How to get more Google reviews
How to get more Google reviews.
Short answer: ask every customer, face to face, the moment the job is done and they are happy, then send them a one-tap link before you leave the drive. That is it. Everything clever people sell you around that is decoration. The trades that pile up reviews are not doing anything special, they have just made asking part of finishing the job.
Most guides on this are written for an American shop with a front desk and a receptionist. You are a sole trader with a phone in your pocket, halfway back to the van. So here is how it actually works for a UK trade, the rules Google will fine you for breaking, and the simple maths behind “how many do I need”.
Five minutes of setup
Get your one-tap review link first.
Before you ask a soul, do this once so the ask is a two-tap job. If a customer has to search your name, scroll to reviews and work out where to tap, most will give up. Take that friction away and your review count climbs on its own.
- Make sure your Google Business Profile is claimed and verified. It is free, it is the listing that shows up on Google Maps, and it is the one thing here that reviews attach to.
- On the profile, signed in as the owner, choose "Read reviews" then "Get more reviews". Google hands you a short link that looks like g.page/r/... . Copy it.
- Save the QR code from that same screen. One catch: Google only lets you make the QR code on a computer, not your phone, so do it once on a laptop.
- Save the link as a text message draft on your phone, and print the QR code onto your invoices, your business cards and the back of the van.
The plain version
Every extra second between the ask and the link is a lost review.
A saved text with your link, and a QR code on the paperwork, means a customer goes from “yeah, course” to a posted review in twenty seconds, while they still remember how pleased they were.
The bit that actually works
Ask before you leave the job.
This is the whole game, and it is the one thing the big American guides skip because they have never stood in someone's hallway with their tools packed. The single best moment to ask for a review is right there, face to face, the second the job is finished and the customer is visibly chuffed. Not a week later by email, when the feeling has faded and your message is buried under forty others.
Say something like
“Really glad you're happy with it. Before I shoot off, would you mind leaving me a quick review on Google? Takes twenty seconds and it really helps a small firm like mine. I'll text you the link now so it's easy.”
Then, before you pull off the drive, send the text with your link. Half the reviews you ever get will come from that thirty seconds sat in the van. It works because you have asked a real person to their face, they want to say yes to a grafter who did a good job, and you have made it a single tap while they still have the phone in their hand.
The pre-loaded text
“Thanks again [name]! Here's that Google review link if you get a sec, honestly takes 20 seconds and means a lot: [your g.page link]. Cheers, [your name]”
Timing by trade
The right moment isn't the same for every job.
“Ask when they're happy” is right, but happy lands at a different point depending on what you do. Ask too early, mid-job, and it is awkward. Ask too late and the moment has gone. Here is roughly when the feeling peaks by trade.
| Type of job | Ask when | Why then |
|---|---|---|
| Boiler / heating | Once it is fired up and the house is warm | The relief of hot water and heat back on is the high point, not the middle of the fit |
| Bathroom / kitchen fit | After the final snagging walk-round | They can see the finished room and everything on the list is ticked off |
| Emergency call-out (burst pipe, lockout) | On the spot, the moment it is sorted | You just rescued their day, gratitude is never higher than right then |
| Roofing / landscaping / driveways | When they can stand back and see the result | Big visual jobs land when the customer takes in the whole finished thing |
If you genuinely cannot ask on the day, a friendly follow-up text the next morning is your fallback, while it is still fresh. Email is a distant last resort, most trade customers never open it.
The trap that gets profiles wiped
Don't cherry-pick who you ask.
Here is the mistake that feels clever and can cost you everything you have built. The instinct is to only ask the customers you know loved you, or to send unhappy ones to a private “how did we do” form first so the bad ones never reach Google. Google calls this review gating, and it is against the rules. So is offering a discount or a drink in return for a review. Both count as fake and misleading, and Google can pull all your reviews or suspend the profile you rely on.
The safe version does the same job honestly: ask everyone the same way, and sort out any problems in person before you leave, not by hiding who gets the link. If a customer is not happy, fix it on the day. A genuinely satisfied customer is the only review worth having, and the only one Google lets you chase.
Never do this
- Offer money, a discount or free work for a review
- Filter out unhappy customers or route them elsewhere first
- Buy reviews or get mates who were never customers to post
- Set up an iPad and stand over people while they type
- Argue with a bad review in public
Do this instead
- Ask every customer the same, simple way
- Fix any grumbles on the day, before you ask
- Send the one-tap link so it is easy
- Let people write it in their own time, their own words
- Reply calmly to the odd bad one
The maths, made simple
How many reviews do you actually need?
People fixate on the star rating, so here is the honest maths. To work out how many new 5-star reviews it takes to lift your average, the sum is: your current number of reviews, times the gap up to your target, divided by five minus that target.
| Where you are now | Target | New 5-stars needed |
|---|---|---|
| 20 reviews at 4.0 | 4.5 | 20 |
| 50 reviews at 4.2 | 4.5 | 30 |
| 8 reviews at 4.6 | 4.7 | 3 |
| 10 at 5.0, then one 1-star drops you to 4.6 | back to 4.8 | about 9 |
The takeaway
Your first reviews are worth the most, so chase them hardest.
