Bilingual English-Arabic Website Structure: Sitemap, RTL and SEO Decisions for Dubai Businesses

• Decision 1: Where the Arabic pages live
  • Subfolder: example.com/ar/
  • Subdomain: ar.example.com
  • Separate domain: example.ae alongside example.com
• Decision 2: A sitemap built for two audiences
  • Start with shared pages
  • Then look for language-specific gaps
  • Keep the depth shallow
• Decision 3: URLs and slugs
• Decision 4: Telling search engines which page is which
  • The basics of hreflang
  • Other signals to set correctly
  • Avoid automatic redirects by language
• Decision 5: The language switcher
• Decision 6: Right-to-left layout done properly
  • What should mirror
  • What should not mirror
  • Typography and spacing
• Decision 7: Content, not just translation
• Decision 8: Forms, WhatsApp and online stores
• Decision 9: Speed on both versions
• A pre-launch checklist for bilingual websites
• What a bilingual build usually involves with Oxedge
• Frequently asked questions
  • Is a subfolder better than a subdomain for the Arabic site?
  • Will having the same content in English and Arabic cause duplicate content problems?
  • Should Arabic URLs use Arabic words?
  • Can I launch in English first and add Arabic later?
  • How do I check whether my existing Arabic pages are indexed?
• Talk to Oxedge about your bilingual site

Most Dubai businesses agree they need an Arabic version of their website. Far fewer have one that works. An Oxedge study of 3,516 UAE business websites found that only 13.9% had a working Arabic version. The other 86% either had no Arabic version or had one that did not properly work.

The problem is rarely the translation. It is the structure underneath: how the two languages are organised, how pages point to each other, how the layout flips for right-to-left reading, and how search engines are told which page is for whom. Get those decisions right before design starts and the Arabic site behaves like a proper second front door. Get them wrong and you end up paying to rebuild it.

This guide walks through the structural decisions in the order you will meet them, with checklists you can hand to whoever builds your site.

§Decision 1: Where the Arabic pages live

The first choice is the address of your Arabic content. There are three common options.

§Subfolder: example.com/ar/

The Arabic pages sit in a folder on the same domain. This is the most common choice for UAE businesses, and it is what Oxedge uses on its own site.

• One domain to manage, renew and secure.
• Both languages share the domain’s history and authority in search.
• Easy to set up on WordPress, Shopify and most modern platforms.

§Subdomain: ar.example.com

The Arabic site runs as a separate subdomain.

• Useful if the Arabic site runs on a different system or is managed by a different team.
• Slightly more work to track and maintain, and search engines can treat it more like a separate site.

§Separate domain: example.ae alongside example.com

• Can make sense for a group with a distinct Arabic brand, or when targeting a different country.
• Two sets of renewals, hosting, certificates and search properties to look after.

For a typical Dubai SME with one brand and one market, a subfolder is usually the simplest and safest option. Whatever you choose, decide it before the sitemap is drawn, because changing it later means redirects for every page.

§Decision 2: A sitemap built for two audiences

A common mistake is to finish the English sitemap and then copy it into Arabic. Arabic-speaking customers often search for different things, use different terms for the same service, and care about different details.

§Start with shared pages

Most pages should exist in both languages, with the same purpose:

• Homepage
• Each main service or product category
• About, team and credentials
• Contact, with map, phone and WhatsApp
• Pricing or price guidance, if you publish it
• Key case studies or proof of work

§Then look for language-specific gaps

Arabic keyword research sometimes shows demand for a service angle or location that the English sitemap missed. It can also show that a page matters less in Arabic. It is fine for the two sitemaps to differ slightly, as long as each page that does have an equivalent is linked to it.

§Keep the depth shallow

Whatever the language, important pages should be reachable within two or three clicks from the homepage. Bilingual sites often bury Arabic service pages deeper because the Arabic menu was trimmed to save time. Treat both menus with the same care.

§Decision 3: URLs and slugs

Once you know where the Arabic pages live, decide how their individual addresses look. You have two realistic choices:

• Latin (transliterated or English) slugs, such as /ar/web-design/. These are easy to share, type and read in analytics, and they do not break when copied into emails or messages.
• Arabic slugs, such as /ar/ followed by the Arabic words. They can match Arabic search terms and look natural to Arabic readers in the browser bar, but they become long, encoded strings when copied in many tools.

