Arabic keyword research is not English keyword research translated. The same intent can be written a dozen ways, the words change from country to country, and many Gulf customers switch between Arabic and English in the same day. Most keyword tools also have thin data for Arabic, so the numbers they give you are a starting point at best.
Here is how to do it properly for Gulf markets.
Formal Arabic vs how people actually search
Websites are usually written in Modern Standard Arabic. People often search in their own dialect. In the Gulf, a customer may type the formal word or the everyday one, and the two can bring up different results.
Vocabulary also changes between countries. Saudis commonly say جوال for a mobile phone, while other markets may use موبايل or هاتف. Before choosing a keyword, ask how your customers in that specific country would say it, not how a dictionary would.
Spelling variants
Arabic has several spellings that people use interchangeably when typing quickly:
- ة or ه at the end of a word, like شقة and شقه.
- ي or ى at the end of a word.
- أ, إ, آ or plain ا at the start of a word.
- With or without ال, like شقق مفروشة and الشقق المفروشة.
- Spaces and joins, especially in compound phrases and brand names.
Google treats many of these as the same, but not always. Sometimes two spellings show nearly identical results; sometimes they don’t. The only way to know is to check the live results for each one.
English and mixed searches
In the UAE especially, a large share of searches are in English, including by Arabic speakers. Some customers mix languages, like an English brand name with Arabic words, and some write Arabic in Latin letters (often called Arabizi or Franco). Brand and product names are also often searched in English even when everything else is in Arabic.
So for most Gulf businesses, keyword research means three lists: Arabic, English and mixed, each checked per country.
Don’t trust volumes alone
Keyword tools estimate search volume from samples, and Arabic samples are small. Volumes for Arabic keywords are often missing, rounded or spread unevenly across spelling variants. Use them to compare, not as exact numbers, and cross-check with:
- Google Search Console, which shows the real queries that already bring impressions to your site, including spellings you didn’t think of.
- Google’s autocomplete and related searches, in the right country and language.
- Live results pages. If two variants show the same top 10, treat them as one keyword. If they differ, they need separate tracking.
A practical process
- Start with the intent. Write down what the customer wants, in plain words.
- List the variants: formal and dialect words, spelling variants, English and mixed versions.
- Check each variant live in the target country and city, logged out, and compare the top results.
- Group variants that share results and pick one main keyword per group.
- Assign a target page, making sure Arabic keywords point to Arabic pages and English to English.
- Track by country and city, because Saudi, Emirati and Egyptian results differ even for the same word.
How SERP Tracker does it
SERP Tracker tracks Arabic and English keywords side by side, from any Google country, language and city. Arabic keywords and Arabic URLs work throughout, and keyword groups such as English, Arabic, branded and non-branded are built in, so you can compare how each language performs. Every check is a live search with a screenshot, so you can see exactly how Google handled each spelling.
See all features, or read about tracking rankings city by city.
