Google Reviews for Tradies: Why Recent Beats Many

For a tradie on Google Maps, a steady trickle of recent reviews does more than a big pile of old ones. Reviews help decide whether you make the three businesses Google shows under the map, and recent ones show customers, and quite possibly Google, that you're still busy and still good. Here's how to keep them coming without it feeling awkward.

What reviews do for your spot on the map

Google sorts what it looks at for local results into three groups: relevance, distance and prominence. Reviews sit mostly under prominence. Google's own guidance for business owners says the number of reviews and your rating are part of how it ranks local businesses, and it encourages owners to ask customers for reviews and to reply to them.

Reviews do a second job that matters just as much. Once you're in the top three, the customer compares you with the two businesses beside you. The stars, the number of reviews and what the latest ones say are often what decides whether the call comes to you or goes to the next tradie.

Why recent beats many

Google has never published exactly how it treats the age of a review, so take this as practical sense rather than a formula. Look at it from the customer's side. An electrician with a big total whose newest review is two years old raises a question: are they still trading? An electrician with fewer reviews but a new one most weeks looks active and in demand.

Recent reviews also describe recent work. They talk about the jobs you do now, in the suburbs you work in now, with the team you have now. Old reviews can describe a business that has since changed. And a steady flow over months looks genuine, because it is.

The practical upshot: a new review most weeks is worth more than a burst of twenty in one month followed by a year of nothing.

A simple weekly routine for asking

The best time to ask is the moment the job is done and the customer is happy: the hot water is back, the lights work, the leak has stopped. Ask in person, in plain words: "Would you mind leaving us a quick Google review? It really helps a small business like ours."

Then text the link straight away, while you're still in the driveway. Your Business Profile has a link that opens the review box directly. Copy it once and save it in a text template, so sending it takes seconds and the customer doesn't have to search for you.

If there's no review after a few days, follow up once with a short, friendly text. Once. After that, leave it. A single reminder is helpful; a string of them is pestering.

Then set aside ten minutes on a Friday to check who you finished work for that week and who still needs a text. That's the whole system. It works because it happens every week, not because any one ask is clever. Keeping this routine going, along with the rest of your profile, is part of a done-for-you local SEO service if you'd rather not run it yourself.

Reply to every review, including the bad ones

Google encourages owners to reply to reviews, and customers read the replies. Keep it short and specific: thank the person and mention the job. "Thanks for having us, glad the new hot water system is running well" is better than a copy-pasted "Thanks for your review!" on every one.

A bad review needs a calm reply even more than a good one does. Don't argue in public. Say sorry for their experience, set out the facts briefly if something is wrong, and offer to sort it out by phone. The person you're really writing for isn't the one who left the review. It's the next customer deciding who to call.

If a review breaks Google's rules, such as one from someone who was never a customer, you can report it from your profile. Don't count on it coming down, though. A good reply is the part you control.

What not to do, and why Google removes it

Don't buy reviews. Don't pay anyone to post them, and don't swap reviews with other businesses. Google's policies ban fake engagement, and it removes reviews it detects as fake. A profile caught doing it can have reviews wiped or new ones blocked for a while. In Australia, fake reviews can also breach consumer law, and the ACCC has taken action over them.

Don't gate your reviews. Review gating means asking customers whether they're happy first and only sending the Google link to the ones who say yes. Google's policy says you shouldn't selectively ask for positive reviews. Send the same link to everyone.

Don't ask staff, family or friends. Google treats reviews from employees, owners and people close to the business as a conflict of interest and can remove them. They tend to look obvious to customers too.

And don't offer a discount or a gift in return for a review. Google's rules ban incentives, even for honest reviews.

Help reviews mention the service and the suburb

The words in a review can help with relevance as well. A review that says "fixed our blocked drain in Southport the same day" tells Google and future customers what you did and where you did it. You can't write reviews for people, and you shouldn't script them, but you can make it easy for them to be specific.

When you ask, mention the job naturally: "If you've got a minute, a review about how the drain job went would really help." Customers tend to pick up the words you use. When you reply, mention the job, and the suburb if the customer mentioned it first. Over time, your reviews start to describe the work you want more of, in the places you want to be found. Reviews like these also back up a page for each suburb you work in on your website, if you have one.

Your next step: see how your reviews stack up

Reviews are one part of the picture. Your category, your profile and your website feed the same ranking, and it's worth knowing which one is holding you back. A free ranking report shows where you appear on Google Maps from nine points across your suburb, and puts the three businesses above you side by side with you, reviews included. It's free, and you'll see exactly how your reviews compare with theirs.