Most customers in Qatar move between Arabic and English every day. They search in one language, read reviews in another and expect your website to feel natural in both. A bilingual website is not a translated copy of an English site. It is one product designed for two reading directions, two typographic systems and two audiences with different expectations.
Start with your audience, not the language switch
Before any design begins, list who visits your website and what they need to do. A service portal, a restaurant group and a real estate agency have very different visitors. For each group, note the language they prefer, the device they use and the action that matters most, such as booking, ordering or calling.
- Which language most visitors will choose first
- Which pages must be identical in both languages
- Which content can be published in one language only
- Who on your team will approve the Arabic copy
Design for right to left from day one
Arabic reads from right to left, so the whole layout mirrors: navigation, icons with direction, progress bars, sliders and the position of buttons. When a site is designed in English first and flipped at the end, details break. Design both directions together and review them side by side.
- Mirror layouts with logical properties instead of fixed left and right values
- Keep brand names, emails, phone numbers and code in Latin characters
- Choose an Arabic typeface that pairs with your Latin one, and never add letter spacing to Arabic
- Allow more line height for Arabic text so it stays comfortable to read
Write content, do not only translate it
Machine translation is a useful draft, but headlines, calls to action and legal pages need a writer who knows your audience. Keep sentences short, avoid literal idioms and make sure numbers, dates and prices follow the format your customers expect.
Plan SEO for both languages
Search engines treat each language as its own set of pages. Give every page its own address for Arabic and English, such as /ar/services and /en/services, and tell search engines they are alternatives with hreflang tags. Write unique titles and descriptions in each language using the words people actually search for.
- Separate URLs for Arabic and English pages
- hreflang tags that connect each pair of pages
- Localised titles, descriptions and image alt text
- A sitemap that lists both languages
- A Google Business Profile with your Arabic and English business name
Choose a content management system your team can use
Your marketing team will update the website long after launch. Pick a CMS where editors can manage the Arabic and English versions of the same page, preview both directions and publish without a developer.
A simple checklist before launch
- Every page reviewed in both directions on mobile
- Forms tested with Arabic input and Qatari phone numbers
- Local payment and map integrations working
- Page speed checked on a mobile network
- Analytics set up to compare Arabic and English visitors
Planning a bilingual website? PROCODE designs and builds Arabic and English websites in Doha. Try our AI project planner to shape your idea, or request a quotation and our team will reply with a clear plan.
