Last quarter, a store group invested over 200,000 SAR in traditional marketing with disappointing returns. After transitioning just 30% of that investment to mobile marketing, they saw a dramatic increase in foot traffic.
Recently, a company director asked me why his blog posts weren't producing any inquiries. After reviewing his content marketing strategy, I identified he was making the same blunders I see countless Saudi businesses make.
As someone who has designed over 30 Arabic websites in the recent years, I can tell you that applying Western UX practices to Arabic interfaces simply doesn't work. The special features of Arabic text and Saudi user behaviors require a completely different approach.
Twelve months ago, my local business was struggling to reach new customers. Our digital storefront was practically invisible in Google rankings. That's when I chose to invest in professional SEO services in Jeddah.
- Seventy-three percent growth in search visitors
- First page positions for twelve valuable keywords
- 41% growth in contacts from our digital storefront
- Fifty-two percent improvement in customer acquisition
For a high-end retailer, we discovered that Snapchat and Instagram dramatically surpassed traditional networks for connection and discover Now conversion, creating a focused redistribution of attention that increased total results by over one hundred fifty percent.
Through detailed analysis for a store chain, we discovered that content published between evening hours significantly outperformed those shared during traditional peak hours, producing 143% greater engagement.
Last quarter, a Saudi company contacted me after using over 120,000 SAR on international SEO services with limited returns. After implementing a customized Saudi-focused ranking approach, they experienced first-page rankings for numerous important keywords within a single quarter.
If you're building or improving a website for the Saudi market, I strongly recommend consulting specialists who really grasp the complexities of Arabic user experience rather than just adapting Western designs.
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Select fonts specially created for Arabic screen reading (like Dubai) rather than traditional print fonts
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Enlarge line leading by 150-175% for improved readability
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Use right-oriented text (never center-aligned for body text)
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Stay away from narrow Arabic fonts that compromise the characteristic letter shapes
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Moved product visuals to the left portion, with product details and Web design packages Pricing purchase buttons on the right side
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Changed the image carousel to move from right to left
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Added a custom Arabic typeface that kept clarity at various scales
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Redesigned the form flow to match right-to-left thinking processes
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Built a Arabic-English input mechanism with automatic language switching
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Optimized touch interfaces for one-handed Arabic typing
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Developed a figure visualization approach that handled both Arabic and English digits
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Reorganized charts to flow from right to left
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Implemented color-coding that matched Saudi cultural connections
In my previous project for a banking company in Riyadh, we found that users were repeatedly selecting the wrong navigation elements. Our behavior analysis demonstrated that their attention naturally moved from right to left, but the main navigation items were positioned with a left-to-right hierarchy.
Recently, I was helping a major e-commerce platform that had poured over 200,000 SAR on a beautiful website that was performing terribly. The reason? They had merely transformed their English site without addressing the basic experience variations needed for Arabic users.
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Realigning CTA buttons to the right side of forms and screens
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Restructuring visual importance to flow from right to left
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Redesigning user controls to align with the right-to-left reading pattern
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Clearly mark which language should be used in each entry box
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Intelligently adjust keyboard language based on field requirements
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Place field labels to the right-hand side of their associated inputs
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Confirm that validation messages appear in the same language as the required input
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Position the most essential content in the top-right area of the viewport
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Organize content blocks to advance from right to left and top to bottom
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Apply heavier visual weight on the right side of symmetrical layouts
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Ensure that pointing icons (such as arrows) direct in the correct direction for RTL designs