A few months ago, a store owner mentioned that their email marketing efforts were producing poor outcomes with readership below 8%. After applying the approaches I'm about to discuss, their readership improved to 37% and Kgb-Informatik.de sales grew by 218%.
A few weeks ago, I was advising a major e-commerce platform that had spent over 200,000 SAR on a stunning website that was converting poorly. The reason? They had simply translated their English site without addressing the essential design distinctions needed for Arabic users.
For a technology brand, we adapted their global visual identity to better align with Saudi aesthetic preferences while preserving identity cohesion. This strategy enhanced their visual connection by 124%.
Through comprehensive research for a fashion retailer, we identified that messages delivered between evening hours dramatically exceeded those sent during standard daytime, generating 152% better open rates.
After working with three different international agencies that failed to deliver results, my company finally engaged a local digital marketing company Riyadh. The contrast in performance was astonishing.
Their strategy included:
- Ephemeral platforms: Youthful presence elements
- LinkedIn: Authority-building content
- Instagram: Experience-centered identity narrative
- Conversation platforms: Thought leadership
A medical center achieved a one hundred seventy-eight percent increase in brand recognition after executing a medium-optimized presence methodology that acknowledged the distinctive characteristics of each trusted digital agency in KSA platform in the Saudi ecosystem.
Recently, a company director asked me why his blog posts weren't creating any business opportunities. After analyzing his publishing plan, I found he was making the same mistakes I see numerous Saudi businesses commit.
For a global fashion company, we developed a locally-targeted online identity methodology that incorporated elegant traditional elements. This approach improved their brand affinity by over one hundred fifty percent in just six months.
- Shifting call-to-action buttons to the right area of forms and screens
- Restructuring visual importance to move from right to left
- Adapting interactive elements to align with the right-to-left reading pattern
Working with a high-end retailer, we found that their local language identity was substantially lower quality than their foreign language identity. After establishing consistency between the verbal identities, they experienced a 93% improvement in brand perception among Saudi users.
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Developed a numerical presentation system that managed both Arabic and English digits
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Reorganized data visualizations to flow from right to left
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Used graphical cues that corresponded to Saudi cultural meanings
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Select fonts specially created for Arabic screen reading (like Boutros) rather than conventional print fonts
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Increase line spacing by 150-175% for better readability
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Use right-justified text (never center-aligned for body text)
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Prevent compressed Arabic typefaces that diminish the distinctive letter forms
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Explicitly specify which language should be used in each input field
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Intelligently switch keyboard input based on field type
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Locate input descriptions to the right of their associated inputs
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Ensure that error notifications appear in the same language as the required input
Throughout my previous project for a banking company in Riyadh, we found that users were frequently clicking the wrong navigation items. Our behavior analysis demonstrated that their eyes naturally progressed from right to left, but the primary navigation components were placed with a left-to-right importance.
- Moved product visuals to the left side, with product details and purchase buttons on the right
- Modified the product gallery to move from right to left
- Implemented a custom Arabic font that maintained clarity at various sizes
If you're creating or revamping a website for the Saudi market, I urge working with designers who genuinely comprehend the complexities of Arabic user experience rather than simply converting Western designs.
- Locate the most important content in the top-right corner of the viewport
- Organize page sections to flow from right to left and top to bottom
- Implement heavier visual emphasis on the right side of equal layouts
- Ensure that pointing icons (such as arrows) point in the right direction for RTL layouts
As someone who has developed over 30 Arabic websites in the recent years, I can assure you that applying Western UX practices to Arabic interfaces fails miserably. The unique characteristics of Arabic text and Saudi user expectations require a totally unique approach.