When you only have a handful, each new review swings your average a long way. A firm with two thousand reviews barely moves when a new one lands. So do not wait until you are “established” to start, the early reviews build your rating fastest and pull you up your free Google Maps listing while you are at it.
When one bites you
The unfair review, and what to actually do.
Every trade eventually gets one that stings: the customer furious you charged for the call-out, or a one-star from someone you are fairly sure was a competitor having a dig. Your first instinct is to get it deleted. Here is the reality. Google will only remove a review that breaks its rules, spam, something off-topic, or one from a person who was never your customer. A genuine bad review from a real job, however unfair it feels, almost never comes down.
So if it clearly breaks the rules, flag it and let Google judge, but do not pin your hopes on it. For everything else, your real lever is the reply, because every future customer reads how you handled it. A calm, factual, no-drama response beats an angry one every time.
A reply that wins the next customer
“Hi [name], sorry you weren't happy. We did agree the call-out charge before I came out, and it was on the quote, but I understand it's frustrating. Happy to talk it through on the phone any time.”
Slow and steady
A steady drip beats a big burst.
It is tempting to run a one-off blitz, text every customer you have ever had in one weekend and rack up twenty reviews. Do not. Thirty reviews in a week then silence for a year looks odd to Google and to anyone reading, and it does nothing for you the following month. A couple of fresh reviews every week, forever, tells Google you are a busy, trading business, keeps your listing looking alive, and means the newest review a customer sees is from last week, not two years ago.
The way you get that is not a campaign, it is a habit. Asking becomes the last step of every job, same as clearing up and sending the invoice. Do that and the reviews look after themselves. It is the same principle behind turning up where people reach for the phone and plugging the leaks in the work you already get.
The bigger picture
Reviews are proof. Your website is where it pays off.
Reviews do two jobs. They nudge your free Google Maps listing up so more people find you, and they reassure a stranger you are the real deal. But a pile of five-star reviews still leaks money if the person who reads them lands somewhere that makes calling you a faff. The review gets you looked at. Your website has to get you picked.
That is what we build for trades: a website that takes the trust your reviews earned and turns it into a booked job, for a hundred pounds a month. If you are weighing up whether you even need one, we wrote the honest answer in do I need a website.
Straight answers
Questions trades actually ask.
- How do I ask for more Google reviews?
- Ask in person, at the end of the job, when the customer is standing there happy with the work. That is the moment they will actually do it. Then, before you drive off, send them a text with your review link so it is one tap on their phone. Keep the words simple and never filter who you ask or offer anything in return.
- How can I increase my Google reviews fast?
- The quickest honest way is a text to your last few months of happy customers with a one-tap link, plus asking every new customer as you finish. What you must not do is buy reviews or bribe people with a discount, and do not get thirty mates to review you in a single week. A sudden unnatural spike looks fake to Google and can get the lot wiped.
- How do I get 1,000 Google reviews?
- There is no shortcut, and anyone selling you one is selling fake reviews that will get your profile suspended. A thousand reviews is just asking on every single job, for years. If you do ten jobs a week and roughly a third leave a review, that is around three a week, which stacks up over time. Make asking part of finishing the job and the number climbs on its own.
- How many 5-star reviews do I need to raise my rating?
- It depends where you are now and how many reviews you already have. The maths: reviews needed equals your current count times the gap to your target, divided by five minus the target. So 20 reviews at 4.0 stars needs 20 more 5-stars to reach 4.5. The good news for a smaller trade is that when you have only a handful of reviews, each new one shifts your average far more, so early reviews are the ones worth chasing hardest.
- Can I offer a discount for a Google review?
- No. Google bans offering money, discounts, or free work in exchange for a review, or for changing or removing one. It counts as fake and misleading content and can get your reviews taken down or your whole profile suspended. Ask for the honest opinion, not a bought one.
- How do I get my Google review link?
- Open your Google Business Profile signed in as the owner, choose "Read reviews" then "Get more reviews", and copy the short link it gives you (it looks like g.page/r/...). You can also save a QR code there. One catch worth knowing: Google only lets you generate the QR code on a computer, not on your phone, so make it once on a laptop and print it.
- Can I get a bad or fake Google review removed?
- Only if it breaks the rules Google sets, for example it is spam, from someone who was never your customer, or a competitor having a dig. You flag it and Google decides. A genuine bad review from a real customer will almost never be removed, so do not waste energy trying. Reply to it calmly instead, because the next customer reads how you handled it.
- Do Google reviews help me show up higher?
- Yes. Google says more reviews and positive ratings can help your local ranking, and reviews are one of the things that lift your free listing in the local map results. That is a reason to keep them coming, but it is a happy side effect. The real prize is that a stranger reads them and decides to call you instead of the next name on the list.
- Should I reply to my reviews?
- Yes, to all of them. Google recommends it, and a quick thank-you on the good ones and a calm, straight reply on the bad ones shows anyone reading that there is a real person behind the business who cares. It takes two minutes and it is free proof.
Reviews got you looked at. Want to get picked?
Tell us a bit about your business and we'll show you what a website built to turn that trust into booked work looks like, for a hundred pounds a month. Got a question first? Just message us.