The cannibalization problem
Many Middle East sites launch /ar/ trees without reciprocal hreflang. Google then picks one language arbitrarily—or splits signals between duplicates.
Symptoms: Arabic pages not indexed, English ranking for Arabic queries, or both URLs swapping positions weekly.
Hreflang checklist
Every indexed EN URL needs an AR twin (and vice versa) with reciprocal tags.
Use absolute URLs in hreflang, include x-default (usually English for MENA corporate sites), and keep section parity.
- canonical + hreflang on every template
- Sitemap hreflang annotations
- Language switcher preserves path (never redirect to homepage only)