Online reviews: getting more and handling the bad ones
The businesses with the most reviews are simply the ones who ask, every time, at the moment the customer is happiest. Make asking part of finishing every job: say it in person, then send a direct review link the same day by text or email. Reply to every review. Never pay or incentivise reviewers, which breaches both Google rules and UK consumer law. Handle bad reviews with facts and composure; they are read by future customers, not past ones.
Why reviews decide local winners
Reviews do double duty: they persuade humans and they rank you. In the map results, review volume, recency and ratings visibly separate the top three from everyone else. On the human side, most customers read reviews before ringing and a business sitting on 4.8 with 60 reviews wins the shortlist against 5.0 with four. Recency matters more than people think; a wall of reviews from 2022 reads as decline.
Building the asking habit
- Get your direct review link from your Google Business Profile (the "Ask for reviews" button gives you a short URL).
- Ask in person as the job ends, when satisfaction is highest: "It genuinely helps us, takes about a minute."
- Send the link the same day by text where you can; texts convert far better than emails.
- Make it a fixture of finishing every job, not a campaign you run twice a year.
- Reply to every review within a few days. Two sentences is plenty. Replies show future customers, and Google, that someone is home.
What you must not do: pay for reviews, offer discounts for them, run prize draws for reviewers, or "review gate" by only sending happy customers the link. All of it breaches Google policy, and paid or fake reviews now sit squarely against UK consumer protection law. The clean version works better anyway.
The bad review playbook
One calm rule: your reply is written for the hundreds of future customers reading it, not the one angry author. Acknowledge, state your side factually and briefly, take it offline: "Sorry this fell short. Our records show X; call me directly on Y and I will sort it." No sarcasm, no essays, no arguing in public. A well-handled bad review among many good ones actually increases trust; a defensive rant undoes fifty five-star jobs.
For fake or malicious reviews, reply once, factually noting you have no record of the customer, then report it via your profile and request removal. Removal is slow and not guaranteed, which is another reason volume is your best defence: one unfair review in eighty is noise.
Frequently asked questions
Can I ask customers for Google reviews?
Yes. Asking is allowed and essential; virtually every well-reviewed business asks systematically. What is prohibited is compensating people for reviews, faking them, or filtering so only happy customers get asked.
Should I reply to positive reviews too?
Yes, briefly. It signals an attentive business to readers and engagement to Google. One or two specific sentences beat a copied "Thanks for your feedback!" pasted forty times.
How do I remove a fake Google review?
Report it from your profile (three-dot menu on the review, then flag), choose the policy it violates, and reply publicly in the meantime stating calmly that you have no record of the reviewer. Google removes clear violations but slowly. Keep building genuine reviews while you wait; dilution beats deletion.
Where should reviews go: Google, Facebook or my website?
Google first, because it powers local rankings and is where strangers check you. Then showcase your best Google reviews on your website, where you control presentation. Facebook recommendations are a bonus for community visibility.
The short version
- Ask every customer, in person then by same-day text link.
- Never pay, incentivise or filter; it is against Google rules and UK law.
- Reply to everything: briefly to praise, calmly and factually to complaints.
- Volume and recency are the goal; they rank you and they drown the occasional unfair one.
Rather skip all this?
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