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SEO in Dubai and the rest of the UAE costs between $300 and $4,000 a month with me, the same range as in Egypt and Saudi Arabia. Where you land depends on the size of the site, how many languages it runs in and how crowded your category is. Gulf categories tend to be more competitive, so they more often fall in the higher tiers. A proposal can be in dirhams or US dollars.
The full price breakdown is in what SEO costs, with my actual prices, and I won’t repeat all of it here. This article covers what’s specific to the UAE: what a Dubai “SEO package” usually contains, what to ask about each item, and what a proper quote should list.
How much does SEO cost in Dubai and the UAE?
These are the tiers. They’re starting points, and I give a fixed quote once I’ve looked at the site.
| Type of site | Monthly fee (USD) |
|---|---|
| Simple site with a few pages, one service or one location | From $300 |
| Small business or local service site, one language, little competition | From $500 |
| Business site in Arabic and English, or a competitive local category | $800 to $1,500 |
| Online store with a small or medium catalogue | One language: $600 to $1,000 Arabic and English: $800 to $1,500 |
| Large store, or a category with strong, well-funded competitors | $2,000 to $3,000 |
| Big news magazine or huge editorial site with hundreds of thousands of pages | $3,000 to $4,000 |
One-off work such as an audit or a migration is quoted separately. The tiers are in US dollars. If you’d rather pay in dirhams, the proposal and the contract are written in dirhams.
What does an SEO package in Dubai usually include?
“SEO package” has no standard meaning. Two packages with the same name can be very different amounts of work. Whatever the name, the work comes down to some mix of these eight items, and each one has a question that tells you what you’re getting.
| Item | What to ask |
|---|---|
| Technical audit | Is it a one-off at the start or a check every month? Do I get the list of problems, and who fixes them? |
| Keyword research | Is it done for each language and each market, or once in English and reused? |
| On-page work | How many pages, which ones, and does the supplier make the changes or only recommend them? |
| Content | How many pieces a month, written by whom, and in which language? Or is content outside the package? |
| Links | Where do the links come from, and can you see them? Avoid anyone who can’t say. |
| Google Business Profile | Is it included, and does your business meet customers in person, which a profile requires? |
| Reporting | Which numbers, how often, and do you get access to the dashboard as well as a PDF? |
| Arabic version | Written in Arabic, or translated from English? Who checks it? |
In my experience, the two items most often left out without anyone saying so are content and the Arabic version. A package that lists “10 keywords, 5 pages optimised” and nothing else is a small piece of work with a larger name. The longer list of questions is in how to interview an SEO when you are not one.
Should my UAE site be in English, Arabic or both?
It depends on who searches for you, and you can check that instead of guessing. What I see in the UAE is a mixed audience: some people search in Arabic, others in English, and some switch depending on what they’re looking for. Which group your customers belong to differs from one business to the next.
Two places show you. The Search Console performance report filtered to the UAE lists the queries you already appear for, and you can see whether they’re Arabic or English. If you run ads, your Google Ads search terms report shows what people typed before they clicked.
- English only is reasonable when the product is aimed at an international or expat audience and nobody searches for it in Arabic.
- Arabic and English is the safer choice when your customers include Arabic speakers. It’s close to two projects, as I explain in the price article, so the quote should reflect that.
- Arabic only needs a look at the search data first, because you may be giving up English searches.
If you run both, the pages need to be linked to each other with hreflang that points both ways, and the Arabic should be written for Arabic readers, not translated from the English. That second point is covered in translation versus localisation.
What if my buyers search from outside the UAE?
This happens in some categories. Someone in Riyadh, Cairo or London searches for a Dubai provider, and Google may show them different results from what someone sitting in Dubai sees.
It changes the plan in two ways. First, your keyword research has to include the way those visitors phrase the search, which can differ from how residents phrase it. Second, the Search Console performance report can be filtered by country, so you can see how much of your traffic really comes from outside the UAE before you build pages for it. If the numbers are small, a separate page for each country isn’t worth it yet.
A Google Business Profile is for businesses that meet customers in person, at an address or at the customer’s location. It doesn’t help a buyer who is searching from another country, so ask the supplier what they would do for that audience.
What should a proper SEO quote for a UAE site list?
A good quote lets you compare it with another one without a call. It should contain:
- The scope, in numbers. How many pages, which languages, how many pieces of content a month, or a clear statement that content isn’t included.
- Who does the work. Whether changes are made on your site or only recommended to your developer.
- The currency, and whether any tax is included in the figure. Dirhams or US dollars both work, as long as it’s written down.
- The reporting. Which numbers, how often and who you can ask.
- Ownership. Your Analytics and Search Console accounts stay in your name.
- The term and the exit. A three-month first term and a clear notice period are reasonable. A twelve-month lock-in with no exit next to a promise of fast results is a warning sign.
How do you work with clients in the UAE?
All of it is online: calls, video meetings, shared documents and WhatsApp. I travel to a client only when a project really needs it. I’ve done SEO for a client site based in Dubai, and my pages on SEO in the UAE and SEO in Dubai describe how that works. If you’re comparing options, three ways to buy SEO covers an agency, a freelancer and an in-house hire.
Frequently asked
Is SEO more expensive in Dubai than in Egypt?
My range is the same in both. What differs is the category: a Dubai category with several funded competitors usually needs more work than an Egyptian one, so it more often lands in a higher tier.
Can I pay in dirhams?
Yes. A proposal can be in dirhams or US dollars. The currency is written into the contract so that neither side is surprised later.
Is a package cheaper than a monthly retainer?
Not by default. A package is usually a retainer with a name. Compare what’s inside it, using the table above, and not the label.
How long before an SEO plan shows results in Dubai?
Technical fixes can change what Google indexes within weeks. Content in a competitive category takes months to settle. Anyone promising page one in a few weeks is talking about a keyword nobody competes for, or about bought links.
Do I need an Arabic site if my business works in English?
Not always. Check the queries you already receive and the language your customers use when they contact you. If Arabic searches exist for what you sell, an Arabic version may be the missing piece.
If you’d like a quote for a site in the UAE, message me with the address and what you want from it. I’ll tell you where in the range it falls, or whether SEO is the right spend for you yet.
SEO and digital marketing consultant since 2015, working with businesses in Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
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