Bilingual Websites: How to Get Arabic and English Right

For many businesses in Lebanon and the Gulf, a website in one language leaves customers behind. But a good bilingual site is much more than an English site with translated text: Arabic changes the direction of the page, the typography and the way people search.

Here is what it takes to get Arabic and English right, and the mistakes we see most often.

Give each language its own address

Each language should have its own URL, for example yoursite.com for English and yoursite.com/ar/ for Arabic. Avoid switching the language with a button that keeps the same address: search engines then see only one version, and nobody can share a link to the Arabic page.

Separate addresses also let Google show the right language to the right person.

Tell Google the pages are translations

Use hreflang tags to tell search engines that the English and Arabic pages are versions of the same page. Each one should list both languages and a default. Without them, Google may show your English page to people searching in Arabic, or treat the two pages as unrelated.

Also give each page its own title and description in its own language. A translated page that shows an English title in search results looks unfinished.

Don't redirect visitors by location

It is tempting to send visitors from the Gulf to the Arabic site automatically. Don't. Google's crawlers mostly visit from the United States, so they may never see your Arabic pages, and visitors who prefer English get stuck. Instead, show a clear language switch on every page and let people choose.

Mirror the whole layout, not just the text

Arabic reads from right to left, so the entire interface should flip: navigation, columns, icons that point in a direction, form fields and progress steps. A right-aligned paragraph inside a left-to-right layout looks broken to Arabic readers.

Not everything should flip:

• Logos and brand names written in Latin script
• Phone numbers, email addresses and prices
• Images, except those that show direction, such as arrows
• Media controls such as the play button

Modern CSS makes this much easier with logical properties, which describe "start" and "end" instead of "left" and "right", so one stylesheet works in both directions.

Choose fonts made for Arabic

Many popular web fonts have no Arabic letters, so the browser falls back to a default font that clashes with your design. Pick a typeface designed for Arabic, test it at small sizes, and give Arabic text a slightly taller line height. Never add letter spacing to Arabic: it breaks the connections between the letters.

Write in Arabic, don't just translate

Machine translation produces Arabic that is understandable but sounds foreign, and readers notice immediately. Have a native writer adapt the copy: shorter sentences, natural phrasing and the right tone for your audience, whether formal Modern Standard Arabic or something closer to everyday speech.

Brand names and technical terms such as SEO and UI/UX often read best in Latin script inside the Arabic text.

Research Arabic keywords separately

People don't search in Arabic the way they search in English. They may use different words, mix the two languages, or type Arabic words in Latin letters. Research the Arabic terms your customers actually use instead of translating your English keywords. Competition for Arabic searches is often lower, which makes it one of the easiest ways to win visitors.

Test with real Arabic content

Designs built around English placeholder text often break when the real Arabic content arrives: longer or shorter words, numbers inside sentences, and mixed-direction text with English brand names. Test every page with real content in both languages, on a phone, before launch.

A checklist for your bilingual site

A separate URL for each language, hreflang tags, translated titles and descriptions, no automatic redirects, a fully mirrored layout, an Arabic typeface, copy written by a native writer, Arabic keyword research, and testing with real content.

If you are choosing who will build it, our guide on how to choose a web development company in Lebanon covers the questions to ask.

Building in both languages?

KamiKode builds bilingual websites, including this one, with right-to-left layouts, Arabic typography and SEO for each language. Tell us about your project.