This Arabic SEO checklist lists 30 checks for websites that want to rank in Arabic search in the Middle East. It covers technical setup, on-page SEO, content, local SEO, backlinks and measurement. Use it before you launch an Arabic website, or to check one that is not ranking. For a full review, see our guide to the Middle East SEO audit. Where a check needs more detail, it links to our full guide on that topic. For the wider strategy, see our Middle East SEO guide.
How to Use This Arabic SEO Checklist
Work through the sections in order. Technical problems can stop Google from finding and indexing your Arabic pages, so fix them first, then improve the pages, the content and the backlinks. Google has about 95% of searches in the region, as our guide to search engines in the Middle East shows, so most checks follow Google's guidelines.
| Section | Checks | When to do it |
|---|---|---|
| Technical SEO | 1 to 9 | First, before launch |
| On-page SEO | 10 to 17 | Before launch |
| Content quality | 18 to 22 | Before launch and at every update |
| Local SEO | 23 to 24 | If you have physical locations |
| Backlinks and brand | 25 to 27 | Ongoing |
| AI search and measurement | 28 to 30 | Every month |
Technical Arabic SEO Checks
- Arabic pages have their own URLs, for example under
/ar/. They do not share a URL with the English page and switch language with a cookie or JavaScript. - hreflang tags connect each Arabic page with its English version, with valid codes such as
ar,ar-SAorar-AE, and links that point both ways. Our guide to bilingual SEO and hreflang shows the setup. - Each Arabic page has a canonical tag that points to itself, not to the English page.
- Arabic pages set
lang="ar"anddir="rtl", and every template is tested in a right-to-left layout, as our guide to Arabic UX and RTL web design explains. - The XML sitemap lists every Arabic URL and is submitted in Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools.
- robots.txt and meta robots tags do not block Arabic pages, or the CSS and JavaScript files they need.
- The site does not redirect visitors automatically by IP address or browser language. A visible language switcher links to the same page in the other language.
- Arabic pages load fast on mobile and pass Core Web Vitals. Arabic web fonts can be large, so load only the weights and characters you use.
- Structured data, such as Organization, Article, Product, FAQPage or LocalBusiness, matches the visible Arabic content.
On-Page Arabic SEO Checks
- Keyword research is done in Arabic for each target country, including spelling variants, dialect words and English searches, as our guide to Arabic keyword research explains.
- Each keyword group is mapped to one page, so two of your pages do not compete for the same search.
- Title tags are written in Arabic from the keyword research, not translated from English, and are short enough to show in full on mobile.
- Meta descriptions are written in Arabic, describe the page clearly and give a reason to click.
- Each page has one H1 with its main keyword, and H2 headings that follow how people ask questions in Arabic.
- URL slugs follow one rule across the site, either Latin letters or Arabic script.
- Images have Arabic alt text, and any text inside the images is in Arabic.
- Internal links use descriptive Arabic anchor text and connect related Arabic pages.
Arabic Content Quality Checks
- Content is written or edited by native Arabic speakers, not published straight from machine translation. Our guide to using AI for Arabic content explains where AI drafts fail.
- Pages answer the searcher's question early, in clear Modern Standard Arabic, with dialect terms where people search with them.
- Prices, currencies, dates, phone numbers and addresses are local to each market, as our Arabic localization guidelines describe.
- Images and copy respect cultural and religious norms in each market.
- Pages on health, finance and other sensitive topics show who wrote them, when they were updated and which sources they use.
Local Arabic SEO Checks
- Each physical location has a Google Business Profile with an Arabic name, description and categories, as our guide to local SEO and Google Business Profile explains.
- The business name, address and phone number are the same on the website, the Google Business Profile and directory listings.
Backlink and Brand Checks
- The site earns backlinks from relevant Arabic and regional websites, such as news sites, industry media and partners. Our guide to Arabic link building covers how.
- Paid links carry
rel="sponsored", and the site takes part in no link schemes. - The brand name is written the same way in Arabic and English everywhere. See our guide on how to translate a brand name into Arabic.
AI Search and Measurement Checks
- Important pages can appear as sources in Google's AI answers. They are indexed, eligible for snippets and answer questions clearly, as our guide to AI Overviews and AI Mode in Arabic explains.
- The Search Console Performance report is filtered by country and by Arabic URLs, and rankings for the main Arabic keywords are tracked in each country.
- Organic traffic and conversions are both tracked by language and by country.
Conclusion
An Arabic website ranks when the technical setup lets Google index it, the pages target real Arabic searches and the content reads naturally to native speakers. GOTOMENA audits and fixes Arabic websites against every point in this list through our Arabic SEO services. To check your website, contact our team.