A Guide To Arabic Website Localization

There are 22 Arab countries and over 420 million Arabic speakers around the world. These numbers represent a huge opportunity for companies planning to create content targeted at Arabic-speaking audiences. Corporations are recognizing the need to localize their company websites, blogs, email campaigns, social media posts, etc. into Arabic to capture the attention of the Arab world. In this article we will dive deep into website localization and what it entails, and then we will give you some general rules and tips to follow when localizing your website into Arabic specifically.

What is website localization?

Website localization is not just a simple translation from one language to another, but it is the entire process of adapting your website to the language and culture of the target language. It involves much more than just a simple text translation. This delicate process must take into consideration the specific language and cultural preferences in the content, the images, and the overall design, all while still keeping the integrity and the feel of your original website.

The localization of the website must also additionally take into consideration the stated purpose of the new website with a focus on the targeted audience/market in the new locale. Website localization aims to change and modify a website so that it seems natural to its viewers despite cultural differences between the creators and the audience. A successful localized website should feel like it was originally made in the target language. There are two factors are involved when localizing a website: programming and linguistic knowledge.

Now specifically when localizing a website into Arabic, it means adapting the language and functions of that website for the Arabic markets. When localizing a website, you should be quite familiar with the dialects and cultures of your target audiences, as well as the multilingual capabilities of your content management system (CMS).

Arab countries may have one language, but they have many different cultures and dialects, which influence their use of language. A word in one country may have another interpretation in another country. For example, in the UAE, the word mobile (or cell phone) is interpreted as “هاتف متحرك”; in Saudi Arabia, it’s “جوال”, and in Egypt it’s transliterated from the word mobile as “موبايل”.

Why Should I Localize My Website?

Now you might ask, why should I even bother with all of this? Well the answer to that is simple. It has been proven through research that culturally adapted and localized websites reduce the amount of necessary cognitive efforts required from visitors to process information, thus making navigation that much easier and attitudes toward the website more favorable, which ultimately leads to more conversions and sales.

The Process Of Website Localization

There are two main points to keep in mind during the process of website localization.

The first is to focus on the demands of the user. The visitors of the “localized version of the website” want to be able to read and understand the pages in a way that makes sense to them, we can't even begin to count the numbers of times that we've seen a text in Arabic that was written backwards because the technical architecture that was used to make that text couldn't handle Arabic.

A second consideration is to take into account the goals of the client, whether an institution, government or individual, for example.

The complex process of website localization can be broken up into three main steps: Translation, Localization, and internationalization.

Translation

The first step is translation, and it involves translating and adapting any text being used in your website into the target language. The translation must be clear, understandable, and most importantly, it should be fluid and natural to avoid any cultural misunderstandings or offenses, and when it comes to Arabic, you must be very carful of causing any offense to your audience.

Localization

The second step is localization, which involves all the other actions and efforts to ensure that the adaptation of the text material, visuals, graphics and illustration are culturally and linguistically appropriate for the target audience. Your target audience is defined by: language, currency, and even education and income levels.

There are many technical aspects that must localized in this step, they include: time and date formats, currencies, number systems, address and telephone formats, units of measurements, and many more.

Internationalization

Internationalization is the final and hardest step. It involves making sure that your website or software is fully compatible with the target language, and when it comes to Arabic, You must also flip or mirror your website from (LTR - left to right) to (RTL - right to left). Flipping your websites is not necessary per say, but if you want fully engage your target audience, then we would recommend that you do so.

Arabic Website Localization Tips

Given the importance and size of Arabic-speaking audiences, companies are looking for ways to have their website content localized properly into Arabic. Below are several Arabic website localization tips to consider before localizing a website for Arab countries:

Avoid Machine Translation

Absolutely avoid machine translation. Arabic is a very complicated and poetic language and machine translation will most likely fail to interpret the meaning you are trying to convey. Quality sells, so use a professional translation agency with skilled Arabic translators to produce quality Arabic content.

Images

It is important to choose the right images and graphics that appeal to the culture of your audience. Images displayed on an Arabic website should respect the conservative culture of some Arab countries. Not all Arab countries are on the same cultural level, Morocco and Tunisia for example are considered to be more liberal and open minded than Saudi Arabia and UAE, you can use images that contain women showing their hair and even some skin in the former countries, but we would advise against that for the latter countries.

Videos and Music

Videos should also respect the culture. For example, if the website targets Saudi audiences, developers should ensure that no videos include music. Some people in Saudi Arabia (mostly older folks) do not listen to music and believe it is religiously forbidden. Developers should either create text alternatives or clearly state that the embedded videos contain music.

Language

The Arabic language contains many words that carry more than one pronunciation and meaning, which can cause confusion and ambiguity for readers. In order to generate clear and professional content, use diacritic marks, or as they are called in Arabic: Harakat (small marks placed above the letters) to denote the right pronunciation and eliminate any ambiguity for the readers.

Technical requirements

Make sure your CMS is capable of handling right-to-left (RTL) languages. If your CMS is not enabled to display a RTL language, your content will not appear correctly, causing confusion and appearing unprofessional. Nowadays most CMS are capable of handling RTL languages (Arabic and Hebrew), but if you are using an older CMS, then you might want to migrate to newer one.

Keyword Research

it’s a considered good practice to do some keyword research for your localized website. This will give you a clear idea about which terms people in your target market are using to search for products or services like yours—and how those terms differ from the ones used by people in your home market.

This and other international SEO techniques will help you reach more people and improve your website ranking in search engines, which leads to higher traffic levels.

The key thing to remember here is that you shouldn't just translate your keywords blindly, but you need to find out how people in your target audience use to refer to your products or services.

UI and UX

UX (User Experience) is considered a huge part of your website's overall success, it impacts user satisfaction, conversion rates, and of course, sales. So when localizing your website to your target audience, in this case Arabic, make sure to make UX a top priority.

Let's consider for example your UI elements. A successful internationalization will insure that there is enough space in your UI elements to accommodate Arabic, since an Arabic translation is on average 30% longer than an English one.

Another example that might have not crossed your mind, connection speed and used devices. Connection speed in Arab countries is on average lower than that of first world countries, so might want to simplify your UI and use fewer images to increase loading times. On the other hand, The Arab people tend to use their mobile phone to access websites way more than they use PCs, so make sure that your website is very mobile friendly.

Test Before Launching

After everything is done, don't just launch your website right away, make sure that every looks good from a technical standpoint and from a linguistic one.

Summary

The Arab world represents an enormous opportunity for companies looking to expand their global reach. However, with its many complexities and dialects, effectively localizing your website into Arabic can be a difficult task.

Understanding your audiences, keeping in mind the website localization tips mentioned above and working with a translation services team experienced in Arabic translation are just a few of the ways to effectively and appropriately market your products or services to Arab countries.

If you want to localize your website into Arabic, then don't hesitate to get in touch with us for a free quote!