Both can work for search. The more important rules are consistency and stability:

• Pick one approach for the whole site.
• Keep slugs short and descriptive.
• Do not change a slug after launch unless you set up a permanent redirect.

§Decision 4: Telling search engines which page is which

Search engines need to understand that your English and Arabic pages are versions of each other, not duplicates. This is what hreflang annotations are for.

§The basics of hreflang

• Each page lists itself and its equivalent in the other language, for example en and ar, or region-specific codes such as ar-AE if you target a specific country.
• The annotations must be reciprocal. If the English page points to the Arabic one, the Arabic page must point back.
• An x-default value can tell search engines which version to show when neither language clearly fits the searcher.
• Annotations can go in the page head, in the XML sitemap, or in HTTP headers. Pick one method and use it consistently.

§Other signals to set correctly

• Canonical tags: each language version should normally point to itself as canonical, not to the English page. Pointing the Arabic page’s canonical at the English page tells search engines to ignore the Arabic one.
• The lang and dir attributes: set lang="ar" and dir="rtl" on Arabic pages. Google says it relies on the visible content to understand language, so these attributes matter most for browsers, screen readers and layout, but they should still be correct.
• Page titles and meta descriptions: write them in Arabic for Arabic pages. A surprising number of bilingual sites leave English titles on Arabic pages.
• Structured data: business details, FAQs and services marked up in the language of the page.
• Search Console: check the international targeting and indexing reports after launch to confirm both versions are found.

§Avoid automatic redirects by language

It is tempting to send visitors to Arabic or English based on their browser settings or location. Google advises against automatic redirection of this kind, because it can stop both users and its crawler from reaching the other version. A clear, visible language switcher is the better approach.

§Decision 5: The language switcher

The switcher is a small element that causes a lot of trouble.

• It should link to the equivalent page, not to the Arabic homepage. A visitor reading about your logistics service in English should land on the Arabic logistics page.
• Label it in the target language: “العربية” on English pages and “English” on Arabic pages. Flags are a poor choice, because a language is not a country.
• Place it where people look: usually in the header, and repeated in the mobile menu.
• Handle pages with no equivalent: link to the closest relevant page, and avoid showing a broken link or a 404.

§Decision 6: Right-to-left layout done properly

Arabic is read from right to left, so the whole interface needs to mirror, not just the text alignment. This is where translated sites most often look wrong.

§What should mirror

• Navigation order, so the logo and first menu item sit on the right.
• Breadcrumbs, pagination and “next” and “back” arrows.
• Sliders and carousels, which should move in the reading direction.
• Form layouts, labels and error messages.
• Icons that imply direction, such as arrows and progress bars.

§What should not mirror

• Logos, product photos and images that contain Latin text.
• Phone numbers, email addresses and URLs.
• Video players and media controls in most cases.
• Charts that have a fixed numeric axis, unless they are redesigned.

§Typography and spacing

• Choose an Arabic typeface designed for screens and pair it with the Latin font, so headings have similar weight.
• Arabic text often needs more line height and slightly larger sizes to stay readable on phones.
• Allow for text length to change. Arabic headlines may be shorter or longer than the English ones, and buttons should not break when they are.

Developers can make mirroring much easier by building layouts with CSS logical properties, such as margin-inline-start instead of margin-left, so most of the page flips automatically when the direction changes. If you want to see the details that typically break, Oxedge’s article on Arabic-first UX and the twelve things that break when you just translate is a practical checklist.

§Decision 7: Content, not just translation

A structurally perfect Arabic site still fails if the words feel translated.

• Brief a writer, not only a translator. Give them the purpose of each page and the questions customers ask.
• Research Arabic search terms separately. People may use different words, Gulf expressions or English loan words when searching in Arabic.
• Localise proof. Testimonials, case studies and team bios should make sense to an Arabic reader.
• Keep numbers, prices and contact details identical across both versions, and update them together.

The same applies beyond the website. If your logo has an Arabic version, it should appear on the Arabic pages; if you are still working on it, the Oxedge branding page at https://oxedge.com/logo-design-branding-dubai/ explains why Arabic and English logos are best designed as a pair.

§Decision 8: Forms, WhatsApp and online stores

Enquiry and checkout flows are where bilingual sites lose the most business without anyone noticing.

