Introduction

Running a business nowadays is no longer bound to having a brick-and-mortar store. Anyone who wants to start a business can sell anything they have in mind online and become part of the growing e-commerce industry—not just in Singapore but in the other part of the world.

After all, everyone became more connected 24/7 when they had access to the internet. Within a few taps of one’s fingertips, they can quickly interact and communicate with their loved ones even if they are on the other side of the globe.

Many business owners, even aspiring ones, have thought of this as an opportunity they should not miss since it can help them widen their customer base and increase their sales. The only way to achieve this besides creating social media accounts like Facebook, Instagram or TikTok is to create a website.

The Importance Of A Website For Businesses In Singapore

Besides having a digital version of your brick-and-mortar (if you have one), having a website for your business in Singapore makes you look more credible, which helps earn the trust of your customers. According to a 2015 online survey conducted by Verisign, 84% of consumers stated that a business with a website appears more credible than those that only have social media accounts.

A business having a website also helps attract customers on search engines like Google. This case is not impossible to happen since whenever people are curious to know something, whether it is for personal or business matters, they always search their concerns online right away to know the answers. Bright Edge even found that 68% of online experiences begin by clicking on the web pages on search results pages (SERPs).

A business’s e-commerce website can even help customers with their customer purchase journey by reading the displayed reviews and testimonials. Each feedback can give customers an invaluable insight into the products or services they plan to get, like weighing the pros and cons, which allow them to make an informed decision before making a purchase.

Subscribe to our YouTube channel  for more digital marketing videos

The advantage of having a website for a business does not end there since it can also serve as a business card that encourages customers to reach out. Clearly showing contact information enables customers to give them a call, leave an inquiry via filling up a form, and send an email.

Investing in a website also promotes the growth of your business. You will have more chances to interact, connect and communicate with 5 billion internet users—the 63% of the world’s population.

If you have realised the importance of a website for your business’s success and are ready to create a website, you need to prepare yourself.  This article contains parts that will give you enough knowledge about website creation in Singapore, including how much you need to spend to have one.

PART 1: Know Your Options: What Are The Ways To Create A Website In Singapore?

When creating a website for your business in Singapore, there are many options you can choose for website creation. Considering all of them allows you to understand their pros and cons and help you decide which one suits you the most.

Option #1:Set Up A Website With A Website Builder

Setting up your business’s website with a website builder like WooCommerce is the easiest option out of the three. A website builder is a platform that allows anyone to create a website without any skills or experience in coding.

It does not matter if you are not tech-savvy yourself since a website builder will provide everything you need, from pre-built e-commerce website design templates to web hosting.

The problem, however, is that choosing this option to create a website for your business often comes with some hidden costs. These hidden costs could be for web maintenance, technical support, and upgrades that you might need to pay for as long as your website operates in your chosen website builder’s ecosystem.

Even though some website builders allow you to build a website without paying for additional elements and features, it is very basic. Besides having elementary navigation and fixed web design, the website’s loading might not be optimised as well. Most website owners do not want that to happen, which is why they are willing to pay for additional elements and features to optimise their website so their customers will have an excellent user experience. They will also want to customise their website to be aligned with their branding.

Thus, instead of creating a website on a budget, you might spend more than you planned.

Even though setting up a website with a website builder only requires you to drag and drop-down elements, the output of your website creation in Singapore is nowhere near the work and quality of a professional website developer. 

Business owners who often opt for this option end up engaging with a website development agency in Singapore to improve the aesthetic and function of their business’s website.

Option #2: Program A Website Yourself

You can only choose this option to create a website for your business in Singapore if you are technically inclined. That means you know how to use Hypertext Markup Language (HTML), Cascading Style Sheets (CSS), and other programming languages. If that is the case, you can create your business’s website however you want.

Before you can create your business’s website, you need to gather some tools you need for coding a website.

• A code editor
  • A software that allows you to see the coding process easily.
• A File Transfer Protocol (FTP) application
  • Use for transferring HTML files to a website server and vice versa.
• A local development site
  • Use for staging and testing a website before it goes live

Creating a website from the ground up gives you the most flexibility. At the same time, you will need a lot of free time and a solid understanding of programming to pull it out. It is advisable to have someone you trust to look after your business operation while setting up your business’s website.

