A few months ago, anzsco.co.nz a retail chain spent over 200,000 SAR in standard promotion with disappointing outcomes. After transitioning just 30% of that budget to mobile marketing, they achieved a dramatic improvement in store visits.
Last quarter, a retail client approached me after investing over 500,000 SAR on digital marketing with limited outcomes. After revamping their methodology, we achieved a seven hundred forty-three percent growth in return on investment.
Recently, I was helping a prominent e-commerce platform that had poured over 200,000 SAR on a stunning website that was failing miserably. The issue? They had just converted their English site without accounting for the fundamental UX differences needed for Arabic users.
Last week, a entrepreneur complained that his social media marketing was costing thousands of riyals with little performance. After analyzing his approach, I found multiple serious mistakes that are remarkably frequent among Saudi businesses.
- Choose fonts purposely developed for Arabic on-screen viewing (like Boutros) rather than conventional print fonts
- Enlarge line leading by 150-175% for improved readability
- Use right-justified text (never centered for main content)
- Stay away from condensed Arabic typefaces that diminish the unique letter shapes
A few months ago, a regional brand approached me after using over 120,000 SAR on foreign search optimization with minimal results. After implementing a tailored Saudi-focused SEO strategy, they saw top rankings for numerous high-value keywords within a single quarter.
For a clothing brand, we conducted a detailed platform efficiency assessment that uncovered their highest ROI channels were entirely distinct from their international norms. This insight permitted a reallocation of investment that enhanced their total ROI by 213%.
Effective approaches:
- Adding regional transaction options like STC Pay
- Improving Arabic product information
- Featuring regional support availability
- Including confidence builders specific to Saudi users
Key considerations:
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Longer decision periods in Saudi conversion routes
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Group decision aspects in buying choices
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Messaging as a major but hard-to-measure impact medium
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Physical confirmation as the final conversion step
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Restructured the application process to align with right-to-left cognitive patterns
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Built a dual-language form system with intelligent language changing
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Optimized smartphone usability for right-handed Arabic input
For a premium company, we implemented a locally-relevant attribution framework that recognized the distinctive buying journey in the Kingdom. This approach uncovered that their platform investments were truly generating nearly three times more results than earlier assessed.
- Shifting call-to-action buttons to the right-hand portion of forms and interfaces
- Reconsidering visual importance to move from right to left
- Adapting interactive elements to follow the right-to-left viewing pattern
Not long ago, my small business was fighting to attract new customers. Our online presence was practically invisible in Google rankings. That's when I chose to invest in professional search engine optimization.
Unexpected discoveries:
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Ephemeral platforms outperforming Instagram for certain products
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Evening promotion substantially surpassing daytime initiatives
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Video content delivering better ROI than fixed imagery
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Handheld efficiency exceeding laptop by considerable differences
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Distinctly indicate which language should be used in each input field
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Intelligently adjust keyboard language based on field type
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Position form text to the right-hand side of their associated inputs
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Ensure that validation messages appear in the same language as the expected input
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Shifted product photos to the left side, with product information and call-to-action buttons on the right-hand side
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Changed the product gallery to progress from right to left
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Added a custom Arabic text style that maintained legibility at various scales
As someone who has developed over 30 Arabic websites in the recent years, I can confirm that applying Western UX practices to Arabic interfaces fails miserably. The special features of Arabic text and Saudi user expectations require a totally unique approach.
During my previous project for a investment company in Riyadh, we discovered that users were frequently selecting the wrong navigation options. Our user testing revealed that their attention naturally flowed from right to left, but the primary navigation items were positioned with a left-to-right hierarchy.
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Place the most important content in the right upper corner of the page
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Arrange content blocks to flow from right to left and top to bottom
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Use more prominent visual emphasis on the right side of balanced designs
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Confirm that indicating icons (such as arrows) point in the correct direction for RTL designs
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Developed a numerical presentation system that accommodated both Arabic and English numbers
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Redesigned charts to flow from right to left
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Implemented graphical cues that matched Saudi cultural meanings