A business with 180 reviews and nothing new for a year looks less alive than a business with 40 reviews and three from last week. Customers read recency before they read totals.
Why this matters
Reviews do two jobs. They reassure the person deciding, and they tell Google your business is active and well regarded. A steady trickle does both. A burst followed by silence does neither for long.
Practical advice
- Ask every satisfied customer, at the moment the job feels finished.
- Make it one tap. A short message with a direct link beats a printed card.
- Aim for a rhythm you can sustain: a few each week is far better than thirty in one month.
- Reply to every review, good or bad. See Responding to negative reviews.
- Never offer incentives. It breaches Google's policy and Australian consumer law takes a dim view of it.
Common mistakes
- Campaign thinking: a big push, then nothing.
- Asking only the customers you are sure will rave, which reads as unnatural.
- Buying reviews. They get filtered, and the damage is hard to undo.
- Leaving reviews unanswered, which reads as indifference.
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