Why Google Reviews Matter (More Than You Think)

Google reviews matter. Think of the last time you were choosing a new restaurant or café, looking for a stay on your trip, or maybe making an important purchase (like a car or an expensive tech gadget). Did you check the reviews first? If so, you are one of the 93% (2023) of people who rely on online reviews before making a decision, and the number keeps growing. 

Moreover, nearly half of all internet users post online reviews every month, and 81% of consumers use Google to evaluate local businesses. That is right, Google continues to dominate the review game – it has six times as many more reviews than its three biggest competitors combined, making it the go-to platform for customer feedback. In addition, the number of people reading Google reviews for more informed decisions keeps increasing. So, what does it mean for your business, and how can you take the best out of it? In this blog, we will delve deeper into why Google reviews matter more than you might think and share practical tips on how to grow them with ease.

How Google reviews directly affect your business

Online reviews are no longer just nice to have - they have become an integral part of consumer decision-making and can influence how your business can be discovered in digital space (including how high it ranks on search results when searching for keywords that describe your business). This is because Google prioritizes businesses with more (and better) reviews, pushing them to the top while leaving others fade into the background. Your business might be fantastic, but does it matter if you are buried among other search results? According to Podium (2017), most awareness about a brand comes from search engines (54%) and Maps apps (30%), and only the remaining 16% are driven to your business through a website (13%) or other marketing efforts (3%) accordingly. That means your Google presence matters... A LOT.

Positive reviews ensure reliability and signal the quality of your business. Today’s consumer, when searching for local businesses - whether it is a café for warm and refreshing morning coffee, a hairdresser that delivers a terrific haircut for an affordable price, or a fast and efficient bicycle repair shop (and the list goes on) will most likely use their mobile device as a source of information and use reviews as a key indicator of the quality of your offerings. The general baseline for a positive rating is 4.0 + stars. However, the amount of reviews are just as important. 

Just like search engines, customers, value consistency and high-volume reviews. This means the more people have recommended the place, the higher the trust in its rating. For example, consider two cafés – one has a 4.5-star rating with 12 reviews, while the other has a 4.3-star rating with 600 reviews. Despite a slightly lower rating, the second café’s rating appears more reliable since it has 50 times more feedback, making it a stronger indicator of quality matching the rating (if, however, the rating gap would be more significant, like 3.8 and 4.8, the higher-rated business would have the upper hand despite having fewer reviews). It could be that the first café is better than the one with more reviews, but since it has not yet established a decent feedback system, as it commonly happens, it is outcompeted by its competitors. This is a shared challenge for small and newly established businesses. To address this, we introduce CrevioTap - a solution that makes leaving feedback fun and effortless (just a tap and review!) so that reviews and, ultimately, more customers would come through your door day after day.

Why it works? Instead of investing in fake reviews that can be removed by Google at any time (Google may remove reviews that violate its policies or are flagged by other), you invest in a tool that is a cost-effective marketing tool, easy to use, increases reviews and enhances your business’s credibility in an authentic and sustainable way. According to a survey by Podium 77% of customers would leave a review if they were simply asked. The trick? The collection of feedback should be made as easy as possible. Rather than you asking for reviews verbally and your customers searching your Google review page manually, CrevioTap makes it easy. It is designed in a way so that you can simply leave it on the table, allowing customers to stop by and leave a review while you focus on other aspects of growing your business.

We suggest placing your CrevioTap table stands in key touchpoints – such as the cash register, tables, or in the waiting room, and handing out CrevioTap cards to your employees so that they can encourage leaving a review in natural and friendly way after a positive interaction. Both options can be used based on what is most convenient for your business or even combined to align with your specific goals. There is no limit to how many reviews one CrevioTap tool can gather, and it even allows you to repurpose it – so you can make rewrites and add a different link on the card. 

Google Reviews NFC tools are the trend of 2025 and are currently among the most popular and successful tools shaping business growth, becoming a must-have to break through in the digital scene. It has proven itself by significantly boosting the number of customer reviews for businesses around the globe as one of the most effective and innovative ways to grow your reputation, visibility, and success. Pick what fits best for your business, and see it yourself!