Option #3: Engage With AE-Commerce Website Development Company In Singapore

Work with an e-commerce website development company in Singapore if you think your time is precious and funds for website creation are not an issue. With their years of experience and skills in creating websites from various industries, you can get reassured that your business’s website will be aesthetically pleasing and function well.

DISCOVER: How To Choose The Right Web Design And Development Company In Singapore

Furthermore, you can rely on them for everything you want to add to your business’s websites, including creating content on your behalf with high quality of work. Sometimes, they also offer web maintenance services to guarantee the website will perform smoothly in the long run.

PART 2:  How To Create A Website In Singapore

Creating a website for your business in Singapore might seem overwhelming, but you do not need to be tech-savvy to set up one for yourself.  With hard work and devotion to understanding the process of e-commerce website development, you can create one in no time.

ALSO READ: Everything You Need To Know About Web Design And Development

Here are the steps you need to follow so you can create a website for your business in Singapore.

9 Steps For Creating A Website

Step #1: Think Of A Domain Name

The first step to creating a website for your business is to think of a domain name. A domain name is a part of the Uniform Resource Locators (URL) of your business’s website, which is the first thing your potential customers will see when they have decided to visit your platform.

To help you understand, think of a domain name like a signage board that a brick-and-mortar store has at the entrance, which is why you should think carefully of what domain name you will use because that is usually the thing that most people tend to remember.

Here are some tips you need to take note of when thinking of a domain name for your business’s website:

• Make it easy and common to spell
• Keep it as short as possible
• Use an appropriate domain extension
• Avoid hyphens and numbers
• Ensure it is memorable
• Create an SEO-friendly URL

 

 

Step #2: Purchase A Website Hosting

The next thing you need to do is to purchase a website hosting. It is a method and process of storing all the website’s files, including its entire structure and web design, to be accessible worldwide. That means anyone from across the world can visit your business’s website and browse through its web pages.

However, before you purchase website hosting, you need to know the difference between the different types of hosting available on the market.

1. Shared Hosting

As its name suggests, this website hosting means you will be sharing numerous websites on a single computing server, so it is relatively cheaper than the rest. All the files from these websites are in the same folder, but even if that is the case, no website owners can access any files saved since all of you do not have root access.

Nevertheless, shared hosting is excellent for beginners since it has user-friendly features and affordable prices.

2. VPS Hosting

The word VPS stands for a virtual private server and is a type of website hosting that allows multiple website owners to share while providing each one with a dedicated resource.

In VPS hosting, a website owner can do several things. You can install an operating system (OS) and software, have root access and have more control over securing your website.

The problem, however, is that in VPS hosting, you need to have the technical knowledge to keep your business’s website up.

Step #3: Install A Content Management System (CRM)

Installing a content management system streamlines the process of creating, editing, and publishing content. Due to its friendly user interface, you do not have to write a code every time you need to update content or improve the user experience on your business’s website.

Anyone can install and use CRM, even those who do not have extensive coding knowledge or experience. We recommend WordPress for simple, basic websites. Other than it being free to download and use, installing it on most web server backends will not be a problem.

Step #4: Pick A Web Design Template

The next step you need to take when creating a website for your business is to choose a web design template. Make sure the colour scheme matches your brand image so your business’s website will appear more appealing to your potential customers.

Listed below are the other things you need to consider when picking a web design template for your business’s website:

• The type of website you need
• Header design
• Ease of navigation 
• Mobile-friendliness

DISCOVER: 3 Ideal Web Design Tools ForStartup Companies

Step #5: Create Content For All Of The Web Pages

Once you have chosen an e-commerce web design template, it is time to create content for the web pages of your business’s website. These contents are information about your products and services and who you are as an e-commerce business. 

When creating content, make sure to keep everything brief, easy to read, and most of all, it should contain relevant information. Incorporating your content with high-quality images and videos can help persuade your visitors to purchase on your e-commerce website or make an informed decision.

ALSO READ: UX Writing: 4 Tips For Creating Quality Content

You can also add a feedback section on each product and service page so your visitors will learn more about you from your existing customer’s point of view. Reading customer reviews can give them invaluable insight into who and what your business is, including how good your customer service is, which in the end, helps you earn their trust.

The image below is an example of customer reviews on a product page from Megafurniture. This furniture shop includes this section to let their customers share their opinions about their purchases and let their potential customers know about the quality of their products on their e-commerce website.

