If you are a tradesperson in the UK, your Google reviews are doing more selling than you realise. When a homeowner searches "electrician near me" or "plumber in Leeds," Google does not show them the most experienced tradesperson or the cheapest. It shows them the ones with the most reviews and the highest ratings.
A 2025 BrightLocal survey found that 87% of consumers read online reviews for local businesses, and 73% only pay attention to reviews written in the last three months. For tradespeople, where trust is everything, this makes Google reviews the single most valuable free marketing tool available.
And yet most tradespeople have fewer than ten reviews. Many have none at all.
Let us fix that.
Why Google reviews matter more than any other platform
You might have reviews on Checkatrade, MyBuilder, or Trustpilot. Those are fine, but they are not Google. Here is why the distinction matters:
Google reviews appear in search results. When someone searches for your trade in your area, your Google Business Profile (with its star rating and review count) shows up directly in the search results and on Google Maps. No other review platform gets that kind of visibility for free.
Google reviews build trust before you even speak to the customer. By the time a potential customer calls you, they have already read your reviews. If you have 40 reviews at 4.8 stars, you have pre-sold yourself before saying a word. If you have 3 reviews at 4 stars, the customer is still weighing up whether to trust you.
Google reviews improve your search ranking. Google's local search algorithm heavily weights review quantity, quality, and recency. More reviews (especially recent ones) push you higher in the "map pack" - the box of three local businesses that appears at the top of search results. That is prime real estate.
You own your Google reviews. If Checkatrade changes its algorithm or pricing, your reviews there lose value overnight. Your Google Business Profile is free, permanent, and directly tied to your business identity.
Step one - set up your Google Business Profile properly
Before asking for reviews, make sure your profile is worth reviewing. If a customer clicks through and sees a blank profile with no photos and no description, the review feels pointless.
Spend 20 minutes getting this right:
- Business name: Use your actual trading name, not keywords. "Dave's Plumbing" is fine. "Dave's Plumbing - Best Plumber in Manchester - Emergency Plumber 24/7" will get your profile suspended.
- Category: Choose your primary trade. You can add secondary categories too (for example, "Plumber" as primary, "Bathroom Refitter" as secondary).
- Service area: List the towns and postcodes you cover.
- Photos: Add at least 5-10 photos of completed work. Before-and-after shots work brilliantly. Add a photo of yourself too - people hire people, not logos.
- Description: Write a clear paragraph about who you are, what you do, and what area you cover. Keep it factual and professional.
- Hours: Set your working hours accurately.
A complete profile gets seven times more clicks than an empty one, according to Google's own data.
Step two - ask every happy customer
This is where most tradespeople fall down. They know reviews matter, but they feel awkward asking. Here is the reality: happy customers are almost always willing to leave a review. They just need to be asked.
The best time to ask is immediately after the job, when the customer is happiest. You have just solved their problem, their new bathroom looks brilliant, or their boiler is finally working again. That is the moment.
In person (most effective): "Really glad you're happy with it. Would you mind leaving me a quick Google review? It makes a massive difference for small businesses like mine."
That is it. No long explanation, no grovelling. Most people will say yes.
By message (for follow-up): If you did not ask on site, send a message the same evening or the next morning:
"Hi [name], thanks again for having me out today. If you're happy with the work, I'd really appreciate a quick Google review - it helps other customers find me. Here's the link: [your review link]"
The critical part is including a direct link. If the customer has to search for your business, find your profile, and work out where the review button is, most will not bother. Make it one click.
Step three - make the link easy to find
Google provides a direct review link for every business. Here is how to get yours:
- Go to your Google Business Profile dashboard
- Click "Ask for reviews" or search for "Google review link generator"
- Copy the short link
Once you have it, put it everywhere:
- Save it in your phone so you can text it to customers instantly
- Add it to your email signature - "Happy with our work? Leave us a Google review"
- Print it on a card - a small business card with a QR code linking to your review page. Hand it over with your invoice
- Add it to your invoices - a line at the bottom saying "We'd love your feedback" with the link
The fewer steps between "I should leave a review" and actually leaving one, the more reviews you will get.
Step four - respond to every review
This is the step most tradespeople skip, and it is a mistake. Responding to reviews does three things:
- It shows potential customers you care. When someone reads your reviews and sees that you have personally thanked each reviewer, it builds trust.
- It encourages more reviews. People are more likely to leave a review if they can see you actually read and respond to them.
- It helps your search ranking. Google has confirmed that responding to reviews improves your local search visibility.
Keep responses brief and genuine:
- For positive reviews: "Thanks, [name] - really glad you're happy with the bathroom. Give us a shout if you ever need anything else."
- For constructive feedback: "Thanks for the feedback, [name]. Sorry about [issue] - we've [taken steps to fix it]. Appreciate you letting us know."
Handling negative reviews
Every tradesperson dreads a bad review. But one negative review among 30 positive ones actually increases credibility - a perfect 5.0 rating looks suspicious. Businesses with ratings between 4.2 and 4.8 actually convert better than those with a perfect score.
If you get a negative review:
- Do not respond emotionally. Write your response, then wait an hour before posting it.
- Acknowledge the issue. Even if you disagree, start with empathy: "Sorry to hear you were not happy with [aspect]."
- Offer to resolve it offline. "I'd like to make this right - could you give me a call on [number] so we can sort it out?"
- Never argue publicly. Future customers are watching. Your response tells them more about your character than the original review does.
If a review is fake, defamatory, or from someone who was never a customer, you can flag it to Google for removal. It does not always work, but it is worth trying.
How many reviews do you need?
There is no magic number, but here are some benchmarks:
- 0-5 reviews: You are invisible. Potential customers will scroll past you.
- 10-20 reviews: You are credible. Customers will consider you alongside competitors.
- 30-50 reviews: You are dominant in most local markets. You will appear consistently in the map pack.
- 50+ reviews: You are the obvious choice. At this point, your reviews are a genuine competitive moat.
If you complete 3-4 jobs per week and ask every customer for a review, you can reasonably expect 1-2 reviews per week. Within six months, you will have 25-50 reviews. That is a transformational difference for your business.
Keep them coming
Reviews from two years ago are worth less than reviews from last month. Google weights recency heavily, and customers trust recent reviews more than old ones. This is not a one-off project - it is an ongoing habit.
Build it into your job completion routine. Finish the work, tidy up, take a photo for your portfolio, and ask for a review. If you do it every time, it becomes automatic.
Having a professional online presence helps too. When customers can see your services, certifications, and completed work on a proper profile, they feel more confident leaving a public review. traidhand gives you a public business profile with a built-in enquiry form - so when a customer finds you through Google and wants to get in touch, the whole journey is seamless.
The bottom line
Google reviews are free, permanent, and more powerful than any paid advertising you could buy. The tradespeople who are fully booked are not just good at their trade - they have built a visible, trusted reputation online.
Start today. Ask your next happy customer for a review. Then ask the next one. Six months from now, your phone will be ringing more than it does today.
Ready to build your online presence? Try traidhand free - get your own professional profile, manage enquiries in one place, and make it easy for customers to find and trust you.