How people in Singapore search
Most commercial and informational searches in Singapore are in English, but it is English with local vocabulary. People search for "HDB renovation contractor", "BTO interior design package", "CPF top-up tax relief", "S Pass requirements" or "PDPA compliance checklist". A page that uses these terms, and explains them correctly, matches the query far better than a global article that never mentions them.
- Location modifiers are towns, estates and MRT stations rather than cities: "dentist Tampines", "co-working space near Raffles Place MRT", "tuition centre Punggol".
- Searchers add "singapore" or "sg" to signal local intent: "best aircon servicing singapore", "corporate secretary sg".
- Price queries expect Singapore dollars and GST-inclusive figures. A comparison that quotes US prices is less useful here.
- Some audiences search in Chinese, Malay or Tamil, especially for community, food, religious or family topics, but for most business categories English is the default.
Keyword research in a small market
Singapore has about six million people (Department of Statistics Singapore), so truly local keywords have small absolute volumes. Many valuable B2B queries show "0–10" searches a month in keyword tools and still bring in customers. Prioritise intent and fit over volume: one ranking page for "payroll software for SME singapore" can be worth more than a broad article that ranks on page three worldwide.
Decide, per article, which audience you are writing for. A Singapore company selling only locally should localise hard: local terms, SGD prices, local examples. A Singapore company selling across the region or worldwide can target global English keywords, and add local pages for the Singapore market on top.
- Use the Country filter in Google Search Console to see what searchers in Singapore actually type to find you.
- Check the live results for your keyword from Singapore; if they are full of US pages, there is room for a properly local answer.
- Keep separate keyword lists for English and Chinese. They are different queries with different competitors, not translations of each other.
Content that wins locally
- Explain local rules accurately and link to the official source: IRAS for tax and GST, MOM for work passes, ACRA for company matters, PDPC for data protection, CPF Board for CPF.
- Quote prices in SGD and say whether GST is included.
- Use local examples, case studies and place names. They signal relevance to readers and to search engines, and generic competitors cannot copy them easily.
- Show who you are: a registered company name, UEN, address and real people behind the content all support trust (E-E-A-T).
- If you serve customers in person, keep your Google Business Profile complete; articles support it but do not replace it.
Adding Chinese pages
Chinese pages make sense when your customers genuinely search in Chinese, for example in education, healthcare, property, food and services aimed at Mandarin-speaking families. Check demand first: if Search Console shows no Chinese queries and your customers write to you in English, a Chinese section is unlikely to pay off yet.
When you do add one, give each language its own URLs, link the versions with hreflang (en-SG and zh-SG, for example) and write for the Chinese-language searcher rather than translating every English page word for word.
Technical notes for Singapore sites
- You do not need a .sg domain to rank in Singapore. A country domain is one signal among many; local content, local links and hreflang matter as well.
- Google retired the International Targeting report in Search Console in 2022, so country targeting now comes from your domain, content and hreflang rather than a setting.
- Hosting location matters little when your site uses a CDN; page speed on mobile matters more.