If you run a hotel, a serviced-apartment building, a transfer company or a restaurant in Makkah, your customers rarely share one language, and they reach you at very different moments: weeks before they fly, minutes after they arrive, or the evening before they leave. A good website plans for all three. This web design Makkah guide is for owners, managers and bilingual teams who work in English: what each type of visitor business needs on its site, how to choose languages beyond Arabic and English, how licensing shapes online booking, and how to prepare the site for each Hijri season.
In short:
- A Makkah business site is read before travel (to compare and build trust) and on arrival (for directions, opening hours and WhatsApp). Design for both moments.
- Build complete English and Arabic versions first. Add Urdu, Indonesian, Malay, Turkish or French only when your own enquiries show the need, and only if someone can answer in that language.
- Your licence decides what your site may do. Privately owned tourist accommodation units, for example, are marketed, booked and paid for through licensed travel and tourism service providers.
- State distance as a walking time you measured, put the map pin on the real entrance, and show real photos.
- Seasons follow the Hijri calendar and move earlier each Gregorian year. Update pages, prices and hours weeks before each one.
In this guide
What web design in Makkah has to handle
The technology is the same as anywhere else. The audience is not. In most cities a business website talks to people who live nearby and read the local language. In Makkah, many of the businesses that need a website exist to serve pilgrims and visitors, and those visitors meet your site at three distinct points.
Before they travel
A family in another country is comparing places to stay and ways to get from the airport. They read in their own language or in English, often on a phone, and they will not send money to a business they cannot verify. What persuades them: real photos, a clear list of what the price includes, licence details, and a way to ask a question in a language they are comfortable with.
When they arrive
Now they are in the city, tired, on a roaming plan or a busy network. They need your address, the entrance, check-in time and a WhatsApp number that answers. A heavy homepage with a video header is the last thing they want.
During the stay
They look for a restaurant that is open now, gifts and dates to take home, or transport to Madinah or the airport. These decisions are quick and usually start on a map.
Makkah also has businesses that mainly serve residents, such as clinics, schools, contractors and service companies. Their needs look like those of any large Saudi city, and our website design guide for Riyadh covers them well. Many visitors also pass through Jeddah first; if you operate in both cities, read the Jeddah web design guide too. This article stays with what is specific to Makkah: visitors from far away, many languages and sharp seasonal peaks.
What each visitor business needs on its website
Every visitor business has one question that decides the sale. Answer it on the first screen and the rest of the site becomes supporting detail.
Hotels and serviced apartments
The question: how far is it really, and what does the room look like? Give each unit type its own section with real photos, capacity and inclusions, plus a measured walking time and clear check-in rules. See our page on websites for hotels and furnished apartments.
Transfers and transport
The question: will someone be there when my flight lands? List your usual routes, vehicle types with seats and luggage space, the meeting point, and what happens if a flight is delayed.
Restaurants and cafés
The question: are you open, and what do you serve? A text menu that reads well on a phone, seasonal opening hours and delivery to hotels if you offer it. Our restaurant website guide goes deeper.
Gift and dates shops
The question: what can I take home, and how will it travel? Sizes, prices, ready-made gift boxes and travel-safe packing, with pickup or delivery to the hotel before departure.
Visitor support services
Wheelchair rental, luggage handling or help for elderly visitors. The question: is it available on my dates, and where do I collect it? One clear page per service with terms and location.
A quick audit: open your current site on a phone, pretend you are a first-time visitor who does not read Arabic, and time how long it takes to find that one answer. If it takes more than a few seconds, the page order needs work before anything else does.
Choosing languages: English and Arabic first, then follow the evidence
Visitors come to Makkah from many countries, so it is tempting to add a long list of languages. Resist it. A page in a language nobody on your team reads, filled with unchecked machine translation, costs trust rather than winning it.
The base: two complete versions
Arabic serves visitors from Arab countries and from within the Kingdom; English is the shared language for many visitors from elsewhere. Both versions should cover every important page with a full interface, not a single shortened English page. Our guide to bilingual website design explains how to plan the two versions so they work as equals.
A third language: let your enquiries decide
Go through a full season of WhatsApp chats, booking records and map reviews. Which languages do customers write in? Which countries do they come from? Languages that visitor businesses often consider include:
- Urdu, written right to left like Arabic but in its own style. Use a font suited to Urdu and have a native speaker review it; Urdu set in a standard Arabic font looks wrong to its readers.
- Indonesian and Malay, related but not identical. Pick the one your customers actually use.
- Turkish and French, worth a look if enquiries in them keep arriving; French often matters for visitors from North and West Africa.
Start small. A single welcome page in the third language, covering who you are, where you are, how to get there, what the price includes and a WhatsApp button with a pre-written message in that language, is enough for most businesses. Move to translating the key pages, and later the whole site, only when you can keep them current every season.
Who answers in each language?
This is where many bilingual teams slip. The marketing lead may work in English, front-desk staff in Arabic and Urdu, and the owner in Arabic. Before you publish a language, name the person who replies to messages in it, the person who updates its prices, and the person who checks that it says the same thing as the Arabic version. If prices or cancellation terms differ between languages, the customer will quote the version that suits him.
