How to Get More Google Reviews for Your Small Business (And Why Most Businesses Get This Wrong!)
By Alex Stuart. Founder, Faro Pro.
Let me start with something most marketing advice won't tell you….
The number one reason small businesses don't have Google reviews isn't that their customers are unhappy. It's that they never asked.
That's it. That's the whole problem for the majority of businesses I assess. Years of happy customers, zero Google reviews, and a competitors with half the quality and twice the visibility simply because they built a simple system for asking.
This guide will show you exactly how to fix that. Not in theory. Step by step, with the actual words to use, the tools that work, and the mistakes to avoid.
First — Why Google Reviews Matter More Than Any Other Review Platform
Before we get into the how, let's be clear on the why. Because if you're spending time on Yell, Trustpilot, or Checkatrade reviews before you've addressed Google, you're working in the wrong order.
Google reviews matter more because of where they appear.
When someone searches "electrician Guildford" or "dentist Fareham" on their phone, the first thing they see — before any websites, before any ads — is the Google Maps local pack. Three businesses, their star ratings, and their review counts. That's the decision point. That's where your customer chooses who to call.
A business with 40 Google reviews at 5.0 stars wins that comparison every single time, regardless of how good the website below it looks.
Yell reviews don't appear there. Checkatrade reviews don't appear there. Facebook reviews don't appear there.
Google reviews do.
So if you're only going to focus on one review platform, it's Google. Full stop.
Why You Don't Have Enough Reviews Yet (Be Honest With Yourself)
Here's what I see when I run a Digital Health Check on a small business:
A plumber who's been trading for 11 years. Hundreds of satisfied customers. A full diary. Zero Google reviews.
It's not because the customers were unhappy. It's because of one of these three reasons:
1. You never asked. The job was done, the customer was happy, and you moved on to the next one. Asking for a review felt awkward, or pushy, or just didn't occur to you in the moment.
2. You asked, but made it too hard. "Leave us a review on Google" without a direct link is asking someone to do four steps of work on your behalf. Most people won't. Not because they don't want to — because friction kills good intentions.
3. You asked at the wrong time. Asking for a review three weeks after a job, in a generic email newsletter, to a list of 200 people, gets you nothing. Asking the right customer, at the right moment, with a direct link, gets you a review within hours.
The fix for all three is the same. A simple, repeatable system.
Step 1 — Get Your Google Review Link
Before you can ask anyone for a review, you need the direct link that takes them straight to the review box. Not to your Google Business Profile homepage. Straight to the box where they write the review.
Here's how to get it:
Go to Google and search for your business name
Find your Google Business Profile in the results
Click "Get more reviews" (if you're the verified owner, this button is visible in your profile panel)
Copy the link it generates
If you can't find that button, go to your Google Business Profile dashboard at business.google.com, click "Get more reviews" from the home screen, and copy the link there.
That link will look something like this: https://g.page/r/XXXXXXXXX/review
Save it somewhere you can access it easily. You're going to use it a lot!
If you haven't claimed your Google Business Profile yet, stop reading and do that now. Without a claimed and verified profile, customers cannot leave you a Google review at all. Go to business.google.com, search for your business, and follow the verification steps, either through phone/email, video or Postcard! (Yes, really, an actual postcard! It takes about a week for Google to verify by postcard, so do it today.
Step 2 — Shorten the Link
The link Google gives you is long and ugly. Before you start sending it to customers, shorten it using a free tool like Bitly (bitly.com) or TinyURL (tinyurl.com). Bitly is better, in my opinion.
Create a free account and customise the link to something memorable: bit.ly/review-[yourbusinessname]
This makes it easy to include in texts, emails, WhatsApp messages, and on printed materials without it looking like spam.
Step 3 — Ask at the Right Moment
This is where most businesses get it wrong even when they do everything else right.
The right moment to ask for a Google review is within 24 hours of completing the job, while the experience is still fresh and the customer is still feeling the positive emotion of having their problem solved.
Not three weeks later. Not in a monthly email newsletter. Not on a generic leaflet in their paperwork.
Within 24 hours. Personally. With a direct link. Make it as Easy as possible for your customer, at the time they have strong positive feelings towards your business.
The three best channels for this, in order of effectiveness:
SMS / WhatsApp — highest response rate A short personal text sent the same day or the morning after. This feels personal, arrives on the device they use most, and is easy to act on immediately.
Here's the exact message that works:
"Hi [Name], really glad we could sort that [job] for you yesterday. If you have 2 minutes, an honest Google review would mean a lot to us — it really helps other people find us. Here's the direct link: [your short link]. Thanks, [Your name]"
That's it. No fluff. No pressure. A genuine ask with a frictionless link. They click straight through, write a few lines. Done.
