Best Practices for Localizing Your Website for the Middle East Market

The past few years have witnessed an upsurge in the number of internet users in the Middle East which reached 199,845,130 users in 2021. Consequently, online shopping has grown remarkably resulting in the flourishing of the Middle East e-commerce market which is expected to reach US$27 billion by 2025, especially after the widespread usage of smartphones and the changes that have happened to consumers’ shopping behaviors.

Indeed, Middle Eastern consumers now prefer buying all types of products online whether they are local or international products. Research has shown that around 55% of shoppers buy products online using their smartphones and others at least search for products online before they buy them. Therefore, Statistical reports have proven that MENA consumers are among the most connected and digitally savvy in the world.

Due to this remarkable growth in internet use and the number of online shoppers in the Middle East, international businesses cannot avoid investing in the Middle East e-commerce markets, particularly in countries that have a population with high incomes such as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

But, how can businesses fetch traffic to their websites and approach their target customers in the Middle East? This is only achievable if they apply an effective localization strategy.

In this blog, we will explain what a localization strategy is, the best practices to make the most out of website localization, and how Torjoman offers the best website localization services. Let’s start.

What is a Localization Strategy?

A localization strategy is a plan that you set to determine how you can reach your target customers in a way that looks natural and familiar to them. Localization is the adaptation of your content to resonate with the cultural nuances of your target audience.

Thus, if you blindly translate your website from English into other languages without paying any attention to consumers’ cultures, behaviors, preferences, and even traditions, you will put them off easily. The Middle East is known for its ethnic and cultural diversity and taking your time to decide which localization strategy will best fit your target consumers will contribute to the success of your business in the Middle East markets.

The following are some important tips you should follow when you decide to expand your business to the Middle East markets. Let’s have a look at them!

Study Your Target Audience

The Middle East is characterized by its linguistic and cultural diversity. Hence, you have to do an in-depth study of the cultures of your target customers. It is very vital to understand what they expect to see on your website. What will work with Egyptian customers, for instance, may not work with Saudi Arabian customers.

It will be helpful if you have a native speaker of the target country review your content before you introduce it to your intended customers to make sure that everything falls into place.

Apply Website Localization

Translating your website into English only will never help you penetrate any of the Middle Eastern markets. Today’s consumers prefer to navigate websites that have content in their native languages. So, localizing your website content by adapting it to the languages and cultures of target customers will improve the customer experience and help you win their loyalty and trust.

Localize Your Visual Elements

Not only you should localize text, but also images, videos, and colors should be adapted to match the cultures of target audiences. Middle East countries have sensitive issues related to religion, politics, and culture that you should take into consideration when you select any visual elements on your website.

Optimize Your Website for SEO

Arabic is spoken by more than 422 million people in the world with over 30 modern types, including Modern Standard Arabic. Therefore, you have to study well the Arabic dialect spoken in your target country in order to select the right keywords that consumers in this specific country use in search engines. For example, an Arabic-speaking person in North Africa may not understand the Arabic dialect of someone from KSA.

In addition, you can also look for the keywords used by your competitors in your field to understand what will work and what will not.

How Torjoman Helps You Expand Your Business to the Middle East

At Torjoman, our team of professional translators are able to cross all the linguistic and cultural barriers to deliver your message to your target audience in a natural and familiar way.

We not only localize text but also all the digital content including multimedia, videos, mobile and web apps, illustrations, eBooks and much more. Our team considers the following factors while localizing your website:

Translating and Localizing Content

We localize any marketing content on your website such as blogs, ebooks, banners, and web copy and adapt your message to resonate with your target audience.

Adapting Your Digital Content

We have an experienced team of designers and desktop publishing experts who is able to adapt your digital content to be culturally appropriate for Middle East customers.

Applying Multilingual SEO

We execute a custom SEO strategy during the localization process to help you improve your website visibility in organic search and drive traffic to your website.

Wrapping Up

The Middle East markets represent a great opportunity for international businesses to increase their conversions and establish a solid global presence. However, this can only be accomplished by partnering with a reliable translation and localization agency.

Torjoman is a leading translation agency in the Middle East that provides top-notch translation and localization services that help you meet the expectations of your target customers. Get an instant quote now!