SEO for Persian websites: the details that matter only for Persian

The principles of SEO are the same in every language: useful content, sound structure and speed. But a Persian site has a few subtleties that damage search and user experience when overlooked.

1. The half-space and spelling

The half-space in Persian is a separate character (ZWNJ) and part of correct spelling. Two spellings of the same word, with and without it, are different strings. The consequences:

• Keep one spelling across the whole site.
• In titles and descriptions, take the commonly searched spelling into account.
• In on-site search, normalise both forms to be equal.

2. Page URLs: Persian or Latin?

A Persian URL may turn into a long percent-encoded string when shared, which hurts readability. The simpler and safer approach is a short, descriptive Latin URL, such as /fa/blog/what-is-prd. What matters is that:

• The URL is short, stable and descriptive.
• It doesn't change after publication; if it must, add a permanent redirect.
• The same URL appears in the canonical and in the sitemap.

3. Declare language and direction

• lang="fa" and dir="rtl" on the page.
• inLanguage set to fa-IR in structured data.
• For the English page, lang="en" and dir="ltr".

Right-to-left design has other details too, covered in getting RTL design right.

4. Digits

Some users search with Persian digits and some with Latin ones. Keep one consistent style in content, and in on-site search treat the two as equivalent.

5. A bilingual site: correct hreflang

• Every page with a translation declares its alternate.
• Put x-default on the main language.
• Add hreflang only between pages that really exist.
• Don't publish unedited machine translation; low quality damages the site's credibility.

More detail is in the technical SEO checklist.

6. Name consistency

Your name in Persian and in English should be uniform everywhere. If it has several spellings, declare them in structured data as alternate names so a single identity is seen. Structured data does exactly that.

7. Valuable Persian content

Persian content on many technical subjects is still scarce. That is an opportunity, provided that:

• it is direct and precise, not a literal translation;
• it has real examples and experience;
• you write for questions people genuinely ask.

8. Search inside Iran and beyond

Some Iranian users search with Google and some with local engines. Register with Search Console and Bing Webmaster, submit a sitemap, and don't neglect registering with the local engines that matter to you.

Common mistakes

• Mixing the Arabic and Persian forms of yeh and kaf
• URLs that change after publication
• Unedited machine translation
• A heavy Persian font that slows the page
• Not declaring the page's language and direction

The takeaway

Persian SEO is SEO, with more care over the half-space, URLs, direction, digits and hreflang. Get the details right, and the rest of the road is useful, lasting content.

If your Persian or bilingual site needs a review, talk to me.