Quick question: have you entered your holiday hours in your Google Business Profile? (Google renamed Google My Business to Google Business Profile in 2021.)
If you don’t have a Google business listing, you can ignore this post. Otherwise, you might want to double-check your listing and confirm your open or closed status for the upcoming holidays. If you don’t have access to your business listing, let me know. I can help with that.
Why confirm your holiday hours?
Google displays your open and closed hours on your business listing so customers know when they can reach you. On holidays, it tends to show a cautionary orange message: “Hours might differ.”
Since you like to stay on top of things, confirm your holiday hours so Google doesn’t show that message, which leaves customers wondering whether they can call or shop with you that day.
How do special hours work?
According to Google’s guide to special hours:
- Schedule them in advance. Special hours are for days with an irregular schedule, such as holidays or special events. Your regular hours stay in place on all other days.
- Confirm official holidays, even if nothing changes. Google recommends confirming holiday hours that match your regular hours, so customers know they’re accurate.
- Set regular hours first. You can only add special hours once your regular hours are on your profile.
For step-by-step directions, see how to update your holiday hours.
About the author
Leighton Smith is Pioneer Media’s website designer, web developer and webmaster, based in East Tennessee. As a solopreneur, he is each client’s one point of contact and has built hundreds of websites since learning to code in 2006.
