Building a Website That Keeps Working in Iran

If you run a business in Iran, you have probably heard this from a customer: "Your site won't open" or "the page just stays blank." You try it on your own phone and sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. Most of the time the site itself is fine. The problem is everything the site depends on from outside the country, which gets stuck behind filtering or a slow international connection.

When I build websites and business software, including the online ordering system for Cafe Barama in Shiraz, I design them from the start so they don't lean on those dependencies. Here is what that means in practice, and what to ask before you build or accept a website.

Why a working site still breaks in Iran

A web page is not one file. When someone opens your site, the browser also pulls in fonts, analytics scripts, anti-bot code for forms, maps, social buttons and more. Many of these come from foreign servers.

If one of those services is filtered or slow, the browser waits. The result:

• Pages load late, or show no text for a while, because the font never arrives.
• The contact or order form does nothing, because its anti-bot script didn't load.
• Buttons tied to an outside script simply don't respond.

Owners often never notice, because they open their own site through a VPN and everything looks fine. A normal customer without one sees the broken version.

A server inside Iran, with HTTPS

The first decision is hosting. The sites I set up run on a server inside Iran, and all of them use HTTPS. A local server means the path from an Iranian customer to your site is shorter and does not depend on the international routes that suffer first during disruptions.

HTTPS is not optional either. It protects what customers type, such as a phone number or delivery address, and browsers label sites without it as "not secure", which hurts trust.

No foreign services that break under filtering

This is the core of it. In the sites I build, I don't use:

• Google Fonts — fonts are self-hosted on the site's own server, so Persian text always appears in the right typeface without waiting.
• Google Analytics — the page never waits on an outside tracking script.
• reCAPTCHA or similar — forms work without any foreign service.
• Any other outside service that stops working under filtering.

A real example: the free demo request form on ldora.org sends an SMS when someone fills it in. SMS is dependable inside Iran, so a request doesn't get lost.

Apps that don't need foreign app stores

The same thinking applies to apps. At Cafe Barama, the customer Android app is downloaded directly from the café's own website, not from Google Play. On iPhone, the site works as an installable web app that customers add to their home screen, with no App Store needed. You can see how it works in the Cafe Barama demo.

How to test your current site

You don't need to be a developer:

1. Turn off any VPN and open your site on mobile data. Does the text appear quickly in the right font?
2. Submit your contact or order form. Does it actually reach you?
3. Ask whoever built the site where it is hosted, and whether that server is inside Iran.
4. Ask whether it uses Google Fonts, Google Analytics or reCAPTCHA.
5. If you have an app, check whether customers can install it without Google Play or the App Store.

Checklist

• Hosting on a server inside Iran
• HTTPS on every page
• Self-hosted fonts
• No Google Analytics, reCAPTCHA or other outside scripts that break under filtering
• Forms that notify you by SMS
• Android app downloadable from your own site; installable web app for iPhone
• Regular testing without a VPN, the way an ordinary customer sees it

Closing

A site that only works through a VPN is broken for most of your customers. A few right decisions at build time give you a site that opens the same way on normal days and difficult ones. If you want your site or business system built this way, or want to see a working example first, request a free demo.