Technical rules worth keeping
- One URL per language. Google recommends separate URLs for each language version rather than switching language with cookies or browser settings, so that every version can be found.
- No automatic redirects based on a visitor's location or device language. Google advises against guessing; an Indonesian visitor may prefer English. Provide a visible language switcher instead.
- Name each language in its own script in the switcher: العربية, اردو, Bahasa Indonesia, Türkçe, Français. Flags represent countries, not languages.
- One language per page. Avoid side-by-side translations on the same page.
Enquiries, bookings and the licence question
Most visitor business in Makkah starts with a WhatsApp message. That is fine, as long as the site shapes the message. Here are the three usual options side by side:
| WhatsApp button | Enquiry form | Booking system | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Best for | Quick questions, individual visitors, on-arrival requests | Group requests that need a quote (several rooms, a coach for several days) | Many timed slots that can clash, such as transfers or appointments |
| What the visitor needs | A pre-written message in their language with dates and party size | Short fields, international phone numbers accepted | Only available slots shown, with confirmation and a reminder |
| Main risk | Unanswered chats at peak times | Too many fields, so people give up | Built before the volume justifies it |
| Effort for you | Low, if someone owns the replies | Low to medium | Higher: setup, staff training, daily use |
Whichever you choose, show your number in international format with the Saudi country code, 966, because most visitors call from foreign SIM cards. State your reply hours in Makkah time. If one of your staff speaks Urdu or Indonesian, give that language its own pre-written message and mention it on that language's page. When the volume grows, an online booking and appointment system can take the load, but a well-organised WhatsApp flow is often enough for a long time.
Check what your licence allows first
Before you design a "Book and pay" page, confirm what your licence category permits. A clear example comes from the Ministry of Tourism's Regulations for Private Tourist Accommodation Facility, which cover a furnished unit owned by an individual and licensed to host tourists for a fee. Under those regulations, the permit holder must not offer reservation services, marketing or advertising for the unit except through licensed travel and tourism service providers, and must not take payment from the tourist except through them. The same regulations require data that matches the permit, actual images of the unit in advertising, and a price list in Arabic and English.
In practice, if you fall into that category, your website's job is to inform, reassure and send the visitor to your licensed booking channel, not to take payment itself. Hotels and companies licensed under other categories have their own rules, so check with the Ministry of Tourism for your category. In the same spirit, never offer something that needs a permit you do not hold. Umrah permits, for instance, are obtained through official channels such as Nusuk, which operates under the supervision of the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah. This is general information, not legal advice.
Directions, maps and honest distances
In Makkah, distance is part of the price, which is why so many listings say "near the Haram" without a number. Vague claims do not persuade careful visitors, and they lead to complaints when the walk turns out longer than expected.
- Walk the route yourself from your door to the point your guests usually head for, once at a quiet time and once at a busy one, and publish both times.
- Place the map pin on the actual entrance, not the middle of the building, especially if the entrance is on a side street or inside a complex.
- Photograph the building front, the entrance and one easy landmark. A clear entrance photo saves many phone calls.
- Write the directions in each language you publish, and add a button that opens them in the visitor's map app.
Then make your Google Business Profile agree with your website: the name as it appears on your sign, the right category, the address and pin, phone and photos. Our Google Business Profile guide for Saudi Arabia walks through it, and our Google Maps profile setup service can do it for you.
One detail matters in a seasonal city. Google's "special hours" feature is meant for short changes; its help page says you can use it when hours change or the business is closed for up to 6 days in a row, for holidays or events. For Ramadan or a season that lasts weeks, it is clearer to change your regular hours at the start and change them back afterwards, and to update the website on the same day.
Finally, speed. Visitors who have just arrived are often on crowded networks or roaming data. Compress photos, drop heavy effects and keep the contact buttons within thumb reach. Our guides on mobile-first design and how website speed affects sales explain why.
A Hijri-calendar plan for your website
Makkah's busiest periods follow the Hijri calendar: Ramadan, Hajj in Dhu al-Hijjah, and Umrah peaks through the year. The Hijri year is about 11 days shorter than the Gregorian year, so each season starts earlier on the Gregorian calendar every year. A fixed reminder in your phone will drift out of date; check the dates each year. On price and offer pages, show both Hijri and Gregorian dates, because visitors from abroad book flights by one and think about their trip by the other.
Repeat this cycle before Ramadan, before Hajj and before each Umrah peak:
About eight weeks before
Review the deciding pages in every language: photos, prices, policies and directions. Keep one season page on a fixed URL and update it each year, so it keeps whatever search visibility it has built.
About four weeks before
Confirm season prices and inclusions, prepare WhatsApp messages in each language, and test the site on a phone over a slow connection. If you plan to advertise, prepare a landing page that matches the ad.
On the first day
Switch opening hours on the website and on Google at the same time, and make sure whoever answers the phone knows the season prices.
At the peak
Be honest about availability. If you are full, say so at the top of the page and suggest other dates, instead of collecting messages you cannot serve.
After the season
Restore normal hours, ask customers for reviews, and note which questions came up most and in which languages. Answer them on the site before next season.
