Recently, a company director expressed frustration that his social media marketing was burning through considerable sums of riyals with little results. After reviewing his strategy, I found multiple serious mistakes that are remarkably frequent among Saudi businesses.
For a high-end retailer, we developed a traditional classification methodology that uncovered five distinct traditional categories within their consumer base. This approach enhanced their promotion results by over one hundred seventy percent.
After extended periods of implementing generic population divisions, their new Saudi-specific division methodology generated a 241% growth in advertising performance and a one hundred sixty-three percent drop in customer acquisition costs.
The most profitable Saudi brands recognize that users don't think in terms of mediums. My investment client experienced a 76% increase in qualified leads after we unified their previously disconnected platforms.
During my recent project for a investment company in Riyadh, we found that users were repeatedly tapping the wrong navigation items. Our eye-tracking demonstrated that their attention naturally moved from right to left, but the main navigation elements were located with a left-to-right hierarchy.
- Designed a figure visualization approach that managed both Arabic and English numerals
- Restructured graphs to read from right to left
- Applied visual indicators that aligned with Saudi cultural connections
Essential classifications contained:
- Individual vs. collective selection methods
- Knowledge accumulation degrees
- Value consciousness distinctions
- Brand loyalty propensities
- New concept acceptance speeds
Valuable approaches featured:
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Metropolitan-centered classifications beyond standard zones
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District-based concentration
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Urban vs. rural variations
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International resident areas
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Tourist locations vs. local communities
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Moved product visuals to the left area, with product details and buy buttons on the right
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Changed the product gallery to move from right to left
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Incorporated a custom Arabic typeface that kept legibility at various dimensions
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Position the most critical content SEO companies Comparison in Riyadh the top-right section of the viewport
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Structure content blocks to flow from right to left and top to bottom
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Apply more prominent visual weight on the right side of balanced designs
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Ensure that directional icons (such as arrows) orient in the correct direction for RTL layouts
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Realigning action buttons to the right side of forms and interfaces
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Reconsidering content prioritization to move from right to left
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Redesigning user controls to align with the right-to-left reading pattern
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Explicitly specify which language should be used in each form element
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Automatically switch keyboard layout based on field expectations
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Locate form text to the right of their connected inputs
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Ensure that system feedback appear in the same language as the required input
As someone who has created over 30 Arabic websites in the recent years, I can tell you that applying Western UX standards to Arabic interfaces simply doesn't work. The special features of Arabic script and Saudi user behaviors require a completely different approach.
Last month, I was consulting with a prominent e-commerce platform that had poured over 200,000 SAR on a impressive website that was converting poorly. The issue? They had just converted their English site without addressing the basic experience variations needed for Arabic users.
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Choose fonts purposely developed for Arabic screen reading (like Dubai) rather than conventional print fonts
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Increase line leading by 150-175% for enhanced readability
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Implement right-aligned text (never middle-aligned for main content)
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Prevent narrow Arabic typefaces that compromise the unique letter shapes
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Redesigned the application process to follow right-to-left thinking processes
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Built a Arabic-English input mechanism with smart language switching
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Improved smartphone usability for thumb-based Arabic typing