The question every customer asks without saying it
When someone searches for a plumber, a barber or a cleaner in their town, Google shows them a handful of local businesses with stars next to each name. They spend a few seconds looking. Then they pick.
They don't know who has the neatest pipework or the friendliest manner. All they can see is the number of reviews and the stars. So they ask themselves one question: who do other people trust?
A business with three reviews might be brilliant. To a stranger, it looks like a gamble.
Most good businesses are stuck at the bottom
We looked at the Google reviews of 41,873 UK trade businesses for our review gap study. The results were brutal.
- ●46% had no Google reviews at all.
- ●71% had fewer than 10. The typical business had just one.
- ●Only 7% had 100 or more.
- ●Yet the ones that do get reviewed average 4.8 stars. The work clearly isn't the problem. Nobody is asking.
And it costs more than one job
Google says reviews help a business stand out in local results, and both the number and the score count. So a thin review count doesn't just lose you today's call. It keeps you lower down for the next search, and the one after that.
The cruel part? You never find out. Nobody rings to say they chose someone else because you only had three reviews. The phone just goes quiet, and you put it down to a slow month.
So how many is enough?
There's no magic number, because you're not competing with the whole country. You're competing with the three or four businesses that appear next to you in your own town. Here's a simple way to set your target:
- ●Step one: get to 10. That alone lifts you above most of the businesses in our study, and it stops your listing looking empty.
- ●Step two: match your local leaders. Search for your trade and your town, note how many reviews the top three have, and aim to reach the middle of that range.
- ●Step three: keep them coming. A steady trickle every month looks real and keeps you fresh. Twenty in one week and then nothing for a year looks odd.
- ●Never buy, swap or fake them. Fake reviews have been illegal in the UK since April 2025, and Google removes them.
The easy way to get there
The fix is almost embarrassingly simple: ask every happy customer, at the right moment, with a link that takes them ten seconds. Our guide on how to get more Google reviews walks through it step by step.
The hard part is remembering to do it after every single job. That's why every website we build comes with review requests that go out automatically by text and email when you mark a job as done. Nobody has to remember. The reviews just keep coming. It's part of the Complete Business Package, alongside a website built for your trade, like our websites for plumbers and websites for roofers.
Where do you stand today?
Search for your trade and your town right now and count the reviews next to the top three names. If they're well ahead of you, it's almost certainly not because they're better at the job.
Start with a free report on your business and we'll show you exactly where you stand and what would close the gap.
Common questions
How many Google reviews does a small business need?
Enough to match the businesses that appear next to you in your own town. A good first target is 10, which puts you ahead of most UK trade businesses, then aim for the middle of what your top three local competitors have, and keep adding a few every month.
Do Google reviews help you show up higher?
Google says reviews help a business stand out in local results, and that both the number of reviews and the rating count. They also strongly affect whether people choose you once they see you.
Is it better to get lots of reviews at once?
No. A steady flow every month looks natural and keeps your profile fresh. Never buy or fake reviews: it has been illegal in the UK since April 2025.
What is the easiest way to get more Google reviews?
Ask every happy customer straight after the job, with a direct link to your review page. Automatic text and email requests sent when a job is marked done mean you never forget.