Multilingual Website Migration Cost in Dubai (2026)

The verdict in three sentences

A well-built trilingual EN/AR/FR site opens the Gulf and North Africa, but Arabic RTL requires an architecture designed from the start, not a mere translation plugin. In 2026, the migration runs between AED 35,000 and 95,000 over 8 to 12 weeks, including hreflang and a multilingual CMS. The expected return: +35% international traffic and stronger credibility with Arabic-speaking buyers.

RTL, hreflang, CMS: the three technical pillars

RTL support is not cosmetic: it flips layout, directional icons and Arabic typography. Hreflang prevents duplicate content across language versions, and a mature multilingual CMS (Sanity, Strapi or Drupal) structures translation without duplicating templates.

Budget and timeline by scope

Budget depends on page count, translation volume and RTL integration depth. Professional translation is a separate, often underestimated line.

Mini case study

Yasmine is marketing director of an industrial group in Dubai, targeting the UAE, Saudi Arabia and North Africa. Her current English-only site draws 18,000 visits/month, of which only 8% are cross-market. She migrates to a trilingual EN/AR/FR site for AED 65,000 over 10 weeks, with native RTL and regional hosting. Six months on: cross-market traffic climbs from 8% to 22% of total (+35% overall traffic), and quote requests from Saudi Arabia rise from 4 to 19 per month. At an average B2B deal of AED 17,000 and a 12% closing rate, those 15 extra leads represent roughly AED 30,000 in additional monthly revenue. The migration pays for itself in under three months.

FAQ

Is a simple translation plugin enough for Arabic? No. Arabic requires RTL (layout flipping) and adapted typography. A plugin translates words but breaks layout and experience; you need an i18n architecture designed from the start.

What is hreflang and why is it critical? It's the tag that tells Google which language version to serve by country and language. Without it, your EN/AR/FR versions cannibalise each other as duplicate content and lose rankings.

Do I need regional hosting for the Gulf? Strongly recommended: a CDN with a regional edge reduces latency for Saudi and Emirati visitors, improving performance and conversion. Budget AED 3,000 to 7,500 over 12 months.

Is translation included in the migration budget? It should be budgeted separately: AED 6,000 to 21,000 depending on volume. Professional EN/AR/FR translation is essential; machine translation undermines B2B credibility.

How long for a trilingual site? 8 to 12 weeks depending on page count and RTL complexity. Multilingual QA (checking each language and RTL) adds about 1 to 2 weeks not to overlook.

Let's scope your project. Tell us your target languages, page count and markets: we'll price the trilingual migration with RTL and hreflang. Detailed quote within 48 h. WhatsApp +221 77 596 93 33.