ReviewPin
As described:StopNarrowed:NarrowNo as described. Go small, as an honest review engine for UK and Irish agencies, only with agency access.
web agencies · ~$100/month per agency account · last reviewed (next review by 29 Dec 2026) · 33 cited sources
Start this week
- Tell me your hours per week available, where you're based, whether you can sell to UK or Irish agencies, and whether you have a Google Business Profile verified for 60+ days.
- Apply for Google Business Profile API access (project number, owner email, website).
- List 50 small web-design agencies from WordPress, Webflow and Wix partner directories and UK agency communities, and book 20 calls. Ask how they handle clients' reviews today, and what they'd charge a client for it.
- Hand-build one honest widget, one request QR card and one monthly report for a friendly agency's 3 clients.
- Check the working name: UK IPO and EUIPO trademark search, and domain availability.
Checkpoints and kill gates
Decide in advance what counts as on track. Missing a checkpoint means changing the buyer or the offer, not adding features.
Day 30
~15 hrs/week
20 agency calls done. Business Profile API access applied for. 3 agencies agree to pay for the hand-run version.
Full-time
20 agency calls done. Business Profile API access applied for. 3 agencies agree to pay for the hand-run version.
If you miss it
Switch the agency type once (WordPress care-plan agencies ↔ local-SEO freelancers). Missing twice means stop.
Day 45
~15 hrs/week
5 agencies paying ≥£39 (15 hrs: 3). API access approved.
Full-time
5 agencies paying ≥£39 (15 hrs: 3). API access approved.
If you miss it
If API access is refused, stop. There's no compliant product without it.
Day 90
~15 hrs/week
10 paying agencies, ≥$1k MRR (15 hrs: 6, ≥$600). Median client ≥3 new Google reviews in the month.
Full-time
10 paying agencies, ≥$1k MRR (15 hrs: 6, ≥$600). Median client ≥3 new Google reviews in the month.
If you miss it
Cut to requests + report only, with the widget as a free extra.
Month 6
~15 hrs/week
$2k MRR (15 hrs: $1.2k). ≥1 agency with 20+ client locations live.
Full-time
$2k MRR (15 hrs: $1.2k). ≥1 agency with 20+ client locations live.
If you miss it
Pivot A: direct to UK multi-location businesses (5–50 sites: franchises, dental and vet groups). Pivot B: an add-on in one field-service tool's marketplace (ServiceM8, Tradify or Fergus; check first whether they already include review requests).
Month 12
~15 hrs/week
$4.5k MRR (15 hrs: $2.5k). Agency logo churn ≤2.5%/month.
Full-time
$4.5k MRR (15 hrs: $2.5k). Agency logo churn ≤2.5%/month.
If you miss it
Stop adding features. Fix onboarding and the client report only.
Month 18
~15 hrs/week
$7k MRR (15 hrs: $4k)
Full-time
$7k MRR (15 hrs: $4k)
If you miss it
Put all effort into the single best channel. Decide whether to add Australia and New Zealand.
Month 24
~15 hrs/week
$10k+ MRR (15 hrs: $6k+), profitable
Full-time
$10k+ MRR (15 hrs: $6k+), profitable
If you miss it
Above target: add a second market. $2–6k: run it profitably, as a small business. Below $1k: stop.
Do
1.Sell to small web-design agencies (1–15 staff) that maintain local businesses' sites on monthly care plans (WordPress, Webflow, Wix, Squarespace). Not to marketing agencies that already run GoHighLevel.
Target: ≥75% of MRR from agency accounts
Why: One agency brings 15–50 sites and a monthly billing habit. GoHighLevel agencies already get reviews bundled at $97+.
2.Start in the UK and Ireland. Price in GBP and EUR, invoice with VAT, and speak DMCC. Add Australia and New Zealand next. The US comes last.
Target: 20 agency calls in 30 days
Why: The DMCC Act's ban on "cherry-picking positive reviews" gives honest-by-default a legal reason. The US agency market is where GoHighLevel is strongest (unverified share).
3.Apply for Google Business Profile API access in week 1. Build only on owner-authorised OAuth. Never Places for display, never scraping.
Target: Access approved by day 45
Why: Places returns 5 reviews, bans caching and costs $25 per 1,000. The Business Profile API returns every review, with ≤30-day storage. Scraping is how clones die.
4.Make the widget honest by default: newest first, all ratings, Google's own average and count shown next to it, and an auto-generated "How these reviews are chosen" link. Hide a review only for FTC-permitted reasons (abusive, private data, clearly fake, unrelated), and log the reason.
Target: 100% of widgets ship with the notice. Zero silent star filters.
Why: Google's Places policy requires a notice on ordering and filtering. FTC §465.7(b) and the DMCC Act target cherry-picked displays.
5.Lead with review requests, not the widget. Unique review link, QR card, and email and SMS sequences. Trigger by CSV upload, Zapier/webhook or a simple "job done" form. The same ask goes to every customer.
