420% traffic increase - Sweden's leading Arabic news portal

About the company

As one of Sweden's largest Arabic news services, Aktarr is crucial in connecting Sweden's Arabic-speaking population - approximately 2% of the country - with their newly adopted home. 

But Aktarr's mission runs deeper than simple translation. 

Misinformation can spread rapidly, and that is why they stand as a trusted bridge between cultures. 

Every day, their team ensures that Arabic-speaking residents can access accurate, timely information about Swedish society, from local news to national policies that affect their daily lives.

What this means in practical terms: 

• A newly arrived family can understand local school policies. 
• A small business owner can stay informed about regulatory changes. 
• A young professional can follow local politics. 

This isn't just about news. 

It's about enabling active participation in Swedish society.

The challenges

Business challenge

When Aktarr approached us, they were facing several critical operational hurdles.
 

Content production

Their news production process was heavily manual, taking around hour to write and publish a single article. 

This workflow made it difficult for them to cover everything they wanted, even though they still managed to deliver news on time. 

In fast-moving news cycles, speed matters.

Technical infrastructure

While they had built their platform on Strapi CMS, their technical setup wasn't optimized for growth. 

Out of approximately 30,000 pages, most weren't properly structured or categorized. 

Starting fresh with a new CMS wasn't financially viable. 

They needed smart optimization of their existing system.

Organization issues

Their content management was fragmented. 

Articles weren't adequately categorized, tags weren't structured, and their sitemap had numerous errors. 

This meant valuable content was getting lost in their system, making it harder for their team to manage and update information.

 

Resource allocation

Though they had strong organic social media growth, their team spent too much time on technical issues rather than their core strength - creating quality news content. 

They needed a technical partner who could handle the infrastructure while they focused on journalism.

The solution

Our approach combined strategic leadership with hands-on expertise, scaling from 1 to 5 team members based on project needs.

The core team included:

• 1 UX/UI Designer driving user experience
• 1 Full-stack team lead managing the ongoing development
• 2-3 Frontend developers implementing design, technical SEO changes, and upgrading frameworks

On-demand, we also included:

• CTO providing technical consultation
• DevOps support for server monitoring
• Growth & Marketing advisors for SEO strategy

We scaled the team dynamically – ramping up to 5 members during intensive development phases, then maintaining lean, focused support for ongoing operations.

This flexible approach ensured efficient resource allocation while maintaining consistent delivery quality.

Results

1. Technical SEO optimization
2. New API system for content automation
3. Updated Next.js and React versions while maintaining Arabic language support
4. Improved user experience
5. Optimized AdSense integration for better monetization

Technical SEO

We love tackling complex technical challenges, and Aktarr's SEO infrastructure needed precisely that. 

Think of it like organizing a library where all the books are in the wrong places.

What we delivered:

• Streamlined sitemaps from thousands of errors to just hundreds
• Implemented dynamic sitemap generation (no more manual uploads!)
• Built new category and tag systems
• Fixed countless broken legacy links

New API system for content automation

Content is king, but managing it shouldn't be a royal pain. 

They had a common but crucial challenge: their content workflow was creating unnecessary friction. 

Despite having an automated content collection system, their team was stuck in a manual copy-paste loop between Google Docs and their Strapi CMS.

Here's where strategic thinking made all the difference.

Instead of accepting the status quo, we asked: 

"What if we could eliminate these manual steps?"

The solution: API-Driven content flow

The Aktarr team built the automation pipeline using Playwright for web scraping, coupled with Make.com and Apify for processing to Google Docs, before feeding into their custom API that connects directly with Strapi.

We helped engineer a direct pipeline between their AI-powered content generation system and Strapi CMS. 

No more Google Docs intermediaries. No more copy-paste fatigue.

The real impact:

• Editors now focus on what matters: content quality and editorial decisions
• Instant access to AI-generated content directly in their CMS

This wasn't about replacing human judgment – it was about enhancing it. 

The system we built doesn't just save time; it empowers Aktarr's team to focus on what they do best: delivering quality Arabic-language news to their Swedish audience.

Updated Next.js and React versions while maintaining Arabic language support

The challenge here wasn't just a typical framework update. 

Upgrading Next.js and React for Aktarr meant carefully preserving critical Arabic language functionality – a capability that fundamentally shapes how their entire platform operates.

• We treated Arabic support not as a feature but as a core architectural consideration.
• Each component required meticulous testing to ensure right-to-left (RTL) layout integrity.
• The team had to rethink traditional component structures, as "first" elements in code render last in Arabic interfaces.

Understanding language support isn't just a technical requirement for platforms serving Arabic-speaking communities – it's the foundation of user trust and content accessibility.

Improved user experience

Creating a great user experience for Arabic readers meant rethinking traditional design patterns.

The goal was to make things look good while making them work intuitively.

Delivered improvements:

• Complete website redesign for desktop and mobile
• Right-to-left (RTL) design optimization
• Strategic ad placement
• Enhanced affiliate marketing flows

Optimized AdSense integration for better monetization

We tackled Aktarr's AdSense challenges on two critical fronts. First, we brought their technical implementation up to Google's stringent standards, ensuring compliance and reliability. 

Then, we went deeper – strategically redesigning ad placements to balance user experience with revenue potential.

We didn’t just add more ads. We created smarter integrations. 

Working closely with our UX team, we mapped out optimal ad positions that respected user reading patterns while maximizing visibility. 

The result? Ad placements that feel natural within the content flow, meeting both technical standards and user expectations.

The end result

Let's cut to what matters - the numbers that transformed Aktarr's digital presence.

But numbers only tell part of the story. What truly sets this partnership apart is how we transformed Aktarr's technical foundation into a competitive advantage. 

Technology now serves their team, not the other way around - enabling their journalists to focus on what they do best: delivering vital news to Sweden's Arabic-speaking community.

It's a blueprint for how strategic technical partnerships should work: focused on real business outcomes, driven by data, and engineered for growth.