Fundamentals
12 SEO mistakes I see on Gulf websites every week, with a fix for each
Ilyes Massoudi8 min readThe short answer
The SEO mistakes that repeat on Gulf websites are mostly not technically complex: an Arabic version translated rather than written, text drawn by JavaScript the engine cannot read, incomplete hreflang, one page for the whole Gulf with no city, a neglected Business Profile, links bought in bulk, identical titles, a heavy Arabic font slowing mobile, articles with no target query, cloned city pages, reports that count tasks rather than enquiries, and execution that starts before diagnosis. Most are found with free tools and fixed with hours of work rather than budget.
Where this list comes from
This is not a generic tips list lifted from a foreign blog. It is the set of mistakes I actually find when auditing sites in Riyadh, Dubai and Doha, in roughly the order of how often they appear. Most are shared by small and institutional sites alike, and most need attention rather than budget to fix.
Each mistake comes with a simple check you can run today, and one actionable tip.
1. The Arabic version is translated, not written
The most frequent and the most expensive. The site was built in English and translated, so it carries words the Arabic searcher never types.
Check: read the title of your Arabic service page. Does your customer type those words into Google? Tip: start from the real Arabic keywords, then rewrite your five most important pages around them.
2. The text is drawn by JavaScript
The site looks excellent, and the page source is empty. The engine and AI crawlers see a page with no text.
Check: view the page source and search for a sentence of your copy. Tip: ask the developer for server rendering or pre-generation of the marketing pages.
3. Hreflang is missing or one-way
So Google picks English and hides Arabic.
Check: URL Inspection in Search Console for the Arabic page: is the “Google-selected canonical” the page itself? Tip: the hreflang guide; it is a one-hour fix.
4. One page for the whole Gulf
“We serve clients across the Gulf and the Middle East.” The searcher types “in Riyadh” and “in Dubai”, and no page says that.
Check: search your site for the name of the city you sell in most. Tip: one page per market you genuinely serve, with real content about it.
5. A neglected Business Profile, or the wrong category
In a market that searches “near me”, this removes you from the map box.
Check: search your business name on Google Maps and look at the category, verification and the date of the last photo. Tip: the Business Profile guide.
6. Links bought in bulk
A “50-link package” from a network of sites. The most common way an owner damages their own domain while paying for it.
Check: the Links report in Search Console: many odd sites with identical anchor text? Tip: stop buying immediately; details in the backlinks article.
7. Identical titles and descriptions
Twenty pages titled “Home | Company Name”. Google cannot tell what each page sells.
Check: the Pages report in Search Console, or any free crawler, lists duplicate titles. Tip: one title per page carrying its target query, from the on-page checklist.
8. A heavy Arabic font slowing mobile
Four weights of a large Arabic font before any text appears.
Check: PageSpeed Insights on mobile, and look at LCP. Tip: two weights, WOFF2, and a preload for the heading. Details in the speed article.
9. Articles with no target query
“Four articles a month” about the importance of digital marketing. Activity counted in a report that brings nobody.
Check: for each article, can you name the query it targets and its volume in your country? Tip: never write a page before writing its query in one line.
10. Cloned city pages
“Cleaning company in Riyadh”, “cleaning company in Jeddah”, same text, different name. Treated as duplication at scale, and the whole site is demoted.
Check: open two city pages side by side. Tip: one page per city you have something real to say about, and merge the rest.
11. Reports that count tasks, not enquiries
“We published 12 articles and built 30 links.” No mention of enquiries.
Check: search your last report for the word “enquiries” or “leads”. Tip: how to read an SEO report, and ask for every task to be tied to a result.
12. Execution before diagnosis
A monthly contract that started on day one with nobody looking at the site. Months of paying for the wrong problem.
Check: do you have one document that says what is wrong with your site, in order? Tip: a fixed-price diagnosis first, then execution.
The table: what you can check in an hour
| Mistake | Tool | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 1, 9 | Reading your page titles as a customer | 15 minutes |
| 2 | View page source | 2 minutes |
| 3, 7 | Search Console | 10 minutes |
| 5 | Google Maps | 5 minutes |
| 6 | Links report | 5 minutes |
| 8 | PageSpeed Insights | 5 minutes |
| 10 | Opening two city pages | 3 minutes |
| 11, 12 | Your last report and last contract | 15 minutes |
After the hour
What remains after this list is what tools do not show: which of these mistakes costs you most, in what order to fix them, and who executes each item. That is what the Digital Presence Audit delivers: all of the above and more, measured on your own site, and ranked by impact against effort.