Email — good for following up If you have customer email addresses, a follow-up email the next morning works well for customers you didn't text. Keep the same honest, direct tone. Don't make it a template that looks like a template.
In person — often overlooked If you're with the customer at the end of a job and they say "brilliant, thank you" — that's your moment. Say: "Really glad you're happy — if you ever get a minute, a Google review genuinely helps us. I can send you the link right now if you like?" Then text them the link on the spot.
Step 4 — Build It Into Your Process, Not Your Memory
The businesses that consistently accumulate reviews don't rely on remembering to ask. They build the ask into a system that runs automatically.
Here's the simplest possible version:
Manual system (start here): At the end of every job, open your notes app, find your customer's number, and send the text above. Takes 45 seconds. Do this for every job for one month and see what happens to your review count!
Semi-automated system (once you're doing volume): Create a template in your phone's messages app with the review request text already written. You just change the name and the job description, then send. Saves 30 seconds per message, which adds up.
Fully automated system (when you're ready to scale): Online tools like NiceJob, Podium, or Grade.us connect to your job management software (if you have it) and automatically send a review request by SMS or email after you’ve marked the job complete. These do cost, between £30-80 per month, but require no manual action once set up. How much are those reviews worth to you?
For most small businesses reading this, the manual system is where to start. It's free, it works, and it teaches you what messaging your customers actually respond to before you automate anything.
Step 5 — What to Do When You Get a Review
Every review you receive — positive or negative — deserves a response. Here's why this matters more than most people realise.
When a potential customer reads your reviews, they don't just read the star rating. They read how you respond. A thoughtful, genuine response to a 5-star review shows personality and care. A professional, calm response to a negative review shows integrity.
Google also takes review responses as a signal of an active, engaged business — which helps your ranking in local search.
For positive reviews: Don't just write "Thank you for your review!" That's a wasted opportunity. Acknowledge something specific, use their name, and keep it genuine.
"Thanks so much [Name] — really glad the rewire went smoothly. It was a pleasure working at the house and we'd be happy to help again anytime."
For negative reviews: Take a breath before you respond. Never get defensive. Acknowledge the experience, apologise for the fact that they felt let down, and offer to discuss it offline.
"[Name], thank you for taking the time to leave feedback. I'm sorry to hear your experience wasn't what you expected — that's not the standard we hold ourselves to. I'd genuinely like to understand what happened. Please get in touch directly at [email] so we can make it right."
This response does three things: it shows future customers you take complaints seriously, it demonstrates professionalism to anyone reading, and it opens a private channel to resolve the issue.
Step 6 — How to Ethically Recover If You're Starting From Zero
If you have zero or very few Google reviews and you've been trading for years, here's the fastest ethical way to build your review base quickly.
Go back through old customers. Look through your job history, your invoices, your messages. Identify the 15-20 customers you know were genuinely happy with your work. Send each of them a personal message — not a bulk email, a personal one — explaining that you're working to improve your online presence and that a Google review from someone who knows your work would mean a great deal.
The personal nature of the ask, from someone they know and trust, will generate a far higher response rate than any automated system.
Do this once to establish your baseline. Use the ongoing system from Step 3 to keep building from there.
Never offer incentives for reviews! This violates Google's review policies and can result in your reviews being removed or your profile being suspended. The risk isn’t worth it. Honest reviews from real customers, earned through good work and a simple ask, are the only ones you want.
What a Healthy Google Review Profile Looks Like
Since you've read this far, here's a benchmark to work towards:
In the first 3 months: 10-20 Google reviews, predominantly 5-star, with genuine, specific content from real customers. This is enough to start appearing competitively in local search results.
After 6 months: 30-50 reviews, consistent rating above 4.7, with regular new reviews showing recent activity. Google rewards recency — a business with 100 reviews and no new ones in 6 months ranks lower than a business with 40 reviews and 3 new ones this month.
Long term: A consistent system that generates 2-4 new reviews per month automatically, a response habit for every review, and a rating that reflects the quality of your actual work.
The Honest Summary
Getting more Google reviews is not complicated. It is not expensive. It does not require an agency or a marketing budget.
It requires three things:
A claimed and verified Google Business Profile. A direct link to your review page. The habit of asking every happy customer, at the right moment, with no friction.
That's it.
The businesses that dominate local search in your area aren't necessarily better than you. They've just built this into how they operate. There's no reason you can't do the same — starting today.
If you want to know exactly how your business is performing on Google reviews and the other 6 digital health criteria, request a free executive summary here. No strings. No pitch. Just clarity.