How We Rank
Top Local Trades ranks businesses on each trade page using a weighted score that balances a business’s Google rating against how many reviews it has. This stops a business with just a handful of reviews from outranking one that has earned hundreds.
The formula
Each business gets a score calculated as:
score = (v ÷ (v + m)) × R + (m ÷ (v + m)) × C
- R
- = the business’s Google star rating
- v
- = the number of Google reviews the business has
- m
- = 20 — the minimum reviews we need before we trust a rating
- C
- = the average rating across every business on that city’s trade page
Why it works
A business with a 4.9 rating from 200 reviews scores far higher than a business with a 5.0 rating from 3 reviews. The more reviews a business has — and the more consistently it earns them — the higher it climbs. That’s the same “true Bayesian estimate” approach IMDb uses for its Top 250.
No rating? You go last
Businesses without a Google rating are shown after every rated business. Claiming your listing and growing your reviews is the single fastest way to climb the rankings on both Google and Top Local Trades.
Grow your reviews, grow your rank
Want to rank higher? Build a steady stream of genuine Google reviews.
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