The verdict in three sentences
For a Dubai industrial group with 3 subsidiaries selling across the GCC and Africa, a trilingual English, Arabic and French website costs between 40,000 and 75,000 USD and ships in 10 to 14 weeks. Arabic is not just a translation: handling the right-to-left (RTL) reading direction adds roughly 25% to design and front-end work. Native Arabic copywriting, rather than translated text, and a clean hreflang setup are what turn the site into an export tool.
What each language costs
An industrial group website usually has 40 to 70 pages per language: group profile, subsidiaries, product lines, certifications, ESG, careers and export contact. The budget splits as follows.
| Item | 2026 range (USD) | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Concept, UX and design of the English master version | 10,000 to 17,000 | Reference version |
| RTL design adaptation for Arabic | 2,500 to 4,500 | Mirrored grids, icons, Arabic typography |
| Multilingual Next.js development and CMS | 16,000 to 28,000 | 3 locales, routing and hreflang |
| RTL front-end integration (logical CSS, components) | 4,000 to 7,000 | About 25% of integration |
| Native Arabic copy and French translation (60,000 words) | 9,000 to 15,000 in total | 0.07 to 0.12 USD per word, Arabic written natively |
| Product sheets and PDF catalogue | 2,500 to 6,000 | Depending on SKU count |
| Multilingual QA and go-live | 2,000 to 3,500 | Tests on mobile and Arabic-language browsers |
Excluding copy, the site sits between 40,000 and 75,000 USD. A group with in-house translated content cuts the bill sharply, provided a native reviewer signs off the Arabic.
RTL: where the 25% premium goes
Switching to Arabic flips the visual logic. Menus align right, navigation arrows reverse, technical spec tables read right to left, yet product codes and figures stay in Latin order. Arabic typography needs dedicated, taller fonts that change line heights.
| Element | Bilingual EN/FR site | Trilingual site with Arabic RTL |
|---|---|---|
| Total timeline | 8 to 10 weeks | 10 to 14 weeks |
| Budget excluding copy | 32,000 to 60,000 USD | 40,000 to 75,000 USD |
| Web fonts | 1 Latin family | Latin and Arabic, about twice the weight |
| Components to test | About 60 | About 120 (in LTR and RTL) |
| Monthly maintenance | 600 to 950 USD | 700 to 1,200 USD |
| Hosting | UAE or EU | UAE region or EU, CDN recommended for export |
Hosting depends on the UAE Personal Data Protection Law (Federal Decree-Law 45 of 2021) and your target markets. UAE-region hosting reassures government-linked buyers, while EU hosting with a CDN speeds access from Europe and West Africa.
Multilingual SEO: the condition for exporting
Each language needs its own URLs, reciprocal hreflang tags and content written for its market, not a literal translation. GCC buyers search in Arabic and English, West African buyers in French. Plan keyword research per language, around 1,500 to 3,000 USD, before writing.
Mini case study
Need a professional website?
Kolonell builds websites that attract clients, optimized for the Sénégalese market. Free quote in 2 minutes.
Omar, CEO of an aluminium profiles group in Dubai, gets 15 export enquiries a month through an English-only site. He invests 60,000 USD in a trilingual site plus 12,000 USD of Arabic and French copy. Six months later, enquiries reach 27 a month, including 8 in Arabic from Saudi Arabia and Oman. If 2 extra enquiries a month convert into an average order of 50,000 USD at 15% margin, the monthly gain is 15,000 USD. The 72,000 USD investment is recovered in about five months.
FAQ
How much does a trilingual industrial group website cost in Dubai?
Expect 40,000 to 75,000 USD excluding copy, over 10 to 14 weeks. Native Arabic copy and French translation add 9,000 to 15,000 USD for about 60,000 words.
Why does Arabic cost more than French?
Right-to-left reading requires rebuilding grids and icons and testing every component twice. That accounts for roughly 25% extra on design and integration.
Do we need to host the site in the UAE?
The UAE PDPL governs personal data from forms. UAE or EU hosting both work, with a CDN if 30% or more of visitors come from abroad.
Is machine translation enough for Arabic?
Not for an industrial site: technical terms and certifications require native writers. A native review costs about 0.03 USD per word and avoids costly errors.
What is the maintenance budget?
Between 700 and 1,200 USD a month for a trilingual site. It covers updates, security and content publishing in all three languages.
Let's scope your project. Tell us your scope, current tools and timeline: we scope the project lot by lot and agree the schedule with you. Detailed quote within 48 h. WhatsApp +221 77 596 93 33.
Mohamed Bah
Fondateur, Kolonell
Passionate about digital and entrepreneurship in Africa, Mohamed has been helping Sénégalese businesses with their digital transformation since 2020. Founder of Kolonell, he believes every SME deserves a professional and accessible online présence.
