Recently, a business owner questioned me why his articles weren't generating any leads. After examining his content marketing strategy, I discovered he was making the same blunders I see numerous Saudi businesses commit.
As someone who has designed over 30 Arabic websites in the last half-decade, I can assure you that applying Western UX practices to Arabic interfaces fails miserably. The special features of Arabic language and Saudi user behaviors require a totally unique approach.
Recently, a merchant approached me after wasting over 300,000 SAR on unsuccessful digital promotion. After revamping their approach, we achieved a four hundred seventy-three percent growth in advertising efficiency.
Last month, a clothing brand contacted me after spending over 150,000 SAR on social media advertising with minimal returns. After restructuring their approach, we achieved a six hundred thirty-one percent growth SEO companies comparison in Riyadh advertising efficiency.
Last week, a business owner complained that his online presence was costing thousands of riyals with little return. After analyzing his strategy, I pinpointed numerous critical errors that are surprisingly common among Saudi businesses.
Through comprehensive research for a cuisine platform client, we identified that promotions shown between 9-11 PM substantially exceeded those presented during traditional prime times, producing 163% higher purchases.
- Choose fonts specially created for Arabic on-screen viewing (like Boutros) rather than classic print fonts
- Enlarge line spacing by 150-175% for better readability
- Implement right-oriented text (never Middle East UX Best practices-aligned for primary copy)
- Stay away from condensed Arabic text styles that compromise the characteristic letter structures
Recently, I was advising a prominent e-commerce company that had spent over 200,000 SAR on a stunning website that was converting poorly. The problem? They had simply translated their English site without addressing the essential design distinctions needed for Arabic users.
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Moved product images to the left side, with product specifications and call-to-action buttons on the right
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Changed the image carousel to progress from right to left
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Incorporated a custom Arabic text style that preserved readability at various sizes
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Locate the most essential content in the upper-right corner of the page
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Arrange information segments to flow from right to left and top to bottom
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Apply more prominent visual weight on the right side of equal compositions
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Ensure that pointing icons (such as arrows) orient in the right direction for RTL designs
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Developed a figure visualization approach that handled both Arabic and English digits
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Restructured charts to progress from right to left
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Used visual indicators that aligned with Saudi cultural associations
Throughout my latest project for a banking company in Riyadh, we discovered that users were consistently clicking the wrong navigation elements. Our behavior analysis revealed that their attention naturally moved from right to left, but the primary navigation components were positioned with a left-to-right hierarchy.
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Shifting action buttons to the right side of forms and screens
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Restructuring information hierarchy to flow from right to left
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Redesigning user controls to align with the right-to-left scanning pattern
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Clearly specify which language should be used in each form element
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Dynamically adjust keyboard language based on field expectations
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Locate form text to the right side of their connected inputs
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Confirm that error notifications appear in the same language as the expected input
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Restructured the application process to align with right-to-left user expectations
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Built a Arabic-English data entry process with smart language switching
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Improved touch interfaces for one-handed Arabic input