• Field labels, placeholders, validation messages and confirmation emails all need Arabic versions.
• Phone fields should accept UAE formats with and without the +971 prefix.
• Pre-filled WhatsApp messages should be in the language of the page the visitor came from.
• Thank-you pages and tracking events should exist for both languages, so you can see which version produces enquiries.

If you sell online, the checkout adds more: product names and descriptions, filters, delivery messages, invoices and payment pages in both languages. Oxedge covers bilingual stores on its ecommerce page at oxedge.com/ecommerce-development-dubai/, including UAE payment options.

§Decision 9: Speed on both versions

Arabic web fonts can be heavy, and bilingual sites sometimes load both font families on every page. Check that:

• Each language loads only the fonts it needs.
• Images are compressed and sized for phones.
• Both language versions are tested separately for speed, not just the English homepage.

This matters because, according to the HTTP Archive Web Almanac 2025, only 48% of mobile websites pass Core Web Vitals. Oxedge sets a target of a mobile PageSpeed score of 90 or more at launch, a useful benchmark to ask any developer about.

§A pre-launch checklist for bilingual websites

Run through this list before you go live, and again after any major update.

• [ ] Arabic pages live in the agreed location (subfolder, subdomain or domain).
• [ ] Every page with an equivalent links to it through the language switcher.
• [ ] Hreflang annotations are reciprocal and include an x-default.
• [ ] Each page’s canonical points to itself.
• [ ] lang and dir attributes are correct on every Arabic page.
• [ ] Titles, meta descriptions and structured data are in the page’s language.
• [ ] Navigation, arrows, sliders and forms mirror correctly on mobile.
• [ ] Forms, error messages and confirmation emails work in Arabic.
• [ ] Prices, phone numbers and opening hours match in both languages.
• [ ] Both versions are tested for speed on a real phone.
• [ ] Both versions appear in the XML sitemap and in Search Console.

§What a bilingual build usually involves with Oxedge

For context, here is how Oxedge describes its own approach on https://oxedge.com/web-design-dubai/: a short discovery leads to a sitemap, wireframes and messaging in English and Arabic, with right-to-left layouts and Arabic typography designed from the first wireframe rather than added later. Its published typical ranges are AED 8,000 to 20,000 for a 5 to 10 page bilingual brochure site (usually 3 to 6 weeks) and AED 22,000 to 60,000 for a 15 to 50 page corporate site (6 to 12 weeks), with domain, hosting and maintenance on top. The launch includes technical SEO, structured data, Search Console set-up and redirects from an old site. For a deeper look at costs and structure, see Oxedge’s guide to a bilingual Arabic-English website for UAE businesses.

§Frequently asked questions

§Is a subfolder better than a subdomain for the Arabic site?

For most single-brand UAE businesses, a subfolder such as /ar/ is simpler to manage and keeps both languages on one domain. A subdomain or separate domain makes more sense when the Arabic site is run separately or serves a distinct brand.

§Will having the same content in English and Arabic cause duplicate content problems?

No. Translated pages are not treated as duplicates. Use hreflang to connect the versions and make sure each page’s canonical tag points to itself.

§Should Arabic URLs use Arabic words?

They can, but Latin slugs are easier to share and read in reports. Either approach can work in search; consistency and avoiding later changes matter more.

§Can I launch in English first and add Arabic later?

You can, but plan the structure for both from the start: the folder, the switcher, the layout and the fonts. Adding Arabic to a site never designed for right-to-left usually costs more than building it in from day one.

§How do I check whether my existing Arabic pages are indexed?

Search Console shows which pages are indexed and flags hreflang errors. You can also search Google for your Arabic page titles to see whether they appear.

§Talk to Oxedge about your bilingual site

If you are planning a new bilingual website or fixing the structure of an existing one, you are welcome to contact Oxedge Solutions to talk it through before you commit to a build.

Oxedge Solutions
Office 208, Bu Shaqer Building, Al Garhoud, Dubai
Phone and WhatsApp: +971 50 815 3521
Email: info@oxedge.com
Hours: Monday to Saturday, 9am to 5pm (Sunday closed)
Website: https://oxedge.com/

Arabic version of the service page: oxedge.com/ar/web-design-dubai/