Target: Median client gets ≥4 new Google reviews a month by month 3
Why: 74% of consumers prioritise reviews from the last 3 months (BrightLocal 2026). New reviews are the outcome people pay for.
6.Send a monthly client report in the agency's brand: new reviews, rating trend, response rate, and requests sent vs reviews won
Target: Every agency sends it to ≥80% of clients
Why: It's what the agency shows the client to justify the care-plan fee. It's also your retention engine.
7.Let the agency own the link: "Website by [Agency]" in the widget footer on client sites. Use "Powered by ReviewPin" only on the free direct plan.
Target: ≥50% of agencies turn the footer on
Why: Agencies want backlinks. Your own "Powered by" loop runs through the free plan, the channel that built ReviewsOnMyWebsite.
8.Price for agencies, annual pushed. Starter £39/mo (15 client locations), Studio £79 (50), Plus £159 (150), £1 per extra location. Direct: free widget (1 location, 10 reviews, branding), Local £12/mo. Annual: 2 months free.
Target: ≥40% of agency accounts on annual by month 12
Why: Below Repuso at 50 clients (~$169) and far below LocalImpact ($149 + $20 per location). Price isn't the moat, but it can't be the objection either.
9.Run it by hand first. Set up widgets for one friendly agency's clients, send the requests and build the report manually. Charge for it.
Target: 5 agencies paying ≥£39/month by day 45
Why: It proves agencies will pay for requests and reports before you spend weeks on dashboards.
10.Draft review replies with AI, and let a human approve every one before it posts through the Business Profile API
Target: ≥60% of new reviews get a reply within 72 hours
Why: Replies are part of what LocalImpact sells at $49+. Google requires the client's authorisation, and auto-posting AI text is a trust risk.
11.Automate operations from day one: connection-health checks, expiring-token emails to the client, self-serve onboarding, and docs before calls
Target: Support ≤2 hrs/week at 15 hrs/week. New client location live in <10 minutes.
Why: ~4,500 connected locations at $20k MRR. Limited hours go to selling, not fixing tokens.
12.Publish "UK review rules for small businesses": DMCC, Google policy and what a compliant widget looks like, kept current with sources
Target: 1 page a month. ≥30% of trials from organic search by month 9.
Why: Agencies and owners search for this. It's the one SEO topic free-widget vendors don't own.
13.Get a UK consumer-law review of the widget defaults, request templates and marketing claims
Target: Signed off by day 60
Why: You're selling "honest by default". It has to be true.
Avoid
1.The $5 widget race
Why: Trustindex (1M+ installs), Elfsight, EmbedSocial and Featurable are free or $5. The proof case left $5 for $49+. You can't be cheaper than free.
2.Places API for showing reviews, or any scraping of Google
Why: 5 reviews max, no caching, $25 per 1,000 calls. Scraping breaks Google's terms, and one crackdown takes out every client's widget at once.
3.Review gating: asking "Were you happy?" first and sending only happy customers to Google
Why: Google bans selective soliciting. The FTC and CMA treat it as misleading. It's the most-requested feature in this category, and the most dangerous.
4.Incentives for reviews (discounts, prize draws, "leave 5 stars and get…")
Why: Google bans incentives for any review. FTC §465.4 bans sentiment-conditioned incentives.
5.A "show only 4–5 stars" default, or pinning old glowing reviews
Why: FTC §465.7(b), and the DMCC Act's "cherry-picking" and "out-dated reviews" wording. Allow filters only with a visible disclosure.
6.Blending Google reviews into one combined score across platforms
Why: The Business Profile API bans manipulating or aggregating its content. Show each source's own rating.
7.Storing Google reviews longer than 30 days, or using them for anything but that client's widget
Why: Business Profile API storage rule. Refresh or delete.
8.Selling white-label to US GoHighLevel agencies
Why: They already have review widgets and requests in their $97–497 plan.
9.Facebook at launch
Why: Page-token and permission-review overhead for a source only some clients use. Add it once 30% of paying agencies ask.
10.Building a Birdeye: listings sync, webchat, payments, inbox, surveys
Why: Each is a product. Birdeye and Podium charge $299–600 because they sell all of it, with a sales team.
11.Promising SEO rankings or Google stars from the widget
Why: Self-published review markup is widely reported not to earn stars in Google (unverified here). An unkept promise is a refund.
12.AI-written reviews, "review templates" for customers, or bulk review import from unknown sources
Why: Fake-review rules in the US (FTC, up to $53,088 per violation) and the UK (CMA, up to 10% of turnover).
13.Lifetime deals (AppSumo) or a generous free agency plan
Why: They fill the dashboard with accounts that never pay, and support scales with locations.
14.Paid ads before month 6
Why: Until agency churn is proven, ads buy trials that cancel.
15.Adding review sources or features when a checkpoint fails
Why: A miss means wrong market, wrong agency type or wrong price. Change that instead.