If your competitor down the road keeps showing up ahead of you in Google, there's a fair chance the difference is reviews. Google treats them as proof that real people use and rate your business, and businesses with plenty of good reviews consistently outrank the ones without. Here's how to get more of them without being dodgy about it.
Why reviews matter: they're one of the biggest ranking factors for the Local Pack, the map results that show up first. More reviews means more clicks, and most people read reviews before choosing a local business, so they do double duty: they get you seen, then they close the deal.
First things first: get your direct review link
Before you start asking customers for reviews, make leaving one stupid simple. Nobody hunts around for your review section because you said "leave us a Google review."
Here's how to grab your direct review link:
- Go to your Google Business Profile
- Click "Ask for reviews" in the dashboard
- Copy that link. It'll look something like google.com/search?q=YourBusinessName
- Test it yourself first to make sure it goes straight to the review box
Save this link somewhere handy. You'll use it constantly.
When to ask
Ask when your customer is happiest, which is almost always straight away. For tradies, that's when the job's done and they've looked it over. For cafes and restaurants, at the till if the meal clearly went down well. For accommodation, on checkout day. Leave it a few weeks and most people have moved on; the window closes fast, so ask within a day or two while the job's still fresh.
How to actually ask
The text message (works best)
Texts get read; marketing emails mostly don't. Keep it short and include your direct link:
"Hi [Name], thanks for choosing us today. If you're happy with the work, would you mind leaving a quick review? [Your review link] Cheers, Matt"
Email follow-up
If you collect email addresses, send a short follow-up the next day. Keep it personal and brief, include the direct link, and make it clear you're only asking if they're happy.
The in-person ask
Works brilliantly for service businesses if you're genuine about it: "If you're happy with how everything went today, we'd really appreciate a Google review. It helps other locals find us."
What about bad reviews?
You'll get one eventually. It's not the end of the world, and handling it well in public can do more for your reputation than another five-star.
Respond to every review, good and bad. Google notices businesses that engage with reviewers. For the good ones, a short genuine thanks is plenty.
For the bad ones: reply within a day, stay professional no matter how unfair it feels, acknowledge the problem, and offer to sort it out privately. Never argue in the replies. Every future customer reads them.
Example response: "Thanks for the feedback, Sarah. I'm sorry you weren't happy with [specific issue]. I'd love to discuss this with you directly. Please give me a call on [number] so we can sort it out."
Don't buy fake reviews
I get it. When a competitor is obviously running fake reviews, matching them is tempting. Don't. Google has become very good at spotting the patterns: batches of reviews from the same connection, accounts with no review history, suspiciously similar wording across reviews, a sudden rush after years of silence.
The penalty can be a suspended Business Profile, which means disappearing from local search entirely, sometimes for months. No shortcut is worth that trade.
Want a hand with your own digital work?
Tell me what you're working on and I'll tell you what I'd actually do about it. No script, no pitch.
Have a chat with MattMake asking a habit
Getting reviews isn't a one-off push. You need a system: train your team to ask (so it doesn't all sit with you), build the ask into your standard follow-up, put the link in your email signature, stick a small sign by the till. The businesses with heaps of reviews aren't lucky. Asking is simply part of how they finish a job.
Frequently asked questions
How many Google reviews do I need to rank well locally?
Enough to be competitive in your own market, which varies by town. My own agency sits on 12 five-star reviews, and in a market the size of Mallacoota that does real work. In a bigger centre you'll want dozens. Either way, a steady trickle of new ones matters more than the total.
Can I incentivise customers to leave Google reviews?
No. Google's guidelines prohibit offering incentives for reviews, and incentivised reviews get detected and removed. Good service plus a polite ask is the whole playbook.
How long does it take for Google reviews to help my rankings?
New reviews show on your profile within a day or two, but the ranking effect builds over months as the count and the recency stack up. Reviews are a compounding asset, not a switch you flip.
Getting more Google reviews isn't complicated, it's just systematic. The businesses that get heaps are the ones where asking is routine. If you want help setting up a proper review system, or someone to sort out your Google Business Profile while they're at it, drop me a line. No fancy packages or complicated strategies, just practical stuff that works.