How Vancouver Trades Get More Google Reviews (and Turn Them into Booked Jobs)

Doorcare, a Metro Vancouver garage door company, went from 140 Google reviews to 400 in twelve months. Nobody bribed anyone. The owner did not stand over customers with a tablet. They built a system, and the system ran while the crews worked. This is the system.

Why reviews are the ranking factor you can control

Google decides which three businesses appear in the map pack using three things: how close you are, how relevant your profile is, and how prominent you are. Reviews feed the last two. The number and pace of reviews signal prominence. The words inside them signal relevance, which is why a review that says “installed a heat pump in our Kitsilano house” helps you rank for heat pumps in Kitsilano and a review that says “great service” helps you rank for nothing in particular.

There is a second effect that matters more to your bank account. When a homeowner sees three plumbers in the map pack, the one with 4.9 stars and 300 reviews gets the call, and the one with 4.9 stars and 18 reviews does not, even though the work is probably the same. Reviews are the deciding vote in a tie, and in Metro Vancouver most trades are tied on everything else.

The rules, so you do not lose everything

Google removes reviews and can suspend a profile for a few specific things. Do not pay for reviews or offer discounts for them. Do not ask only happy customers while steering unhappy ones elsewhere, which Google calls review gating. Do not write reviews for yourself or have staff or family do it. Do not run a contest for reviewers. Everything in the rest of this article is allowed: asking every customer, making it easy, and following up.

The system, step by step

1. Get the direct review link

In your Google Business Profile, under “Ask for reviews”, copy the short link. Put it in a shortener you control so you can change it later. This link opens the review box directly. Never send people to “search for us on Google”.

2. Ask at the moment the problem is gone

The right moment is when the furnace is running again, the leak has stopped, the door opens. Not at invoicing, and not three weeks later. The technician says one sentence before leaving: “If you’re happy with the work, a Google review helps us more than anything. I’ll text you the link.” Then the office sends the text within the hour.

3. Make the message specific

A message that helps the customer write a useful review looks like this: “Thanks for having us out to replace the water heater in Burnaby today. If you have a minute, would you leave a quick review? Mentioning what we fixed and your neighbourhood helps other homeowners find us. [link]”. You have just told them what to write without writing it for them.

4. Follow up once

One reminder three days later, then stop. Most reviews arrive after the reminder, not the first ask. More than one reminder becomes nagging and produces bad reviews.

5. Reply to every review within a week

Replies are visible to the next customer and they are read by Google. Name the service and the city in your reply: “Glad the panel upgrade in East Van went smoothly, thanks for choosing us.” For a bad review, reply calmly, state what you did to fix it, and take the details offline. A calm reply to a one-star review wins more customers than ten five-star reviews with no replies.

6. Track the rate, not the total

The number to watch is reviews per month. A profile that got 200 reviews in 2019 and 3 this year looks abandoned to Google and to homeowners. Two to four new reviews a month from a small crew is a healthy pace; Doorcare’s 260 in a year came from two crews asking every single customer.

Where the reviews go after Google

Reuse them. Put the best three on the service page they describe, with the customer’s first name and neighbourhood. Add them to your quotes. Post one a week on Facebook and Instagram with a photo of the job. Westside Pest Control’s Google Ads campaigns use review snippets as ad extensions, which is part of why the company has grown about 30% year over year; the case study has the details.

What we set up for clients

The link, the message templates by service, the reminder automation from your job management software, reply templates for good and bad reviews, and a monthly count in your report. It is part of every Digital Trek local SEO plan, because no other single item moves map rankings as reliably.

If your competitors have three times your review count, that is fixable inside a year. Book a free strategy call and we’ll show you the pace you need and the messages that get there.

Related guides

• Local SEO for Vancouver plumbers
• Social media for Vancouver trades: what to post
• Email and text reminders that book the next job
• Local SEO and Google Business Profile services

Frequently asked questions

Can I offer a discount for a Google review?

No. Google’s policy prohibits incentives of any kind, and profiles have been suspended for it. You can thank customers after the fact, but you cannot promise anything for a review.

Should I ask for reviews on Google or on HomeStars and Yelp?

Google first, because it drives the map pack. Once you have a healthy pace there, a second platform helps, and HomeStars matters for renovation-type work in Metro Vancouver.

What do I do about a fake or unfair review?

Reply calmly first, then report it through the profile. Google removes reviews that break its policies, but it does not remove honest negative ones, so the reply is your real tool.

How many reviews do I need to rank?

More than the two businesses above you, with a steady pace and recent dates. In most Vancouver trades that means 100 or more with several arriving each month.