How to Get More Google Reviews as a Tradesperson

When a homeowner searches for a tradesperson online, the first thing they look at — after your name and trade — is your reviews. A strong Google review profile is one of the most powerful marketing assets you can have. It builds trust before you even speak to the client, and it directly affects how high you appear in local search results. Yet most tradespeople leave reviews entirely to chance.

Here is how to take control of your review profile and use it to win more work.

Why Google Reviews Matter

Google uses reviews as a major ranking factor for local search. When someone types "electrician near me" or "plumber in Bristol," Google decides which businesses to show in the map results based partly on the number and quality of reviews. More reviews with higher ratings means better visibility, which means more enquiries without spending a penny on advertising.

Beyond the algorithm, reviews influence human decisions. Research consistently shows that the vast majority of consumers trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations. For tradespeople, where trust is everything, a profile with dozens of genuine five-star reviews is worth more than any advert. It is one of the most effective ways to find work as a tradesperson in a competitive market.

Setting Up Your Google Business Profile

Before you can collect Google reviews, you need a Google Business Profile (formerly Google My Business). If you have not set one up yet, it is free and takes about fifteen minutes. Go to business.google.com, enter your business name, trade category, and service area. You can operate as a service-area business without displaying your home address — this is the option most sole traders choose.

Complete your profile thoroughly: add your phone number, website, opening hours, a description of your services, and several photos of your completed work. A complete profile ranks higher and looks more trustworthy to potential clients than a bare-bones listing.

How to Ask for Reviews

The number one reason tradespeople do not have enough reviews is simply that they do not ask. Most satisfied clients are perfectly happy to leave a review — they just do not think to do it unless prompted. The trick is to make asking a routine part of your process.

Timing is everything. The best moment to ask is right after you have completed the work and the client is pleased with the result. Their satisfaction is at its peak, and the details are fresh in their mind. A simple "I am glad you are happy with the work — would you mind leaving a quick Google review? It really helps my business" is all it takes.

Make it easy. Do not expect clients to search for your profile themselves. Send a direct link to your review page via text or WhatsApp immediately after asking. You can find your direct review link in your Google Business Profile dashboard under "Ask for reviews." The fewer steps involved, the more people will follow through.

Responding to Reviews

Responding to every review — positive and negative — shows potential clients that you are engaged, professional, and care about customer satisfaction. For positive reviews, a brief thank you is sufficient: "Thanks for the kind words, Sarah. Glad you are happy with the new bathroom — it was a pleasure working with you."

Negative reviews require more care but are not the disaster many tradespeople fear. Respond calmly and professionally. Acknowledge the issue, offer to resolve it, and take the conversation offline by providing a phone number or email. Potential clients who read your response will judge you on how you handle the complaint, not on the complaint itself. A measured, professional response to a negative review can actually boost your credibility. This kind of professionalism carries through to every part of your business, including how you present your work — something we cover in our guide on why professional proposals win more work.

Avoiding Fake Reviews

It can be tempting to ask friends or family to leave reviews, or to use services that sell fake reviews. Do not do it. Google is increasingly sophisticated at detecting fake reviews and will remove them — or worse, penalise your entire profile. Fake reviews also undermine the trust that genuine reviews build. Focus on doing excellent work and asking real clients consistently, and the numbers will come.

How Many Reviews Do You Need?

There is no magic number, but as a general rule, aim for at least twenty to thirty reviews to start seeing a meaningful impact on your local search visibility. The tradespeople who dominate the map results in competitive areas typically have fifty or more reviews. More importantly, you need a steady flow of recent reviews — Google values freshness, so a hundred reviews from two years ago carry less weight than twenty reviews from the past three months.

Make review collection an ongoing habit rather than a one-off push. If you complete two or three jobs a week and ask for a review each time, you will build a strong profile within a few months. Combined with the other strategies in our guide to growing your trade business, a solid review profile creates a flywheel of visibility, trust, and new enquiries that sustains itself over time.