Services / Arabic & Bilingual Sites
Arabic websites, built right to left
Arabic and English sites where the whole layout mirrors, the Arabic is set in typefaces made for it, and neither language is bolted onto the other. For businesses in Lebanon, the UAE and across the Arab world.
- Direction
- Right to left from the foundation: the whole layout mirrors, not only the text
- Type
- Arabic set in typefaces designed for Arabic, never a Latin font falling back
- Languages
- English, Arabic and French. Two are included from The Foundation plan upwards
- Extra language
- $180 each, beyond what your plan includes
- Search
- Each language gets its own pages, so Arabic searches find the Arabic version
- Wording
- Worded by a person in each language, never machine translated
A translated page is not a bilingual one
The usual Arabic version of a website is the English one with the words swapped. The layout still runs left to right, the menu still opens from the wrong side, the arrows point backwards, and the Arabic is set in a font that was never made for it, so the phone falls back to whatever it has. Anyone who reads Arabic sees it in the first second.
A bilingual site is built differently from the start. Direction is a property of the whole page, not of the text, so the navigation, the arrows, the spacing, the forms and the order of every two-column section mirror with it. Nothing is overridden after the fact, because nothing was built the wrong way round.
Set in real Arabic type
Arabic letters join, change shape with their place in a word, and sit differently on the line. A typeface drawn for Latin letters with Arabic added as an afterthought gets this wrong in ways a reader notices even if they could not name them. We set Arabic in typefaces designed for Arabic, tuned so the two languages carry the same weight on the page.
This site is built the same way. Every layout rule on it is written for both directions, so turning it to Arabic is a change to one line, and its Arabic typefaces are already in place, downloaded only by a page that is actually in Arabic.
Found in both languages
Arabic searches return Arabic pages. If the Arabic version shares an address with the English one, or exists only as a button that swaps the words in place, a search engine sees one language and the other rarely ranks for anything.
So each language gets its own pages, with their own titles and descriptions, and tells search engines which language it is in and where its counterpart lives. Someone searching in Arabic in Riyadh and someone searching in English in Dubai each land on the version written for them.
Who it is for
- Businesses in Lebanon serving Arabic, English and French readers
- UAE companies where an Arabic version is expected alongside English
- Brands selling into Saudi Arabia and the Gulf, where many customers search in Arabic first
- International companies opening in the region that need Arabic done properly the first time
- Online stores whose checkout has to read naturally in both languages
What it costs
Two languages are included from The Foundation plan upwards, at $1460, so an Arabic and English business site costs the same as an English-only one on that plan. Each further language is $180. The Catalyst one-page plan includes one language and adds a second for the same $180.
The words come from you or your translator. We do not write copy, and we never machine translate it; what we do is set each language properly and make sure nothing breaks when the page changes direction.
Prices are the same in every country and agreed in writing before work starts. Compare the four plans to see what each one includes.
Questions about Arabic websites
What is the difference between an Arabic website and a bilingual one?
An Arabic website is in Arabic only. A bilingual one carries Arabic and English, or French, as two complete versions of the same site, each with its own pages. Both are built right to left wherever Arabic appears; the difference is how many versions there are, and that is decided by who your customers are.
How much does an Arabic and English website cost?
From $1460 on The Foundation plan, which includes two languages, so an Arabic and English business site costs the same as an English-only one on that plan. Each language beyond what your plan includes is $180. Prices are in US dollars and the same in every country.
Do you translate the content into Arabic?
No. The words come from you or your translator, because a business's Arabic should sound like the business, and we do not write copy in any language. What we never do is put machine translation on a page. We set each language properly and check that nothing breaks when the layout changes direction.
Can you add Arabic to my existing English website?
Sometimes. If the site was built with both directions in mind, adding Arabic is mostly a matter of the words. If it was not, mirroring it properly usually means rebuilding the layout, because patching a page that was built one way round is where most broken Arabic pages come from. We will tell you which one yours is before quoting.
Will the Arabic version show up on Google?
It can, because it is a real set of pages rather than a switch that swaps the words in place. Each language has its own pages, titles and descriptions, and is marked so search engines know which language it is in and where its counterpart is. Nobody can promise a ranking, but a version Google cannot see will never rank.
Do you also build French websites?
Yes. French is a first-class option alongside Arabic and English, built and set to the same standard, and in Lebanon it is often the second language a business needs.
Built on the same foundation
Tell us who reads your site
Describe the business and the languages your customers read it in. You will get an honest answer within one working day: what a bilingual build involves, what it costs, and whether we are the right studio for it.