Most problems on bilingual websites are not translation problems. They are development decisions made early, often for speed, that become expensive once content, traffic and integrations pile on top of them. Knowing the common multilingual website mistakes before a build starts saves rework, protects search visibility and keeps Arabic and English visitors equally confident in your business.
The list below comes from the issues we most often find when reviewing and rebuilding bilingual sites as part of our web design work. It is organized by project phase, from planning through to life after launch, with a practical alternative for each. Many of these points connect to the wider discipline of multilingual UX design, but the focus here is on the build itself.
Planning mistakes that shape everything after
Treating Arabic as phase two
Launching in English with Arabic “to follow” is the most common and most costly decision. The theme, components and content structure get built around one language, and adding the second later exposes layout breaks, missing strings and plugin conflicts. Plan both languages from the start, even if Arabic content is published a few weeks after English.
Designing only in English
Approving English mockups and assuming Arabic will mirror neatly leaves developers to improvise. Ask for Arabic versions of the key templates, with real Arabic copy, before development begins. Headline lengths, menu widths and image crops all behave differently.
Choosing a theme and plugins without checking both languages
A theme that looks polished in its demo may have weak RTL support, and plugins for bookings, forms or filters may not be translation-ready. Test candidate themes and plugins in Arabic on a staging site before committing to them.
Architecture mistakes that hurt search and sharing
- Switching language without changing the URL. Sites that change language through a cookie or script on the same address struggle to get Arabic pages indexed, and shared links open in the wrong language. Give every language version its own URL, usually a subdirectory such as /ar/.
- Wrong canonicals and missing hreflang. Arabic pages that canonicalize to English pages effectively ask search engines to ignore them. Each language version should canonicalize to itself and link to its equivalents with hreflang.
- Separate installations without a reason. Running two WordPress sites for two languages doubles updates, security work and hosting, and the versions drift apart. A single installation with a translation plugin suits most businesses.
- Combining country and language. Treating “Arabic” as “UAE” and “English” as “international” forces UAE residents who prefer English into the wrong pricing or content. Keep language and market as separate decisions where you serve more than one country.
Build mistakes that create hidden English
These are the multilingual website mistakes visitors notice first, because they leave fragments of English on Arabic pages.
- Hard-coded text in templates. Button labels, headings and messages written directly into theme files cannot be translated through the CMS. Developers should wrap every string in WordPress translation functions so it appears in the translation tools.
- Text inside images. Banners and infographics with baked-in English need separate designed versions for Arabic, which are often never made. Use live text layered over images.
- Untranslated system messages. Form errors, cart notices, cookie banners, search results messages and 404 pages are easy to miss during content translation.
- Emails and notifications. Order confirmations, booking reminders and form auto-replies often go out in English regardless of the visitor’s language. Configure them to follow the language of the session or order.
- Forms that reject Arabic. Validation that only accepts Latin characters or Western digits blocks Arabic speaking visitors at the most important moment. Accept Arabic names and normalize Eastern Arabic digits.
Layout and component shortcuts
- Fixed widths. Buttons, tabs and menus sized for English words clip or wrap in Arabic. Build components that adapt to text length.
- Partial mirroring. Arabic text placed inside a left-to-right layout, or icons and sliders that do not flip, feel unfinished. Use CSS logical properties so direction changes apply consistently.
- Per-language page builder layouts. When editors can redesign each translation separately, the two versions gradually become different pages. Lock shared templates and translate content, not layouts.
- Numbers and mixed text. Prices, phone numbers and English brand names inside Arabic sentences can display out of order without correct bidirectional handling. Test with real content that mixes both scripts.
Launch mistakes that slip past testing
- Testing only in English. Quality assurance often runs through the English site thoroughly and spot checks Arabic. Every test script should run in both languages, on mobile and desktop.
- No native review. A developer who does not read Arabic cannot spot a verb translated as a noun or a sentence in the wrong order. Include a native Arabic reviewer who uses the site as a customer would.
- Automatic redirects. Redirecting visitors by IP location or browser language frustrates people who chose a language deliberately and can interfere with crawling. Suggest a language instead, and remember the visitor’s choice.
- Heavy Arabic fonts. Loading several weights of a large Arabic font can make Arabic pages noticeably slower than English ones. Limit weights, subset files and measure both versions before launch.
Avoiding multilingual website mistakes after launch
A site that launches well can still drift. The post-launch mistakes are organizational rather than technical.
| Mistake | What to do instead |
|---|---|
| No owner for the second language | Name a person responsible for keeping both versions aligned |
| Prices and offers updated in one language | Synchronize fixed data and publish time-sensitive updates in both languages together |
| Blended analytics | Report inquiries and conversions for each language version separately |
| Plugin updates tested in one language | Test both versions on staging after every significant update |
| New content published in English only | Schedule the Arabic version in the same editorial calendar entry |
Frequently asked questions
Can these mistakes be fixed without rebuilding the site?
Many can. Untranslated strings, email templates, form validation, canonical tags, hreflang and font loading are usually fixable within the existing site. Deeper issues, such as a theme with poor RTL support, hard-coded templates throughout or two separate installations, may cost more to patch than to rebuild properly. A structured audit of both language versions shows which path makes sense.
What is the single most important decision for a bilingual build?
Planning both languages from the start. When the design, theme, plugins and content structure are chosen with Arabic and English in mind, most of the other problems on this list never appear. Adding a language later is possible, but it almost always costs more time and produces a less consistent result.
How do we check our current site for these issues?
Start by using the Arabic version as a customer would: browse on a phone, submit a form with an Arabic name, place a test order or booking, and read every email you receive. Then check canonical tags, hreflang and indexing in Search Console, and compare page speed for both versions. Any English appearing in the Arabic journey marks a place to fix.
Building it right the first time
Most multilingual website mistakes come from treating the second language as an add-on. Planning both versions together, giving each its own URL, building translation-ready templates and testing every journey in Arabic and English produces a site that works for both audiences and stays manageable as it grows.
If you are planning a bilingual build or suspect your current site has some of these issues, we would be glad to review it with you and set out a clear plan.
