Arabic BigCommerce SEO

 

 

This detailed guide explains the most important things you need to know for Arabic BigCommerce SEO. If you are considering starting or expanding a store to target an Arab market, these steps are non-negotiable if you want to achieve success.

 

The Most Important Part of Setup for an Arabic BigCommerce Store

BigCommerce is a unique platform as it covers nearly all your shop setup for you. However, most of the stores on the platform cater to Western customers. There are specific things you must do if you want to ensure success with the Arab market. As a result, you want to make sure you are up to speed with Arabic SEO trends so you can clearly communicate your specific needs with your BigCommerce contact and support team.

 

Who is BigCommerce for?

Unlike many popular ecommerce websites, BigCommerce is not open source, but “out of the box” instead. This means that instead of relying upon an in-house designer or programmer, the site will handle these details for you. Helpful additions to the ecommerce platform like product reviews, digital marketing, and loyalty programs are already integrated into the product, which means you do not have to waste time trying out which plug-ins and extensions work for your store to be successful. However, there are still many ways to customize to what you want, though the add-on store is smaller. Generally, for those uncomfortable with web design or who do not wish to hire a developer, BigCommerce is an excellent option. Monthly subscription fees start at $29.95 per month. The Plus and Pro plans are $79.95 and $249.95 respectively per month.

 

Other Benefits to using BigCommerce

There are substantial perks with the “out of the box” functionality you get with this e-commerce platform. Since BigCommerce manages all hosting directly, you can rely on higher rates of load speeds, stability, and security. They also manage all infrastructure updates directly. As a result, there is also a very quick go-live time which means you can be up and selling your inventory almost immediately. Additionally, one of the things that people love the most about BigCommerce is the platform’s freedom to allow you to sell your inventory outside of the store, such as more typical platforms like eBay, Amazon, and Google Shopping. However, if you are based in the Middle East, BigCommerce also allows for social media sales through Instagram, Facebook, and in-person transactions through Square software.

 

Arabic Themes For BigCommerce

Although BigCommerce handles a lot of the heavy lifting to get your product off the ground, there are still some important considerations. Less than ten of the themes they offer are free. Even if you might like the look of these themes, you have to ensure that they are compatible both with the Arabic script and a right to left (RTL) format. It is unlikely that any of these themes will work with your Arabic needs. Therefore, you will probably have to purchase a paid theme ranging from $150 to $250. However, BigCommerce is known for its excellent internationalization and localization tools that will help translate some themes into different languages. Always ensure you have asked about compatibility before making any purchases.

 

BigCommerce RTL CSS

 

 

 

previous step, you will have to ensure that your site content is set up with right to left (RTL) styling since Arabic right to left language. This is the only way to ensure that the user experience of customers in the Middle East goes without a hitch. In some cases, this might mean going into the code of your site and manually editing it to specify the RTL direction. You may have to get help from an BigCommerce web developer if your theme wasn’t set up to do this initially.

 

Arabic URLs

Right now, we aren’t aware of any BigCommerce websites with Arabic URLs. However, it may be possible depending on your paid monthly plan and the size of your business. That said, after analyzing the top ecommerce sites so far in the region, we can tell you it is only marginally helpful to own and operate a site with Arabic in the URL. If this is an important topic for you, remember to ask the BigCommerce experts if it is for your theme and BigCommerce implementation.

 

Manual Translation vs Machine Translation

Arabic is a complicated language with many variations and dialects depending on the country as shown in the following map. The Arabic spoken in Morocco is distinct from the Arabic spoken in Saudi Arabia. As a result, a significant problem people face is trying to figure out exactly which dialect to use for their brand. A machine translation simply uses monolithic “Arabic” without specification as to which kind. Therefore, you must use an Arabic expert’s manual translation to convey your full intended meaning. Using local words will appropriately resonate with your target audience and be more likely to show up in their searches.

 

 

Translated Content vs SEO Optimized Arabic Content

Just because someone is a native English speaker does not mean they are trained in search engine optimization, and the same goes for Arabic speakers! Hence, we recommend you find a translator with in-depth knowledge into the market trends and industry habits, so they are able to write Arabic content that exactly conveys your wanted meaning while hitting on keywords that will ensure your business ranks higher. If you are looking for a quality translation, get in touch with us today, and we can connect you with our in-house Arabic SEO experts.

 

Optimized Arabic Titles, Meta Descriptions, and Images

Ecommerce SEO is a little different from normal SEO because you have less material and content to go off of. As a result, you have to do an excellent job with what little unique content you have. You have to ensure that the most prominent parts of your page are all in sync with each other to tell the story of your product to web browsers. This heavily relates to the importance of doing Arabic keyword research to determine what will make people click on your link and buy your goods. The best places to put these top keywords are your site titles, meta descriptions, and images. You want to ensure that every individual page on your site does this, a tactic proven to drastically improve your ranking. An effective sprinkling of these keywords and phrases will catch the customer’s attention and ensure your site performs well.

 

Other Issues to Optimize For

After you have perfected the above steps, you are now ready to move into the more intricate factors of setting up the perfect Arabic store. There are many issues you can properly optimize, such as ensuring your page will be compatible with mobile, thinking through issues of currency and exchange rates, and managing your shipping pages. Although it is easy to forget details not on the main store pages, it is crucial you have these in Arabic and right to left format as well.

 

If you need help getting your Arabic BigCommerce website ranking in the Arab world, contact us to find out more about how we can help you increase your BigCommerce store sales.