strings, creating confusion for both search engines and users. Let’s explore how these issues affect search engine indexing and user experience.

Impact on Search Engine Crawling and Indexing

Search engines often struggle with poorly encoded Arabic URLs, which can lead to crawling inefficiencies and problems with indexing. When Arabic characters aren’t encoded using UTF-8, they appear as long, confusing strings filled with percent signs and numbers. For instance, an Arabic URL like example.com/منتجات might be displayed as example.com/%D9%85%D9%86%D8%AA%D8%AC%D8%A7%D8%AA if improperly encoded.

These encoded strings can confuse search engine crawlers, sometimes making them treat the same page as multiple separate ones, which can result in duplicate content issues. Additionally, these URLs don’t provide clear context about the page’s content, making it harder for search algorithms to determine relevance. Search engines generally favour clean, readable URLs that give insight into the page topic - something improperly encoded Arabic URLs fail to achieve.

The problem becomes worse when websites mix Arabic and English in their URL paths without a consistent structure. This inconsistency can confuse search engines about the site’s primary language and intended audience, potentially affecting how pages are ranked in search results. Addressing these encoding issues is critical for creating SEO-friendly and user-friendly URL structures.

User Experience for Arabic-Speaking Users

Unreadable URLs filled with encoded characters can frustrate Arabic-speaking users in the UAE. When users encounter these lengthy, confusing strings instead of clear Arabic text, it often undermines their trust in the website's professionalism and reliability.

Arabic-speaking users expect URLs to mirror the content they’re viewing. For example, if someone visits a page about "خدمات" (services) but sees an encoded URL, it creates a disconnect that can lead to confusion. This mismatch between expectations and reality often results in higher bounce rates and lower engagement.

The issue becomes even more pronounced when users try to manually type or edit URLs. Arabic speakers accustomed to their language expect to modify URL paths using Arabic characters. However, technical limitations often prevent this from working smoothly across different browsers and devices, adding another layer of frustration.

Compatibility with the UAE's Localisation Standards

In the UAE’s multilingual digital landscape, websites must handle both Arabic and English content seamlessly. Government portals and major e-commerce platforms increasingly require URL structures that support Arabic characters while adhering to international web standards.

Local businesses targeting UAE audiences face unique challenges. They need to meet user expectations for Arabic-friendly URLs while ensuring compatibility with global systems. This balance is particularly vital for businesses operating across the GCC region, where consistent URL structures are crucial for brand recognition and SEO performance.

Additionally, UAE-based websites must consider how Arabic URLs interact with local payment gateways, shipping services, and third-party tools. Many of these systems were originally designed for English-only URLs, leading to integration hurdles that require careful planning and testing. Proper Arabic URL support isn’t just about user experience - it also involves ensuring smooth technical operations.

Technical Implementation Complexity

Supporting Arabic URLs involves careful technical planning across multiple layers of a website’s infrastructure. Developers need to ensure that web servers, databases, and content management systems consistently support UTF-8 encoding. This includes configuring server settings, database collations, and application logic to handle Arabic characters properly throughout the entire request-response cycle.

But encoding is just the beginning. Developers must also configure URL routing to handle Arabic characters correctly, set up URL rewriting rules, and ensure caching systems can manage encoded URLs without issues. Additionally, analytics tools need to be configured to accurately track Arabic URLs, ensuring that valuable data isn’t lost.

Browser compatibility adds another layer of complexity. Different browsers - especially on mobile devices - handle Arabic URLs in varying ways, making comprehensive cross-platform testing essential.

Content delivery networks (CDNs) and caching systems require special attention, too. These systems must be configured to serve content correctly, whether the URL contains encoded or native Arabic characters. Without these configurations, users could face slow load times or broken links when accessing Arabic content. Addressing these technical challenges is as crucial as solving other SEO issues, ensuring that Arabic content performs well across all platforms and devices.

3. Language Tags and Hreflang Setup

Hreflang tags play a key role for Arabic websites targeting users in the UAE. These tags help search engines serve the correct language and regional version of a webpage, ensuring users see content tailored to their preferences. Without proper hreflang implementation, search engines might display the wrong page version, potentially confusing users or impacting engagement.

Impact on Search Engine Crawling and Indexing

When hreflang tags are set up correctly, search engines can easily distinguish between Arabic and English pages. This ensures that each version is indexed and displayed appropriately, offering a better user experience and improving the website's visibility in search results.

Compatibility with the UAE's Localisation Standards

Hreflang tags also align with localisation requirements in the UAE. Localisation doesn’t stop at translation - it involves adapting to local conventions like currency symbols, date formats, and number styles. To meet these standards, use the appropriate codes: 'ar-AE' for Arabic and 'en-AE' for English. This ensures your website caters effectively to both primary languages used in the region.