Ask your website provider one more question before each season: can the hosting cope with a jump in traffic, and who responds if something breaks mid-season? A clear answer now beats a search for help on your busiest day.
The best time to fix your website for Ramadan is before the moon is sighted, not after.
Worked examples: a transfer company and a restaurant
Both examples are illustrative. Your business may need fewer pages or more; the method is what matters: start from the visitor's questions, not from a template list of pages.
An airport transfer company
A licensed transport company runs cars and small coaches between the airport in Jeddah, hotels in Makkah and Madinah. Its customers book from abroad, mostly in English, with a steady share of enquiries in Indonesian. The plan:
- Home: the routes it covers, vehicle types, licence details and a WhatsApp button that asks for flight number, arrival date and party size.
- Routes: one page per common route with typical journey time, luggage limits and what is included.
- Meeting point: photos and directions for where the driver waits, and what happens if the flight is late.
- Group quotes: a short form for coaches and multi-day itineraries.
- Languages: full English and Arabic, plus one Indonesian welcome page reviewed by a native speaker, with its own pre-written WhatsApp message.
What changes in season: availability notes on each route page, and a booking system only once timed slots start to clash.
A restaurant near the hotel district
A family restaurant within walking distance of several hotels. Almost nobody searches for it before travelling; nearly every customer finds it on a map while already in Makkah. So the plan is lean: a one-screen answer to "open now, what do you serve, how do I get there", a text menu in Arabic and English with prices, seasonal hours that match Google, a delivery-to-hotel button if it offers that, and photos of the entrance. Its restaurant website is mostly about the map profile and the menu, and that is the right priority.
What to avoid in both cases: borrowed photos, last season's prices, "near the Haram" without a number, and a machine-translated third language nobody checks. To gather your material before you talk to any designer, use our website brief template.
Web design in Makkah with Webnaa
Webnaa, a Saudi web design company, is based in Riyadh and works with businesses in Makkah and other cities remotely. We do not have an office in Makkah; projects run in writing and on a preview link, as described in how we work. We apply the same approach as in our guides for Dammam and the Eastern Province, Jeddah and Riyadh, adjusted for what Makkah needs: languages, seasons and directions.
- The consultation is always free, and we write your website content for you.
- We send you the design on a preview link within 24 hours of receiving your complete information, before it goes live on your domain.
- Hosting and SSL are included, and every site on your own domain comes with a domain in your name.
- Arabic, English or both, with a full interface for each language rather than translated text.
- A money-back guarantee if you do not like the design during the design stage, under our cancellation and refund policy.
Website design starts from SAR 39 a month for one page in one language on a Webnaa subdomain. The price of a site on your own domain depends on its type, languages and number of pages, and you can see it in seconds in the price calculator. If you need a third language or a booking system, raise it in the consultation and you will know in writing what can be done before you commit. Service details are on our website design service page.
A website for your Makkah business, ready before the season
See your price in the calculator, then message us for a free consultation about your languages and how you take bookings.
FAQ
How much does web design cost in Makkah?
It depends on the type of site, the number of pages and languages, and whether you need a booking system or a store. At Webnaa, design starts from SAR 39 a month for a single page, and the price calculator shows the cost of a site on your own domain. Custom systems are priced by written quote.
Do I need a web design company based in Makkah?
Not necessarily. Most website projects now run remotely: a written scope, a preview link and messages or calls. What matters is that the provider understands your visitors and seasons, and that every agreement is in writing.
Should a Makkah hotel website be in Urdu or Indonesian?
Only if your enquiries and bookings show a clear share of customers using that language, and only if someone can reply in it. Start with one welcome page on its own URL, reviewed by a native speaker, with a WhatsApp message pre-written in that language.
Can I take bookings and payments directly on my website?
That depends on your licence category. For privately owned tourist accommodation units, the Ministry of Tourism's regulations route marketing, booking and payment through licensed travel and tourism service providers. Check the rules for your category before you build a payment page.
How do I get my hotel or restaurant on Google Maps in Makkah?
With a verified, complete Google Business Profile: the real name from your sign, the right category, a pin on the entrance, current hours, real photos and reviews from genuine customers. Keep it consistent with your website in both languages.
When should I prepare my website for Ramadan or Hajj?
Around eight weeks before to review pages and photos, and around four weeks before to confirm prices and messages. If the site is new, start earlier, because new pages take time to appear in search results.
Summary
Web design in Makkah starts with the visitor: the one planning from home, the one who has just arrived, and the one shopping before leaving. Answer each business's deciding question on the first screen. Build complete English and Arabic versions, and add a third language only when your enquiries prove the need and someone can answer in it. Shape WhatsApp and booking around what your licence allows, give distances as real walking times, and prepare the site weeks before every Hijri season. Done this way, your website works hardest exactly when your business is busiest.
Sources (consulted November 2026): Ministry of Tourism, Regulations for Private Tourist Accommodation Facility; Nusuk Umrah platform, under the supervision of the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah; Google Search Central: managing multi-regional and multilingual sites; Google Business Profile Help: how to set special hours. From Webnaa: price calculator and terms and conditions.