For contractors and trades
Reviews for contractors — earn them, then show them
A homeowner about to let a stranger into their house for three weeks is buying reassurance before they buy the work. When three quotes land within the same range, the job goes to whoever looks safest — and that judgement gets made on a phone, reading reviews, before anyone calls you back.
Last reviewed by the Reviews Widget product team.
Why reviews win the quote
Trade buyers cannot inspect the product before they commit, so they substitute other people's experience for their own. Recency matters more than volume: twelve reviews from this year read as more reassuring than eighty reviews that stop three years ago.
BrightLocal's ongoing consumer research finds people read the substance of reviews rather than stopping at the star average, and that Google remains the dominant place they look. For trades that means detailed reviews naming the job type do more work than a bare five-star count.
How to ask for reviews on a job site
Ask on the final day, in person, while the customer is looking at finished work. Follow with a text containing a direct review link the same afternoon. That combination converts far better than an email sent a week later once the relief has faded.
| Moment | Action | Why it works |
|---|---|---|
| Final walkthrough | Ask face to face | Highest goodwill point of the entire job |
| Same afternoon | Text a direct review link | Removes searching for your listing |
| Invoice | Add a review link and QR code | Reaches the person who signs off the work |
| Website, always on | Write-a-review button listing every platform | Captures referrals and repeat customers |
| Quarterly | Reply to every review received | Shows prospects how you handle problems |
Never offer discounts for positive reviews or screen customers before asking — Google's contributed-content policies prohibit incentivised reviews, and consumer regulators treat review gating as deceptive conduct.
Which platforms trades should connect
| Platform | Best for | Priority |
|---|---|---|
| Emergency, local and 'near me' searches via Maps | Essential | |
| Community referrals and local group recommendations | High | |
| ProductReview.com.au | Australian homeowners comparing trades before enquiring | High (AU) |
| Trustpilot | Larger firms and franchise operations | Medium |
| Yelp / TripAdvisor | Metro service areas and hospitality fit-out work | Medium |
| On-site manual reviews | Long-standing customers not active on review sites | Useful supplement |
Placement on a trade website
Put reviews immediately above every quote form. A homeowner reaches that form having decided you might be the one — the reviews sitting directly above it are the last thing they read before typing their phone number.
- Home: grid with the aggregate rating header, six to nine reviews.
- Each service page: a widget filtered to reviews about that trade or job type.
- Quote / contact page: compact list directly above the form.
- Sitewide: floating star badge so the rating follows the visitor.
Layout options are covered in customisation.
Job photos and long-form reviews
Trade reviews tend to be long — homeowners describe the whole project. Use word truncation with a per-review Load more control so the grid stays scannable, and keep review photos enabled: a customer's own photo of finished work is stronger evidence than a portfolio shot, because visitors know you did not choose it.
Sources & further reading
- BrightLocal Local Consumer Review Survey 2025 — How consumers research local service businesses and which platforms they use
- Google Business Profile — how reviews affect local ranking — Relevance, distance and prominence for service-area businesses
- Google Business Profile — prohibited and restricted content — Why incentivised or gated review collection breaches platform policy