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4. Arabic Font Loading and Mobile Performance

Arabic fonts bring unique challenges to mobile performance due to their need for complex rendering. Features like right-to-left (RTL) text, contextual forms, and ligatures can strain resources, directly influencing user experience and search metrics.

User Experience for Arabic-Speaking Users

In the UAE, mobile users expect websites to load quickly. However, poorly optimised Arabic fonts often lead to delays. These delays can result in FOUT (Flash of Unstyled Text) or FOIT (Flash of Invisible Text), where users see fallback fonts or no text at all during loading.

Arabic text also requires more vertical space because of diacritical marks and ascenders/descenders. Without proper configuration, this can disrupt mobile layouts, causing overlap or awkward spacing. Such issues make content harder to read, especially on smaller screens.

Impact on Search Engine Crawling and Indexing

Slow font loading can negatively impact Largest Contentful Paint (LCP), a key metric in Google's Core Web Vitals. This can lower search rankings, as Google prioritises fast-loading sites.

If Arabic text fails to render properly during crawling, search engines may struggle to understand the page's context and relevance. This can hinder your ability to rank in featured snippets or rich results, both crucial for visibility in Arabic search queries. Proper font optimisation is critical to avoid these setbacks.

Technical Implementation Complexity

Optimising Arabic fonts isn’t straightforward. Like fixing URL encoding issues, it requires precise technical adjustments to meet user and search expectations. Custom web fonts are often necessary to ensure consistent rendering across devices and browsers.

For sites supporting both Arabic and English, the challenge increases. Techniques like font subsetting, preloading, and establishing effective fallback chains are essential to prevent layout shifts. Using CSS font-loading APIs can also help control the sequence in which fonts load.

Cross-browser testing is equally important. For instance, Safari handles Arabic text differently compared to Chrome or Firefox. Ensuring consistent performance across platforms requires thorough testing and fine-tuning.

Compatibility with the UAE's Localisation Standards

Arabic font implementation must adhere to UAE-specific localisation requirements, especially for government and business websites. Font performance also affects compliance with local digital accessibility standards, which require support for varied Arabic script styles and compatibility with assistive technologies.

To meet accessibility guidelines, Arabic fonts must remain clear at different zoom levels and screen sizes. Using responsive font sizing with relative units (like percentages or ems) instead of fixed pixels ensures readability when users adjust browser settings.

Additionally, attention to detail is crucial for elements like currency symbols, dates, and numbers. For example, the UAE dirham symbol (AED) and Arabic-Indic numerals must display correctly alongside Arabic text. Choosing fonts with broad Unicode coverage ensures accurate rendering of financial and numerical content, which is vital for user trust and functionality.

5. Site Structure and Schema Markup for Arabic Content

Structured data plays a crucial role in how search engines interpret and display Arabic content. Arabic websites often encounter specific challenges when it comes to implementing structured data and organising their content to meet search engine requirements effectively.

Impact on Search Engine Crawling and Indexing

If schema markup isn’t properly implemented, search engines may misinterpret Arabic content, leading to missed ranking opportunities. Structured data helps search engines understand key details like business information, product prices, and event dates. Without it, Arabic content can be misrepresented or poorly indexed.

For example, business address schema should include Arabic text, such as 'شارع الشيخ زايد' for Sheikh Zayed Road. Product schema must also follow UAE financial standards, ensuring currency values are marked up correctly. Breadcrumb schema is particularly important for Arabic websites with complex hierarchies. Poor implementation can result in confusing search results, with Arabic category names displaying incorrectly or out of order.

User Experience for Arabic-Speaking Users

Arabic-speaking users expect search results to display properly formatted, accurate information in their language. Faulty schema markup can lead to broken or incomplete search snippets, which undermines user trust and reduces click-through rates.

Rich snippets like star ratings, prices, and product availability must render correctly alongside Arabic text for a seamless user experience. For UAE-based businesses targeting Arabic-speaking customers, local business schema is essential. Information such as opening hours, contact details, and addresses should appear in Arabic on platforms like Google My Business and local search results to build credibility and improve accessibility.

Technical Implementation Complexity

Developers face unique challenges when implementing schema for Arabic content. JSON-LD syntax must correctly handle Arabic characters, and multilingual sites require distinct schema markups to prevent content from overlapping or mixing.

Arabic FAQ schema needs special care due to the language’s grammatical structure and longer text strings. Poorly formatted FAQ schema can result in truncated or unclear rich snippets. Similarly, event schema for Arabic content should account for the dual use of Islamic (Hijri) and Gregorian calendars in the UAE. Properly accommodating both calendar systems ensures that event details are accurate and culturally relevant for local users.

Compatibility with UAE Localisation Standards

Websites for UAE businesses and government entities must follow specific Arabic content standards, which directly influence schema markup practices. Accessibility requirements mandate that structured data supports tools like screen readers, ensuring inclusivity for Arabic-speaking users with disabilities.

