Local SEO in Singapore: Google Business Profile and Your Website

Short answer: local SEO in Singapore is two assets working together: a complete, verified Google Business Profile and a website that states the same facts in more detail. Fix the profile first if it is unclaimed or wrong, because that takes a day. Then build the website pages that back it up. Google ranks local results on relevance, distance and prominence, and both assets feed all three. The 30-day plan at the end puts the steps in order.

Which should you fix first, the profile or the website?

Google's local ranking documentation names three factors. Relevance is how well the profile matches the search. Distance is how far the business is from the searcher. Prominence is how well known the business is, which Google says includes how many websites link to it and how many reviews it has. Google also states that businesses with complete and accurate information are easier to match.

Distance behaves differently here than in a large country. Singapore is roughly 50 km east to west, so for most searches several competitors are "near" the searcher. Relevance and prominence decide the order, and those are the two you can change.

Which profile fields matter?

Google's eligibility guidelines require that the business either has a physical location customers can visit or travels to customers. Online-only businesses, virtual offices and PO boxes are not eligible. A service-area business should hide its address and keep its service area within about 2 hours of driving time.

Fields to complete, in order of effect:

• Name. Your real-world name as it appears on your signage and website. Google's guidelines prohibit adding location, keywords, phone numbers or taglines to the name.
• Primary category. Google's test: the category completes "This business IS a", not "this business HAS a". Use as few categories as describe the core business.
• Address and map pin. Block, street, unit number and 6-digit postal code, matching the website footer exactly. Pin on the correct entrance.
• Hours. By day, with public holiday hours set in advance. Wrong hours produce the one-star "closed when I arrived" review.
• Services or products, with prices. Each service listed with a description and a price or starting price. These match searches the category alone does not.
• Photos. Premises exterior, interior, team and work. Google's guidance lists photos among the signals that help the profile appear.
• Website link. To the page about that location or service, not always the home page.
• Booking or appointment link. To your own booking page, so the record lands in your database.

Which website pages support the profile?

The profile holds facts in fields. The website holds them in sentences, with the detail a buyer reads before they call.

• Location page. One per outlet. Name, address, phone and hours written as text, identical to the profile, with a map embed, nearest MRT, parking and photos of the entrance. If you have one outlet, this is the contact page.
• Service pages. One per service you listed on the profile, with the same service name. Price or starting price, duration, who it suits, and a WhatsApp button.
• Structured data. Google's LocalBusiness markup covers name, address, geo coordinates, telephone, url, priceRange and openingHoursSpecification. Add it to the location page with the same values as the profile.
• Consistent name, address and phone everywhere. Footer, contact page, profile, Facebook, directories. One format, one phone number.
• Speed on a phone. Most local searches happen on a phone. Statcounter puts mobile at 56.86% of Singapore web traffic in September 2026. Pass Google's 2.5-second Largest Contentful Paint threshold on the location and service pages.

The SEO for a new website guide covers the rest of the site set-up.

How do reviews work?

Google says more reviews and positive ratings can improve local ranking. Google's review policy sets the limits: no incentives such as payment, discounts or free goods for a review, no discouraging negative reviews, and no selectively asking only satisfied customers.

• Ask every customer, the same way. After the job or visit, a WhatsApp message or a card with the review link. The link comes from your profile's "Ask for reviews" option.
• Reply to every review within a week. Thank by name for positive ones. For negative ones, state the fact, what you did, and an invitation to continue on WhatsApp. No argument in public.
• Never buy, trade or gate. Google removes reviews that breach its policy, and a pattern can lead to profile restrictions.
• Licensed healthcare providers have separate MOH rules on using reviews in their own advertising; see our salon and aesthetic clinic guide.

How do you measure calls, directions and enquiries?

Google's performance report in the Business Profile counts calls (taps on the call button), direction requests, website clicks, messages and bookings, and lists the search terms people used to find the profile. Search terms update monthly.

Combine that with your own record:

• Profile side. Calls, directions, website clicks, messages, per month.
• Website side. WhatsApp clicks, form submissions and bookings from the location and service pages, logged in your database with the page and time.
• Outcome side. Which enquiries became jobs. Mark won or lost.

Five numbers on one sheet each month: profile actions, website enquiries, enquiries won, revenue from local, and review count. If profile actions rise and website enquiries do not, the website link points to the wrong page or the page is slow. If enquiries rise and wins do not, the problem is the reply, not the ranking. The SEO and AI search page describes how the marketing agent reports these.

30-day checklist

• Days 1 to 3: claim or recover the profile, verify it, correct name, category, address, pin, phone and hours
• Days 4 to 7: add every service with a price, 10 or more photos, the booking link and the website link to the right page
• Days 8 to 14: build or fix the location page and one page per service on the website, with text address, hours, prices and WhatsApp
• Days 15 to 17: add LocalBusiness structured data, check the footer and every directory for one consistent name, address and phone
• Days 18 to 21: run PageSpeed Insights on the location and service pages, fix anything above 2.5 seconds
• Days 22 to 28: ask every customer for a review with the profile link, reply to every existing review
• Days 29 to 30: set up the monthly sheet with the five numbers and read the first month's performance report

What cense does

cense builds websites in Singapore and Hong Kong with the location and service pages, structured data and Google Business Profile set-up included, and every enquiry logged in the client's own database. A marketing AI agent runs the daily SEO and AI search schedule with the client approving before publishing. See SEO and AI search.