Before a homeowner in Thunder Bay, Ontario books a roofer or hands their keys to a mover, they usually want a second opinion from strangers. Google’s suggestions show reviews woven into ordinary searches here: “thunder bay roofing reviews”, “thunder bay realtors reviews”, “thunder bay plumbers reviews” and “thunder bay movers reviews” all appear as people type. With roughly 109,000 residents and a population that holds steady rather than booms, most new customers come from the same pool your competitors draw on, and reviews often settle the choice. They also count in the map results. The trouble lies in a few habits that quietly waste the effort. Here are the common ones, and what to do instead.
Mistake 1: asking only when work dries up
A quiet month reminds many owners about reviews, and out goes a burst of requests to customers served long ago. Memories have faded, the replies are thin, and a cluster of new reviews in one week sits oddly on a profile that said nothing all season.
The fix: make the request part of closing out each job. Work here moves with the seasons: furnace calls and snow clearing through winters that average roughly 163 cm of snow, roofs and eavestroughs after the melt, camp openings and closings at either end of summer. Ask as each job wraps up, all year, and reviews arrive at a pace that matches your real workload.
Mistake 2: telling people to “just search for us”
That sounds simple, yet a search for your trade plus the city returns a crowded list, and several businesses may share part of your name. A well-meaning customer can land on the wrong listing or give up.
The fix: copy the short review link from your Google Business Profile and send it directly by text or email, or print it as a QR code on the invoice. One tap reaches the right business, with no detour.
Mistake 3: answering only the five-star reviews
A warm thank-you under every glowing review and silence under the two-star one tells readers precisely how you handle problems. In a city where people from Port Arthur to Fort William often know someone who knows you, an unanswered complaint gets around.
The fix: respond to all of them, and keep the hard replies brief, calm and factual. Acknowledge what went wrong, say what you did about it, and offer to continue privately. Where it fits, mention the job and the area (“glad the furnace is running again in Current River”) so the next reader sees you work in their part of town. Never cram keywords into replies.
Mistake 4: buying, filtering or rewarding reviews
Some shortcuts look harmless: a discount in exchange for five stars, a survey that only sends happy customers on to Google, or reviews written by a paid service. Each paints a misleading picture, and misleading advertising is covered by Canada’s Competition Act. Google’s own policies forbid fake reviews as well.
The fix: invite every customer the same way, whatever you expect them to say. A handful of honest four-star reviews with real detail earns more trust than a wall of identical praise.
Mistake 5: overlooking your profession’s rules
Dental practices are the clearest case. The Royal College of Dental Surgeons of Ontario restricts dentists from posting patient testimonials and reviews in their advertising, so a review carousel on a clinic website causes trouble, even though people search “thunder bay dentists reviews”. Physiotherapists, chiropractors, massage therapists and other health professionals should confirm what their regulatory college permits before quoting patients.
The fix: let reviews stay where patients post them, on Google, and keep the clinic site to plain facts: services, hours, location, accessibility and booking. We go further into this in our search advice for Thunder Bay dental and health clinics.
Mistake 6: letting the listing behind the reviews go stale
Some low ratings have nothing to do with the work. They come from someone who drove across the Intercity to a shop shown as open on a storm day, or who rang a number that changed years ago.
The fix: keep hours, holiday closures and storm-day changes up to date, and confirm the map marker sits on your real entrance. That monthly upkeep is what our Google Business Profile management takes care of.
A simple review routine
- Save your Business Profile review link somewhere handy on your phone.
- Ask in person as the job finishes, then send the link that same day.
- Answer each new review within a couple of days.
- Once a month, read recent reviews for patterns: slow callbacks, confusing directions, praise for one staff member.
- Act on what those patterns show, then update your website and listing to match.
Reviews work best alongside everything else
A good rating can win the click, but the page behind it still has to answer the customer’s questions. A homeowner in Westfort comparing roofers wants to see the services offered, the area covered and an easy way to get a quote. That is why reviews are one strand of our local SEO for Thunder Bay businesses. Trades that depend on word of mouth, from plumbers to renovators, can turn to our contractor and home-service search guide. Movement usually shows within three to six months for most businesses, and our answers to common SEO questions explain why no honest agency guarantees a position. If an outside view of your rating, replies and listing would help, a free SEO audit of your business is a sensible first step.