Organisation schema should include correctly formatted business registration details in Arabic, such as trade licence numbers, Emirates ID references, and official business names, to comply with UAE regulations. Pricing schema must also adhere to UAE financial standards, with AED values displayed correctly using Arabic numerals and appropriate currency symbols. These details not only meet regulatory requirements but also foster trust among customers by presenting information in a clear and familiar format.

Technical Solutions Comparison

When tackling technical challenges, developers need to focus on crafting a URL structure that strikes the right balance between SEO optimisation and user experience, especially for audiences in the UAE. Let's take a closer look at two approaches to structuring URLs.

Arabic URL Structure Approaches

Using native Arabic characters in URLs ensures linguistic accuracy and better alignment with the local language. However, these URLs often become excessively long and encoded, making them cumbersome to share. For example, a URL like example.com/أفضل-العروض-على-الهواتف-الذكية can be difficult to manage and unappealing for users.

To sidestep these issues, a more practical solution is to use shorter URLs with Latin characters that include relevant keywords. This approach not only enhances search visibility but also creates URLs that are easier for users to recall and share. These user-friendly URLs can indirectly contribute to better SEO performance.

Another key consideration is the domain itself. Opting for a country-specific domain, such as .ae, signals local relevance to search engines. This can lead to higher rankings in UAE-specific search results.

Conclusion

Tackling SEO challenges is key to improving Arabic websites' rankings and user engagement across the UAE. With over 60% of Middle Eastern users relying on smartphones and 54% of Google searches in the MENA region conducted in Arabic, businesses simply cannot ignore the importance of establishing strong technical SEO foundations.

The digital landscape offers immense potential. Arabic content makes up only about 5% of online material, leaving a wide-open space for businesses that implement effective technical SEO strategies. By focusing on the right technical elements, companies can tap into this underrepresented market and grow their reach significantly. But to achieve this, a solid, data-focused approach is crucial.

This is where Wick's data-driven methodology comes into play. Their approach involves in-depth website audits that analyse performance metrics, user behaviour, and keyword rankings to identify precise areas for improvement. By focusing on actionable insights, they help businesses make impactful changes that resonate with Arabic-speaking audiences.

Wick’s Four Pillar Framework goes beyond technical SEO, combining it with broader digital marketing strategies to create cohesive and enduring digital ecosystems. With advanced analytics and continuous monitoring, businesses can measure the results of their SEO efforts and adapt to changing algorithms and user behaviours.

For companies targeting Arabic-speaking markets, investing in technical SEO isn’t just about improving rankings - it’s about establishing trust, enhancing user experience, and standing out in a competitive digital space. Addressing these challenges strengthens credibility and positions businesses for long-term success in an evolving online environment.

FAQs

How can I create SEO-friendly and user-friendly URLs for my Arabic website?

To make the URLs on your Arabic website both easy to read and effective for SEO, aim for simplicity and clarity. Use clean, descriptive URLs that give a clear idea of the page's content. Avoid cluttering them with long strings of numbers, special characters, or unnecessary elements that might confuse visitors or search engines.

Although Google supports non-English characters, it's usually a good idea to keep URLs straightforward. Steer clear of spaces, quotes, and semicolons. You can choose to use either transliteration (writing Arabic words with Latin characters) or the native Arabic script, but whichever you pick, make sure the URLs are easy to understand for users and search engines alike. Keeping things simple and clear will improve both usability and search rankings.

How can I use hreflang tags to target Arabic and English speakers in the UAE effectively?

To effectively reach both Arabic and English-speaking audiences in the UAE, it's crucial to set up your hreflang tags correctly. Use 'ar-AE' for Arabic and 'en-AE' for English to clearly indicate the language and region for each page. Don’t forget to include a self-referential hreflang tag on every page, as this helps search engines identify the correct language and regional version of your content.

Make it a habit to audit your hreflang configuration regularly. This helps catch issues like mismatched tags or duplicate content, which can disrupt your SEO efforts. When implemented properly, hreflang tags ensure users in the UAE are directed to the most relevant language version of your site, enhancing both search visibility and user experience.

How can I improve Arabic font readability and performance on mobile websites?

To make Arabic text clearer and more user-friendly on mobile websites, it's essential to pick fonts tailored for Arabic script. Options like Noto Kufi Arabic and Cairo are excellent choices, as they provide proper ligature support and maintain readability. Stick to a minimum font size of 16px for body text, and ensure there’s strong contrast between the text and background for better visibility on smaller screens.

For faster loading and smoother performance, use web-optimised Arabic fonts rather than relying on image-based text. This not only speeds up load times but also avoids layout problems. Additionally, steer clear of overly decorative or heavy fonts to ensure a seamless reading experience on mobile devices.