 

Step #6: Connect Payment Processor

Before your e-commerce website goes live, you must guarantee that the payment processor has been connected properly.  If not, you may be able to receive any payment made by your consumers when they place orders on your e-commerce website.

You can avoid this by testing the payment processor on your e-commerce website before launching it and publicising that you are available for business online. Remember, the more payment options you offer, the more customers will be able to purchase from you.

Step #7: Ensure Security

Ensuring the security of your business’s website is what you should do next. According to John Cabot’s study, 48% of consumers would get turned off to a brand if its website lacked security.

With scams and phishing becoming prevalent, more customers cannot help themselves but be more cautious about their security. In the same study, 46% of consumers stated if an e-commerce website appears not secure, they will not put any personal details and will consider leaving right away.

The only way to prevent this is to increase the safety of your customers. You can make them feel more secure by having a robust firewall, two-factor authentication on login and Security Sockets Layer (SSL) certificate encryption.

These security measures will give your customers enough reasons to shop for more on your e-commerce website if they feel safe while browsing the web pages.

Step #8: Test The User Experience (UX)

After securing your business’s website, the next step you need to do is test the user experience. The UX refers to the experience of your customers on how they interact and browse through the web pages of your e-commerce website.

As soon as your customers land on your business’s website, that is when their user experience begins. If your landing page takes longer than 3 seconds to load, expect them to leave right away and look for a similar e-commerce business that offers the same thing.

However, enhancing the loading speed of your website is the only thing you need to do to improve your customers’ user experience. Consider doing the following to win their trust and hearts and possibly, turn your visitors into paying customers

• An e-commerce website design should be responsive
• Headers and menu bars should be easy to ready

Step #9: Launch Your Website

The last step you need to take when creating a website for your business is to launch your website. It means your business’s website will go live, and your potential customers will be able to stumble upon it on SERPs, and they can check out your products or services and even make a purchase.

To guarantee such situations will happen, you need to implement several digital marketing strategies to raise your brand awareness and increase your online presence such as:

• Set up business listings on search engines
• Encourage customers to leave reviews
• Look at your advertising options
• Set and monitor your analytics

ALSO READ: Is Your Website Going Live? Here’s How Digital Marketing Can Help

When creating a website for your business in Singapore, make sure you take your time with each step before going to the next one. Being careful will ensure that you do not make any mistakes in website creation. Let your trusted peers review the entire process with you so you can create a quality website for your business.

PART 3:  The Cost Of Creating A Website For A Business In Singapore

It is entirely up to you whether or not your website will be costly. The choice is yours to make. You can set a budget and decide how much you spend on creating a website for your business.

However, to guarantee you will have a quality website that stands out against your competitors, you need the help of experts like a website developer in Singapore. With their years of experience and expertise, you can guarantee you will have an aesthetically pleasing and functional website.

Remember, a poorly designed website can generate wrong impressions about your e-commerce business. According to a 2018 Adobe consumer content survey, 33% of visitors become annoyed with brands with poor web design, making them leave and abandon their shopping cart.

How Much Does Creating a Website Typically Cost?

How much money should you spend on creating your business’s website? The truth is, it highly depends on your needs and goals. For example, if you own a small business that sells small items, you could create a low budget plan for website creation.

If you plan to create a website for your business with more complex features and elements, here is a breakdown of the prices that you need to consider:

Need Extra Funds To Create A Website In Singapore?

As long as your business is operating in the country, you can apply for the Productivity Solution Grant (PSG) for E-Commerce Web Development and get up to 70% of funding support. You could use the fund you have received by seeking professional help for website creation and website revamp from your chosen pre-approved PSG vendor.

The percentage of funding support you can claim will be 80% if you are an SME owner that belongs to the retail sector until 31 March 2023.

Final Thought

Creating a website for your business is no small feat. Not only are there many things you need to consider, but it also takes a lot of time, effort, and budget. Most importantly, the success of your e-commerce business highly depends on the quality of your e-commerce website.

Hence, you must be careful how your website creation will begin and end since it will be the foundation of how you will establish a robust online presence and raise your brand awareness.

If you have any questions on how to create a website for your business in Singapore, contact OOm at +65 6391 0930 or leave a message on our website. Our e-commerce website development team will be there to answer your inquiries.