Google Reviews 101: The BEST Free Marketing Tool!!
Making up an example here, say someone has just Googled “builder in Hawkes Bay.” Three businesses come up. One has 47 five-star reviews with recent photos and detailed feedback. One has 12 reviews, mostly good. One has 3 reviews, and the last one was from 2021.
Who gets the call?
Reviews are social proof. They are word of mouth for the internet age.
And for trade businesses where trust is everything — where someone is inviting your partner onto their property, into their home, to work on something they’ve saved up for — reviews can be the single thing that tips a potential customer from browsing to booking.
The best part? They’re completely free. You just have to ask for them.
🔥 Strike while the iron is hot 🔥
Timing is everything with reviews. The best moment to ask is right at the end of a job when the customer is standing there happy, relieved, excited about the finished result. That’s the moment the feeling is strongest and the motivation to do something about it is highest.
Leave it a week, and life gets in the way. Leave it a month, and they’ve half forgotten the details. Leave it too long and if anything minor has come up in the meantime — a small fault, a question they couldn’t get answered — suddenly the warm fuzzy feeling has cooled and you don’t know what you’re going to get.
Fresh off the job. That’s your window. Use it!!
Your partner can just say it straight — “if you get a chance to leave us a Google review it really helps us out.” Most happy customers will do it on the spot if you ask simply and genuinely.
People are not as precious about it as we think. Most of them just needed to be asked.
The QR Code Business Card Trick
This is a great idea for shy-er business owners or if you’re in a job that doesn’t have that much client contact… Get a small run of business cards printed with a QR code that links directly to your Google review page. Not your homepage. Not your Facebook. Straight to the review box, ready to go.
Then think about your job handover moment. When your partner hands back the car keys after a service. When he hands over the house keys on a new build. When he delivers a finished product or completes a big renovation. That’s your moment — and that little card goes with it.
Tuck it into a thank-you envelope. Add it to a small gift hamper for a new build handover. Paper clip it to the receipt. Have it sitting on the dashboard when the car comes back.
The customer is at peak happiness in that moment. The QR code is right there. One scan, thirty seconds, done. And you’ve got another five-star review working for your business forever.
Put It In Your Email Signature
This one takes five minutes to set up and works on autopilot forever.
Add a simple line to the bottom of every email you send on behalf of the business. Something like:
“The greatest reward for us is your referral — if you were happy with our work, we’d love it if you took one minute to leave us a Google review. It helps our small business hugely. [link]
Every invoice. Every quote follow up. Every job completion email. That little line is sitting there doing its job every single time without you having to think about it.
The Follow Up Message
For jobs where the handover isn’t face-to-face, a simple text or email a day or two after completion works really well. Keep it short, keep it genuine:
“Hey [name], so glad we could help with [job]. If you have a spare minute we’d really appreciate a Google review — here’s the direct link. It means a lot to us as a small business.”
That’s it. No essay. No pressure. Just a warm, genuine ask with the link right there so they don’t have to go searching.
Generate your direct Google review link for free — just Google “Google review link generator” and it’ll take you thirty seconds. Save it somewhere handy so you can drop it into messages easily.
Now, put those reviews on your website!!
Getting reviews is only half the job. Making sure potential customers actually see them is the other half.
On Pete’s website we have a carousel of our most recent Google reviews sitting directly under the hero section — one of the first things anyone sees when they land on the homepage. People want to know what others think before they commit to anything. Showing them right there, front and centre, before they’ve even scrolled — that’s doing a lot of work.
Add your reviews to your website. Your homepage, your individual service landing pages, anywhere a potential customer might be sitting on the fence. You don’t need a fancy plugin or widget — even just copying a handful of your best ones onto a testimonials section makes a big difference.
And when a great new review comes in — screenshot it, share it on social media, add it to your website. Fresh social proof is always worth showing off.
What About Bad Reviews?
They happen to even the best businesses. Here’s how to handle them:
Don’t ignore them. Don’t respond in anger. Take a breath, wait a day if you need to, then respond calmly and professionally. Acknowledge their experience, offer to make it right, take the conversation offline.
Here’s the thing most people don’t realise — a well-handled negative review can actually build more trust than a perfect five-star one. It shows you’re real, you’re accountable, and you care about getting it right. Customers know that not every job goes perfectly. They want to know how you handle it when things don’t.
Never get into a back-and-forth argument in the comments. One calm, professional response, and leave it there.
Get the ball rolling!
If you’re starting from zero reviews — don’t panic. Everyone starts somewhere.
Reach out to past clients you know were happy with the work. A simple personal message asking if they’d mind leaving a review goes a long way. And look — a few reviews from family members or close friends who can genuinely vouch for the quality of the work never hurt anyone when you’re just getting started.
Aim to get to ten reviews as your first goal. Ten solid reviews changes how your Google Business Profile looks completely. Then keep the habit going — one new review a week is a great rhythm to aim for.
Remember, reviews are free!!!! They’re powerful!!! And your happiest customers are usually more than happy to leave one — they just need to be asked at the right moment, made it easy enough to do it, and reminded that it genuinely matters to your small business.