Buyer Guides · 5 MIN
Bilingual website development in the UAE: Arabic and English done properly
How to build an Arabic and English website for the UAE: RTL layout, hreflang, UAE consumer law on Arabic invoices, content workflow and testing.
A bilingual UAE website needs a true right-to-left Arabic version with its own layout, native-written content, separate indexable URLs linked by hreflang tags, and Arabic outputs where UAE consumer law expects them, such as invoices. Treat Arabic as a full product from the first design review, not a translation pass at the end.
- Build Arabic as a mirrored layout using logical CSS properties, not as flipped screenshots of the English page.
- Give each language its own URL and link them with hreflang using codes such as ar-AE and en-AE.
- UAE consumer protection law says invoices must be in Arabic, and the UAE government says e-commerce businesses must give consumers information in Arabic.
- Arabic copy should be written or reviewed by a native writer, because literal translation of marketing text often reads wrong.
- Test forms, search, payment pages and emails in Arabic, since these are where bilingual builds usually break.
- Nactore is an AI-native technology and growth company in Mumbai that builds and ranks websites, and treats Arabic and English as one engineered system.
Do you need an Arabic version of your UAE website?
Not always by law, but often by business sense, and in e-commerce the law pushes you there. Under Federal Law No. 15 of 2020 on Consumer Protection, the UAE government consumer protection page says the invoice must be in Arabic, and the provider may add any other language. The same page says e-commerce businesses must give consumers information in Arabic about the product or service, specifications, the terms of contract, payment and warranty. The law itself is on the UAE legislation portal. Federal Decree-Law No. 14 of 2023 adds rules for modern technology-based trade.
If you only publish a brochure site for B2B buyers, English may be enough. Check your audience, sector rules and counsel's advice.
How should you structure the two languages?
Use separate URLs per language and keep both crawlable.
| Option | Example | Verdict |
|---|---|---|
| Subfolder | example.com/ar/ and example.com/en/ | Easiest to manage and rank, good default |
| Subdomain | ar.example.com | Workable, but splits authority |
| Country domain | example.ae plus example.com | Strong local signal, more upkeep |
| Language switch with the same URL | A cookie or JavaScript toggle | Avoid, Google recommends a separate URL for each language |
Add hreflang tags in both directions, for example ar-AE and en-AE, plus an x-default, as Google's guide to localized versions describes. Set lang and dir on the html element for each page. Our guides on SEO and GEO for multi-country websites and website localization versus translation go deeper.
What does right-to-left design involve?
More than flipping text alignment.
- Mirrored layout. Navigation, sidebars, progress bars and arrows reverse. Use logical CSS properties such as
margin-inline-startso one stylesheet serves both directions. - Icons with direction. Arrows and back buttons flip. Logos, phone icons and media controls usually do not.
- Mixed text. English names inside Arabic sentences need bidirectional handling so punctuation lands in the right place.
- Typography. Pick an Arabic typeface designed for screens, and use more generous line height than Latin text.
- Numbers and dates. Choose Western or Arabic-Indic digits per surface and keep it consistent. Decide how you show Gregorian and Hijri dates if both matter.
- Forms. Accept Arabic input in every field, including names and addresses, and make validation language-aware.
Who should write the Arabic?
A native writer who knows your sector. Machine translation is a useful first draft for internal review and a poor final copy for customer-facing pages. Words that look right on paper can carry the wrong tone, or use a register that feels stiff. Keep a short glossary of product terms and brand names, and use the same terms across the site, emails and invoices.
For SEO, research Arabic search phrases separately. People do not search in translated English. They use their own words, including dialect terms and transliterated brand names. Write Arabic headings as questions people actually ask.
Which pages need extra care in e-commerce?
- Product pages. Arabic descriptions, specifications, warranty and return terms.
- Checkout. Arabic labels, error messages and payment confirmations.
- Invoices and receipts. Arabic version as required, with English added if you wish.
- Emails and notifications. Same language as the page the customer used.
- Policies. Terms, privacy notice and cookie text in Arabic. The privacy notice should reflect UAE data protection law.
For the commerce build itself, see e-commerce and marketplace development in the GCC.
How do you test a bilingual build?
Run the same acceptance checklist in both languages, and add Arabic-specific checks.
- Visual pass on mobile and desktop for every template, in both directions.
- Native-reader read-through of every page and email.
- Form tests with Arabic names, mixed text and long values.
- Search tests for Arabic queries with and without diacritics.
- Technical SEO checks for hreflang pairs, canonical tags and sitemap entries per language.
- Performance checks, since Arabic fonts can be heavy. Subset and preload them.
Write the Arabic design first for one page, then adapt it to English. Teams that start with English tend to bolt RTL on, and the page shows it.
Frequently asked questions
Should we use machine translation?
Use it for drafts and internal review. Have a native writer finish anything customers read, especially product, legal and marketing copy.
Which hreflang codes should we use?
Use language and region together, such as ar-AE and en-AE, and add x-default for the fallback page. Add ar-SA and en-SA if you also serve Saudi Arabia.
Does the invoice really need to be in Arabic?
UAE consumer protection law says so for invoices covered by it, and allows other languages in addition. Confirm how it applies to your business with counsel.
Can the same code serve Arabic and English?
Yes, with logical CSS properties and a translation system that supports plural and gender rules. That keeps maintenance manageable.
Build both languages as one system
A bilingual UAE website works when layout, content, SEO and invoices are designed together. Nactore builds, ships, ranks and grows as one partner, so the engineering and the search work are done by one team.
Want this built for your team? Book a free 30-minute call.
Want to apply this to your business?
Book a free 30-minute call. We will tell you what we would do first.