Arabic SEO: Keyword Research for Saudi Searchers

Arabic SEO for Saudi Arabia starts with how your customers actually type, not with a translation of your English keyword list. Find the everyday Saudi word, the common spelling variants and the Latin-letter versions, then check them in Google's own tools and in your real enquiries.

This post gives you a practical way to do that, with a worked example you can copy for your own business.

Why is Arabic SEO different in Saudi Arabia?

Because Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) is often not what people type into the search box. Google Search tries to find pages that match the language of the searcher, so your page has to match their words, not just their language.

A translated keyword list usually holds only the formal term. A well known example: the formal word for a mobile phone is هاتف محمول, but many Saudi searchers use جوال, while Egyptian searchers often use موبايل. If you only target the formal word, you miss the people who type the everyday one.

Saudi Arabia also has regional speech. Najdi is common around Riyadh, Hijazi around Jeddah and Makkah, Gulf or Eastern around Dammam and the Eastern Province, and Southern around Asir and Jizan. You don't need four websites. You do need to know which words your own customers use.

What do Saudis actually type? Four layers to check

Check four layers for every important term. Each one can change the search.

Don't copy a dialect list from a blog and trust it. Treat it as a set of ideas to test. Agency sites differ, and some of their examples are weakly sourced.

Mixed-language searches are normal

A buyer in Riyadh may type an English service term next to an Arabic district name. Someone else may write an Arabic word in English letters, because their phone keyboard is set to English. That's why your keyword sheet needs a column for "how it appears in English letters", not only Arabic and English.

How do you do Arabic keyword research step by step?

Follow these steps. Most take an hour or two for a small site.

1. List your offers in plain words. Write what you sell the way you'd say it to a customer in a shop or on a WhatsApp call, not the way your brochure says it.
2. Collect real customer language. Open your WhatsApp enquiries, emails, call notes, marketplace questions and site search. Copy the exact words people used, including spelling mistakes.
3. Run Google autocomplete. Type each term in Arabic, set to Saudi Arabia, and note the suggestions. Do it for the formal word, the everyday word and the Latin-letter version.
4. Check People also ask and the results page. See what Google shows. If the top results use one word and not the other, that tells you what Google connects to the search.
5. Use Keyword Planner. Google says you must finish account setup, including billing information, to use "Get ideas for new keywords". The location box accepts countries, regions and cities. Pick Saudi Arabia, and set the language to Arabic. If you remove all locations, targeting resets to "All locations", so check it before you read any numbers.
6. Group terms by intent. Put "price", "how to", "near me" and "company" searches on different pages. One page, one main intent.
7. Map each group to a page. Write the Arabic title, heading and meta description. Keep the main term in the first paragraph.
8. Review after a few weeks. Check which queries in Google Search Console actually brought visits, and add the new wording you didn't plan for.

Should you target Arabic, English or both?

Often both, but it depends on the buyer. Consumer searches in Saudi Arabia lean to Arabic. For some B2B and technical terms, the English keyword can be searched more than the Arabic one, even in Saudi Arabia. This is a pattern from agency research, not an official rule, so test it for your own terms instead of assuming.

A simple way to decide:

• Consumer product or local service: start in Arabic, add English as a second version.
• Business buyer, technical or procurement term: check both languages in Keyword Planner and autocomplete before you pick.
• Both audiences: build both versions and link them properly.

Set up the languages correctly

A multilingual site is any site that offers content in more than one language. If you use different URLs for different languages, Google says to use hreflang annotations so results link to the right version. The value can be just ar, or ar-SA to add the region. Add x-default for the page users should reach if their language isn't supported. Google also warns that annotations may be ignored if they aren't set up correctly on all pages, so check the common mistakes list.

Arabic words in the URL are fine too. Google's multi-regional guidance says localized words in the URL are fine.

If you sell on Salla

Salla has SEO fields in the store settings. Under SEO, General Settings, Homepage Enhancements, you enter the homepage title, description and key keywords. The Salla SEO help page also lists Quick SEO Optimization and a Sitemap Index option to help indexing.

One catch. Salla says the "page link in English" option doesn't show in the sitemap if your store runs in one language, such as Arabic only. The fix is to turn on multiple languages, add English and enter product names in both. Salla also notes that if Arabic is the default language, Arabic data is required and other languages are optional.

What does this look like in practice? A hypothetical example

Say a Dammam trading company sells packaging supplies to restaurants and online shops across the Eastern Province. The owner's English keyword is "packaging supplier". The numbers below don't exist. This only shows the method.

The owner opens the WhatsApp chat history and finds customers write the product name in three ways. Some use the formal Arabic word. Some use a shorter everyday word. A few write it in English letters with "Dammam" at the end.

The sheet then looks like this:

Next, the owner checks each cell in autocomplete and Keyword Planner, and keeps the version that appears. Then each category page gets an Arabic title, an Arabic heading and an English version linked with hreflang. Mixed terms go into the body, FAQ and image alt text, where they read naturally.

What are the common Arabic SEO mistakes?

• Translating the English list word for word. You get the formal term and miss the one people type.
• Using one spelling only. Test the hamza and taa marbuta variants before you commit to a title.
• Mixing languages on one page without a plan. Keep one main language per URL and link the other version.
• Skipping the location and language settings. In Keyword Planner, set Saudi Arabia and Arabic, or you read the wrong data.
• Ignoring your own enquiries. Your chat history is free, current and from your actual buyers.
• Writing once and never reviewing. New words show up. Check your Search Console queries.

Where does Quickship fit?

Quickship is a software company. We don't do your research for you, and a tool can't tell you which word your customers in Jeddah or Riyadh prefer. Once you have your term list, our Auto Blog for SEO service (AED 99 a month) can help you keep publishing on a regular schedule, so your list turns into pages. You still own the keyword choices and should read every post before it goes live.