Keyword Research for Saudi & Arabic Markets
Keyword research is where SEO starts: finding the words and questions your customers type into Google, understanding what they want, and deciding which pages should answer them. In Saudi Arabia it has an extra layer: Arabic, dialect, transliteration and bilingual search behaviour. This guide explains how to do it properly.
What keyword research is
The process of discovering search queries relevant to your business, estimating their demand and competition, grouping them by intent, and mapping them to pages. The output is a keyword map: every important page with its primary keyword and the secondary terms it should cover.
Arabic keyword research: what is different
- Multiple spellings. Hamza variants (أ/ا/إ), taa marbuta vs haa (ة/ه), and alif maqsura (ى/ي) create variants Google partly normalises and partly does not.
- Dialect vs formal. Saudis search in a mix: “وش معنى سيو” (dialect) and “ما هو السيو” (formal). Cover both in content.
- Transliteration. English terms written in Arabic letters: سيو, باك لينك, جست بوست, ماركتنج. These often outrank the formal Arabic terms.
- Mixed queries. “شركة SEO في الرياض” mixes scripts; your content should too where natural.
- Prefixes. “ال”, “و”, “ب”, “ل” attach to words, so tools miss variants; think in roots.
Search intent
| Intent | Example (EN) | Example (AR) | Page type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Informational | what is guest posting | ما هو الجست بوست | Guide / article |
| Commercial | best SEO company in Riyadh | أفضل شركة سيو في الرياض | Comparison / service page |
| Transactional | buy backlinks | شراء باك لينك | Service / product page |
| Local | dentist near me | طبيب أسنان قريب مني | Location page + Google profile |
Tools for keyword research
- Google Search Console: the queries you already appear for (free, essential)
- Google autocomplete and People Also Ask, in Arabic and English
- Google Keyword Planner (free with an Ads account)
- Ahrefs, Semrush, Ubersuggest, Keywords Everywhere: volumes, difficulty and competitor keywords, with Saudi Arabia as the database
- AnswerThePublic and AlsoAsked: question mining
- Your own data: site search, sales calls, WhatsApp enquiries
Step by step
- List your services, products and the problems they solve.
- Expand each into Arabic and English seed terms, including dialect and transliterations.
- Pull suggestions, volumes and difficulty from tools with the Saudi database selected.
- Check competitors: which keywords do the top Saudi sites in your niche rank for?
- Group keywords into clusters by intent and topic.
- Assign each cluster to one page (existing or new).
- Prioritise by business value, demand and achievability.
- Document primary and secondary keywords per page.
Long-tail keywords
Specific, multi-word queries (“cost of dental implants in Riyadh”) have lower volume but higher intent and lower competition. In Arabic, long-tail queries are where most of the uncontested demand sits. A page that ranks for dozens of long-tail variants often earns more than one that targets a single head term.
Keyword difficulty and realistic targets
Tools estimate difficulty from competitors’ backlinks. Use it as a guide: a new site should target low-difficulty, high-intent terms first and build toward competitive terms as authority grows. In Saudi Arabic search, difficulty scores are often lower than in English for the same topic.
Keyword mapping and cannibalisation
One keyword cluster per page. If two pages target the same intent, Google splits the signals and both rank worse. Merge or differentiate them.
Frequently asked questions
How many keywords should a page target?
One primary keyword or intent, plus the related secondary terms that belong on the same page.
What is the best free keyword tool?
Google Search Console for existing data, plus Google autocomplete and Keyword Planner.
Do Arabic keyword tools exist?
Major tools support Arabic with Saudi databases; data is thinner than English, so combine tools with Search Console and manual research.
What is search volume?
An estimate of monthly searches for a term in a country. Treat it as relative, not exact.
Related services and guides
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