Every Arabic page needs a URL, and teams often ask whether the slug, the part of the URL after the domain, should be in Arabic script, in English or in Arabic written with Latin letters. All three can rank on Google. The choice affects how URLs look in search results, how they work when people share them and how easy the website is to manage. This guide explains what Google recommends for Arabic URLs, the trade-offs of each option and how to choose one rule for your website.
The Three Options for Arabic URL Slugs
| Option | Example | When people share it |
|---|---|---|
| Arabic script | /ar/ساعات-ذكية/ | Arabic in the browser, but a long encoded string in many apps and emails |
| English words | /ar/smart-watches/ | Short and readable in every app |
| Transliteration | /ar/saat-thakiya/ | Short, but people spell transliterated Arabic in many different ways |
What Google Recommends
Google's guidance on URL structure says to "use words in your audience's language in the URL (and, if applicable, transliterated words)". For an Arabic audience, that supports Arabic-script slugs, and it accepts transliteration too. Google also recommends readable words instead of long ID numbers, and hyphens instead of underscores to separate words. The guidance does not say that one option ranks better than the others, so the choice depends mainly on your users and on how you manage the website.
How Arabic URLs Are Encoded
URLs can only contain a limited set of characters, so Arabic letters are converted into percent-encoded codes, and Google recommends percent-encoding non-ASCII characters in links. Each Arabic letter becomes six characters. The five-letter word أسعار ("prices") becomes this 30-character string:
%D8%A3%D8%B3%D8%B9%D8%A7%D8%B1Browsers show the Arabic version in the address bar. When people copy the link into an email, a chat or a document, many apps show the long encoded version instead, which looks broken to the reader.
Arabic Script, English or Transliteration: The Trade-Offs
| Option | Advantages | Disadvantages |
|---|---|---|
| Arabic script | Matches the language of the page and of Arabic searches, and reads naturally in Arabic | Long when encoded, harder to type, and needs care in redirects, analytics and other tools |
| English words | Short, easy to share and type, and can match the slug of the English page | Does not match the language of the page, and some Arabic readers may not understand it |
| Transliteration | Short and in Latin letters | Spelling is inconsistent, and readers may not recognise the words |
Which Option to Choose
- Arabic script suits content and e-commerce websites that rely on Arabic search and want URLs that read naturally in Arabic.
- English slugs suit websites where the Arabic and English pages share one structure, such as SaaS and B2B websites, and where teams want short URLs for sales emails and ads.
- Avoid transliteration unless your brand or product names are already known in that form.
Whichever you choose, use one rule across the whole website and keep it. Changing the rule later is a migration that needs a redirect for every changed URL, as our guide to Arabic website migration explains.
Best Practices for Arabic Slugs
- Keep slugs short, usually two to five words.
- Separate words with hyphens, not spaces or underscores.
- Leave out diacritics (tashkeel) and Arabic punctuation.
- Choose one spelling for letters that people write in different ways, such as أ and ا, and use it on every page.
- Keep a language folder such as
/ar/, so the Arabic section is easy to filter in Search Console. - Leave dates and ID numbers out of slugs unless you need them.
- Write English slugs in lowercase, because URLs are case sensitive.
What About Arabic Domain Names?
Arabic domain names exist, including country endings in Arabic script such as .السعودية for Saudi Arabia and .مصر for Egypt. They have the same sharing and typing problems as Arabic slugs. For a global brand, an /ar/ folder on the main domain keeps the authority the domain has already built, as our guide to Arabic link building explains.
Technical Checks for Arabic URLs
- Use the same percent-encoded form in canonical tags, hreflang tags and the XML sitemap.
- Test redirects to and from Arabic URLs, because some servers and plugins handle encoded characters differently.
- Check that your analytics and SEO tools show Arabic URLs correctly.
- Check how links look when people share them on WhatsApp, in email and on social media.
Our guide to bilingual SEO and hreflang covers the wider setup, and our Arabic SEO checklist includes URLs in its technical checks. If your website runs on a content management system, our guide to Arabic SEO by platform explains the setup on each one.
Conclusion
Arabic-script, English and transliterated URLs can all rank. Google recommends words in the audience's language, readable words and hyphens, and the right choice depends on how your website is managed and shared. Choose one rule, apply it everywhere and test the encoded URLs in every tool. GOTOMENA sets up Arabic URL structures and bilingual websites through our Arabic SEO services. To review your setup, contact our team.