What shapes a website for the Lebanese market
Lebanese businesses are resourceful and outward-looking. A website has to serve a difficult home environment and a demanding audience abroad at once.
| Topic | What it means for your website | Decide early |
|---|---|---|
| Buyers outside the country | Exporters, agencies, software firms, designers and manufacturers earn much of their income from customers abroad. Those buyers cannot visit, so the site carries the whole first impression | Which foreign markets matter, and what proof each expects to see |
| Three languages | Arabic is the official language, and French and English are both widely used in business and education. Which ones a site needs depends on the customers, not on habit | The languages to publish, and a writer and approver for each |
| Slow or interrupted connections | Visitors may be on mobile data or on a connection that drops. Heavy pages, large videos and scripts that block loading lose them | A page weight budget, and what is sacrificed to keep it |
| Dollars and lira | Prices are commonly quoted in US dollars. How lira amounts and the rate are displayed should be confirmed with your accountant or adviser | The currency shown, and the wording about payment |
| How people pay | Cash on delivery remains common. Cards work where they are tied to accounts funded in foreign currency, and money transfer companies are widely used for domestic payments | Which payment routes the site explains or accepts |
| Contact by message | Customers expect to reach a business by messaging app as readily as by form or phone | The contact routes offered, and who answers each during which hours |
| Hosting and the domain | Sites are normally hosted abroad for reliability. The .lb registry and registrars publish different accounts of the requirements for a local address | Where the site is hosted, and whether a .lb address is worth pursuing |
Journeys we build into Lebanese websites
The first journey is the one a foreign buyer takes. The rest serve customers at home.
Buyer abroad assessing a supplier
For exporters, agencies and service firms.
- Buyer arrives from a search or a referral
- Reads what the firm does in their language
- Looks at examples of work with enough detail to judge
- Finds how projects are run and paid for across borders
- Sends a brief or books a call
Local customer on a phone
For retailers, restaurants, clinics and service providers.
- Customer opens the site on mobile data
- The page appears quickly with the essentials
- Finds prices, opening hours and location
- Taps to message or call
- Receives a reply from a person
Quote request
For manufacturers, contractors and business services.
- Visitor selects a product or service
- Answers a few questions about the need
- Attaches a file if useful
- The request goes to the right salesperson
- The visitor is told when to expect an answer
Content update by the team
For any firm that wants to keep the site current without a developer.
- Editor signs in to the content system
- Adds an item in one language
- Adds the other languages or marks them pending
- Previews on a phone
- Publishes
What we build
Pages for buyers abroad
Company, capability and work pages written for someone who has never met you and needs reasons to trust you.
Three languages on one structure
Arabic, English and French versions with a correct right-to-left layout for Arabic. Our guide to planning a bilingual English and French website covers that pair in detail.
Light, fast pages
Compressed images, minimal scripts and a layout that shows useful content first on a weak connection.
Clear prices and payment information
Currency, payment routes and delivery terms stated where a customer looks for them.
Contact that reaches someone
Forms, messaging links and phone numbers routed to named people, with an acknowledgement to the visitor.
A content system your team runs
Editing for news, products and projects in every language, with preview before publishing.
What we need from you
- Who your customers are, at home and abroad
- The languages they read, and who can write each
- Examples of work you are permitted to show
- How you quote, invoice and get paid
- Who will answer enquiries and keep the site updated
Ownership and licensing terms are defined in the project agreement.
A readiness checklist for a website in Lebanon
Before design starts
0 of 8 checkedWhat to do next
Tell us who buys from you, in which countries and in which languages. We will reply with a structure, the pages a foreign buyer would need and how we would keep the site light. Start a conversation or book a 30-minute call.
Our website project brief builder helps you gather those answers before talking to any agency.
Common questions
Does our site need Arabic, English and French?
Only the languages your customers read. A firm exporting to the Gulf may need Arabic and English. One serving Europe and francophone Africa may need French and English. A local retailer may need Arabic and one other. Each language is a commitment to write, review and update, so we would sooner build two languages that stay current than three that drift apart.
How do you keep a site usable on a weak connection?
By deciding what loads first and how much the page may weigh. Text and key actions appear before images. Images are sized for the screen and compressed. Video loads only when asked for. Scripts are kept few. We test on a throttled mobile connection during the build, not only on office broadband, and treat the budget as a requirement.
Should prices be shown in dollars or lira?
Dollar pricing is common practice in Lebanon. What you are required to show in lira, and at which rate, is a question for your accountant or legal adviser, and we found no rule written specifically for websites when this page was reviewed. We build the site so that currency display can be changed without redevelopment.
Can we use a .lb address?
Perhaps. The registry's own policy document and commercial registrars describe the requirements differently, in particular on whether a registered trademark is needed. Ask the registry or an accredited registrar what applies to your company. A .com remains the usual choice for firms that sell abroad, and both can point to the same site.
