by SEOHow to Rank Your Website in UAE: The Ultimate 2023 SEO Strategy
Upholding a solid online presence is a necessity in the digital age today. It is crucial to have a strong website for various digital requirements. However, having a website alone is inadequate, if it fails to feature on the first page of search results, you may lose out on a lot of potential business opportunities.
To boost your digital impact, your website must rank at the top of the search engine results pages, SERPs for relevant keywords. Search Engine Optimization, SEO aids in achieving this, which is the first step in increasing your website’s visibility.
SEO can be a daunting task, and it can be difficult to determine where to begin. In this blog post, we will cover some useful tactics for ranking your website with SEO in UAE, allowing you to draw more traffic, generate more leads, and ultimately grow your business.
Why Should Your Website Be Found on Google in UAE?
The UAE possesses a large digital engagement and one of the region’s most rapidly expanding internet user bases, which is predicted to reach 9.9 million people (US Census Bureau).
Digital commerce has expanded in the UAE on a global scale, with numerous organizations offering versatile online servicing. Large population of expatriates with ecommerce familiarity also contributes to the endorsement of web business platforms.
So your business in the UAE should be indexed by Google. When your website appears in Google’s search results, it boosts your exposure to prospective customers in the UAE. As a result, you can expect increased traffic to your website and, ultimately, more turnover for your business.
Best Practical Tips on How to Rank in United Arab Emirates
These are some of the best practical tips you can utilize to rank website in the UAE.
#1 Add the Location “UAE” in Your URL
Adding the UAE to your website’s URL can benefit your local SEO making it more relevant to users searching for products or services in the UAE. It signals to Google that you want to be visible in this particular location, which can increase your website’s visibility. Also, including the location in your URL can aid with branding and memorability by associating your website with the location where your business operates.
Setup UAE Slug on Your URL
Slugs are short and descriptive words that follow the backward slash in a URL. It can be a simple and effective way to boost the SEO ranking of your website. They help visitors understand your page’s base of content. You can set up the location slug by adding – /UAE/ on the URL of your webpage and even of blog categories or blog posts.
#2 Earn Backlinks From Authoritative UAE Websites
Link building remains an essential aspect of SEO, despite its time and difficulty. It is important to acquire relevant backlinks from trustworthy regional websites. Having links from other UAE-based local websites can help Google determine that you should rank in the Emirates
Obtaining backlinks from authoritative UAE websites can expedite the establishment of your website as a valuable asset to Google’s ranking algorithm. This can retain your website’s credibility and position in search results for years to come.
#3 Collaborate with UAE – based Influencers
90 percent of marketers use influencer marketing and consider it effective as it influences both on-site and off-site SEO. Collaborating with influencers with an audience that aligns with your target market can facilitate a natural off-site strategy.
When an UAE based influencer features your brand, product or service as a part of video marketing, brand promotion, or product review on their social media platforms, it can increase social signals which leads to a higher position in search results. Social signals are reflected in a webpage’s cumulative shares, likes, and overall social media visibility, which are considered by search engines as another form of citation, akin to backlinks.
#4 Claim Your UAE listing
For customers to locate and reach your business in the UAE, claim your Google Business listing and ensure that your contact information and hours of operation are consistent across all online platforms. Listing your business in the Google Business profile will increase the likelihood of appearing in local search results. Additionally, you can update with offers, emphasize your unique selling points and message them directly.
#5 Invest in Content Marketing
The foremost factor for an optimal search experience for a web user is to find the desired content. Content marketing costs about 60% less than traditional marketing and delivers higher-quality leads. Search engines prefer websites that consistently produce compelling and valuable content.
With content that targets relevant keywords, you can generate more organic traffic to your website, which can help your website rank for your primary target keywords and reach the right audience. Publishing content can expand your website’s search visibility to relevant keywords beyond your primary ones.
Read related blog: 7 Authentic Content Marketing Strategy Principles to Follow in 2022
Other Keys to Ranking in the United Arab Emirates
Some other key tactics to turn to for ranking your website with SEO in UAE are:
Hosting in the UAE
The GCC region now offers a variety of local server options. Hosting with Amazon AWS with Alibaba Cloud for loading your sites fast and improving your UAE SEO even more. Hosting your website in Europe and then opting a CDN like Cloudflare will be sufficient to provide you with quick page loads in the UAE.
Focus on .ae TLD
A ccTLD is a domain name that specifies the association of a website with a particular country with a two-letter code. For companies operating in the United Arab Emirates, their ccTLD is “.ae”. Using the “.ae” domain for businesses based in the UAE, can enhance their visibility, improve security and make it easier for customers to find them. Therefore, if a business is targeting customers in the UAE, it would be a more advantageous choice.
Focus UAE in On page Elements
Keyword research is an initial phase in SEO that involves choosing the fitting keywords based on the purpose of your website. Once you have identified the relevant keywords, you should allocate 3-4 of them to specific pages on your site that line up with the search intent of the keywords.
By optimizing your website’s on-page elements, such as title tags, meta descriptions, and headers with the selected keywords, you can facilitate search engines’ comprehension of your website’s content and work on its ranking.
To enhance your website’s SEO, it’s recommended to incorporate the name of the country in your on-page elements. Using the shorter keyword “UAE” is more advantageous than using “United Arab Emirates” since it produces more search traffic..
Moreover, the content of your on-page components should include both the target keywords and their long-tail variations. At the same time, you should strive to make the content useful and interesting for website visitors.
Focus Website UX(User Experience) for UAE Visitors
It’s important to ensure a positive user experience for visitors when they land on your website. To achieve this, certain factors need to be considered. The website making and navigation of your website should be suitable for the device being used, and it should be optimized properly for mobile devices, since it is the source of 90% of UAE traffic.
The loading speed of your website should be fast to increase conversions and page views. The content on your website should encourage high user dwell time. The Arabic version of your website should function as effectively as the English version to ensure maximum user
Major Cities in the UAE for Targeting
Improving the visibility of your website can be achieved through geo targeting specific cities. Creating individualized title pages and content for each location highlighting the better aspects of your service can help in the long run. Hosting your website in the other major Gulf locations can facilitate this process. Some countries to focus are:
Dubai
Dubai is a flourishing commercial and trading hub, with world-class ports and free trade zones that attract talented individuals from diverse backgrounds. It has a thriving tourism industry and offers state-of-the-art infrastructure, transportation, and communication systems. The city’s urban lifestyle makes it a highly desirable destination for people from all walks of life.
Abu dhabi
Abu Dhabi, the capital of the UAE, is not only the largest emirate in terms of size but also has the highest contribution to the GDP. The city has been making great breakthroughs with development and is continuously expanding the envelope of innovation to cement its position as the smartest city in the Middle East. In addition to its cultural diversity, Abu dhabi provides competitive connectivity options for businesses and individuals, enabling them to stay connected globally.
Sharjah
Sharjah is known as the cultural capital of the UAE and shares a border with all other six emirates, making it an important center for trade and cultural exchange. It is the third most populous emirate in the UAE and attracts a large number of tourists every year. Sharjah has a thriving economy, combined with its strategic location embracing modern development makes it attractive to businesses from around the globe.
In conclusion, The UAE beholds a flourishing market for search engine marketing, but it’s necessary to concentrate on various SEO factors like on-page optimization, link building, and content creation, along with keywords. Prioritizing these factors can enhance your website SEO in UAE and you can create a comprehensive digital marketing strategy aligning with your business agenda. Hiring a digital marketing agency can accelerate SEO efforts and deliver better results.