SEO in the UAE: How to Rank in English and Arabic?

Which search engines do people use in the UAE?

Google dominates. In September 2026 it had 93.47% of searches in the UAE, Bing had 3.96% and Yandex 1.8%, according to Stat Counter. Optimize for Google first, add your site to Bing Webmaster Tools (it takes 10 minutes, and Bing’s index also powers Microsoft Copilot), and you’ve covered almost every searcher.

English or Arabic: which do you need?

Both are used every day in the UAE, but by different people for different searches. English is the common business language, and most commercial searches for services happen in English. Arabic matters for Emirati and Arab customers, for government-related services and for trust.

This is a starting point, not a rule. The best check is your own data: in GA4, open Reports → User attributes → Demographic details, switch the table to Language and filter for visitors from the UAE. If a meaningful share use Arabic, your customers are telling you what they need.

On a UAE jewellery client, Kannan Jewels, we built the content for three audiences at once: UAE residents, Indian and NRI buyers, and international customers. All three were reached in English, and educational content about gold purity and buying worked better than product posts.

Kannan Jewels case study: For jewellery aimed at Emirati buyers, Arabic would be the next step.

Arabic keyword research is not translation

Translating your English keywords into Arabic misses how people actually type. Three things to check:

1. Spelling variants. Many people type Arabic without some characters, such as the hamza. “Apartments for rent in Dubai” is often searched in both of these spellings. Check both in Google Keyword Planner and in Google’s autocomplete:

• شقق للإيجار في دبي (with the hamza)
• شقق للايجار في دبي (without it)

2. Modern Standard Arabic vs Gulf dialect. Formal Arabic suits page titles and service descriptions. Everyday searches, especially on mobile and by voice, often use Gulf words.
3. Arabizi and English brand names. Some people type Arabic words in Latin letters, or mix English brand and product names into Arabic searches. Look for these in Search Console once your Arabic pages are live.

Ask a native Arabic speaker from the Gulf to review your keyword list and write the pages. Machine translation is a fine first draft for understanding, but not for publishing. Google’s spam policies name automated translation that adds little value as an example of scaled content abuse.

For the full method, see my guide to international keyword research

How to set up English and Arabic pages in WordPress

1. Use subfolders

Keep both languages on one domain: English at /en/ (or the root) and Arabic at /ar/. Google lists subdirectories as “low maintenance” because everything stays on the same host. A .ae domain sends a strong signal for the UAE but can only target one country, so it suits businesses that only sell in the UAE.

2. One language per page

Google uses the visible content of a page to decide its language, and recommends one language for the content and navigation on each page, with no side-by-side translations. Don’t put English and Arabic paragraphs on the same page, and translate the menu and footer too.

3. Add hreflang tags

Hreflang tells Google which page is for which language and country. For a UAE site with English and Arabic versions, each page lists both versions, itself included:

<link rel=”alternate” hreflang=”en-AE” href=”https://example.com/en/services/” />
<link rel=”alternate” hreflang=”ar-AE” href=”https://example.com/ar/services/” />
<link rel=”alternate” hreflang=”x-default” href=”https://example.com/en/services/” />

A multilingual plugin such as WPML or Polylang adds these tags for you. Read hreflang in WordPress for the plugin settings and the mistakes to avoid.

4. Right-to-left layout

Arabic reads right to left, so menus, icons, forms and arrows should flip too. With WPML or Polylang, WordPress switches Arabic pages to right-to-left for you. Then open every Arabic template in Elementor and check the mobile view, because custom widgets and spacing often don’t flip.

5. Don’t redirect by IP

Don’t send visitors to the Arabic or English version automatically based on their location. Google advises against automatic redirects between language versions. Add a clear language switcher at the top of every page instead.

Local SEO across the emirates

If you serve customers in person, local search matters as much as the main results.

• One Google Business Profile per real location, with the address and phone number your customers use. Don’t create profiles for emirates where you have no office.
• A page for each emirate you serve, such as Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah, only if you have something specific to say about it: the area you cover, local projects, prices or regulations. Copies with only the city name changed won’t rank.
• Reviews in both languages. Reply in the language the review was written in.
• Prices in AED, with VAT (5%) shown clearly, and a WhatsApp button. In the UAE, many customers would rather send a WhatsApp message than fill in a form.

The UAE calendar changes when people search

• The working week runs Monday to Friday, with Friday a half day for the federal government. The weekend has been Saturday and Sunday since 1 January 2022. Publish and send newsletters early in the week, and read weekly reports with that in mind.
• Ramadan changes opening hours, shopping times and search patterns. People are online later in the evening, and searches for iftar, opening hours and Eid offers rise. Plan Ramadan content and updated opening hours a month ahead.
• Summer is quieter for many local services and busy for travel. Compare results with the same months last year, not with the month before.

How to measure SEO results in the UAE

1. In Search Console → Performance, click + New → Country → United Arab Emirates. This is your UAE-only view of clicks, impressions and positions.
2. Compare your /en/ and /ar/ pages: add a Page filter with “URLs containing /ar/”.
3. In GA4, track enquiries (form, WhatsApp click, call) by country and by language.
4. Check AI answers. Ask ChatGPT, Copilot and Google’s AI Mode your main questions in English and Arabic, and note who they cite.

My free international SEO checklist covers all of this, from hreflang to tracking by market.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need an Arabic website to rank in the UAE?

Not always. Many service businesses rank and win customers in English alone. You need Arabic when your customers search in Arabic, for example Emirati customers or sectors such as healthcare, education and government services.

Is Google the main search engine in the UAE?

Yes. Google had 93.47% of searches in the UAE in September 2026, according to StatCounter. Bing had 3.96% and Yandex 1.8%.

Should I use a .ae domain or a .com?

Use .ae if you only sell in the UAE. It sends a clear local signal. If you also serve other countries, a .com with subfolders such as /ae/ or /ar/ keeps all your authority on one domain.

What hreflang code should I use for Arabic in the UAE?

Use ar-AE for Arabic pages for the UAE and en-AE for English pages for the UAE. Add x-default for the page shown to everyone else. Hreflang uses the country code AE, not UAE.

How long does SEO take in the UAE?

Usually three to six months for steady results on a competitive topic, longer for very competitive Dubai searches such as real estate. Arabic pages often face less competition than English ones, so they may rank sooner.

Planning SEO for the UAE?

I’m an international SEO consultant working with businesses in the UAE, Australia, the US, Canada and the UK. Kathmandu is only 1 hour 45 minutes ahead of Dubai, so we share most of the working day. Book a free 15-minute call and I’ll tell you whether you need Arabic pages, and where to start.

Book a free 15-minute consultation