Planning a website in Palestine: what to decide before you start

Most website projects that go wrong do not fail in design or code. They fail earlier, when important decisions are left open: who the site is for, which languages it speaks, who writes the content, where it lives and who looks after it after launch. If you are a ministry, an NGO or a business in Palestine planning a new website, these are the questions worth settling before you talk to any developer.

1. Start with the audience and the goal

Write down, in one or two sentences, what the website must achieve. Inform citizens about services? Attract donors? Sell products? Generate leads for your sales team? Then list the main groups of visitors and what each group comes to do. A donor in Europe, a beneficiary in a village and a journalist looking for your latest report need different paths through the site.

2. Arabic, English, or both

For most Palestinian organizations the answer is both, but "bilingual" can mean very different things. Decide early:

• Which language is primary. If most visitors are local, Arabic should be designed first, with a proper right-to-left layout and Arabic typography, not mirrored at the end.
• Whether both languages carry the same content. Often the English site is lighter and aimed at partners and donors, while the Arabic site carries services and news. That is fine, as long as it is a decision and not an accident.
• Who translates. Machine translation is a starting point at best. Content for people should be written or reviewed by someone fluent in each language.

3. Domain: .ps or international

A .ps domain signals clearly that you are a Palestinian organization and is a natural choice for public institutions and local businesses. Registration goes through accredited registrars and may ask for documents, so check the current requirements early rather than in launch week. Many organizations also hold a .com or .org version and redirect it to the main domain, which protects the name and helps visitors who type the address from memory.

Whatever you choose, make sure the domain is registered in your organization's name, and that someone inside the organization has access to the registrar account. Losing a domain because a former employee or supplier controlled it is more common than it should be.

4. Hosting and data

Hosting can be local, on your own servers, or with an international provider. The right choice depends on:

• Data sensitivity. Sites that collect personal data, such as applications, donations or beneficiary records, need more care about where data is stored and who can reach it.
• Policies. Some government bodies and international organizations require hosting in a specific place or with an approved provider.
• Who operates the server. Hosting is not only renting space. Someone must apply security updates, monitor the site, renew certificates and keep backups that are actually tested.

Ask any supplier how backups are made, how often, where they are kept and how long a restore takes.

5. Online payments

If the website will sell products, accept donations or collect fees, talk to your bank first. Online payment gateways in Palestine are offered through local banks and payment providers, and what is available depends on your bank and the way your organization is registered. Some well-known international providers do not onboard merchants registered in Palestine, so do not plan around a gateway before confirming it.

Many local businesses combine online card payment with cash on delivery or bank transfer, because not every customer is ready to pay online. Organizations raising funds abroad sometimes use a donation platform that accepts international cards. Decide which methods you will support at launch, because each one affects the checkout design, accounting and refunds.

6. Content is the real project

The most common reason for delayed launches is missing content. Before design starts, appoint a content owner, list every page, decide who writes it in each language, and collect photos you have the right to use. Plan for the content that changes: news, reports, vacancies, tenders and products need a clear owner and a publishing routine, or the site will look abandoned within months.

7. SEO basics from day one

Search engine optimization is not a service you add after launch. The basics are built into the site:

• Separate URLs for each language, with the correct language tags, so search engines show Arabic pages to Arabic searches.
• Editable titles and descriptions for every page, written for people, using the words your audience actually searches for, in Arabic as well as English.
• Speed on mobile. Compressed images and lean pages matter, especially for visitors on mobile data.
• A clear structure with real headings, readable addresses and internal links between related pages.
• Search Console and analytics set up at launch, so you can see what people search for and which pages work.

If you are replacing an old site, map old addresses to new ones with redirects, so you do not lose the visibility you already have.

8. Maintenance and ownership

A website is a living system. Agree before you sign on:

• Who applies security and software updates, and how quickly.
• What support covers: fixes, small changes, new features, and response times.
• That you own the content, the data and the domain, and can export them.
• That your team is trained to manage content without depending on the developer for every change.

A short checklist

• Goal and audiences written down.
• Primary language and translation responsibility decided.
• Domain registered in the organization's name, with internal access.
• Hosting choice, backup plan and data policy agreed.
• Payment methods confirmed with the bank, if needed.
• Content owner appointed and page list ready.
• SEO basics and redirects included in the scope.
• Maintenance and support terms clear.

If you are planning a new website or rebuilding an existing one, the ProVision team in Ramallah is happy to go through these decisions with you, in Arabic or English, before any commitment. Contact us and tell us what your website needs to achieve.