Holiday Hours: The Update Everyone Forgets

Tina Lively, local SEO specialist at Rocket Web Designer Tina Lively · · 1 min read
Person updating business hours on a laptop for holiday season

By Tina Lively

Real talk: a customer showing up to a closed door is a customer you lost

It happens every holiday season. Business says “Open” on Google, customer drives over, finds a locked door. That’s not just a missed sale, that’s a one-star review waiting to happen, and it was entirely preventable.

Where to update

Google Business Profile has a dedicated “Special hours” section for exactly this. Use it for every holiday, every early close, every day off. Your website hours should match. If you’re on Yelp or Apple Maps, update those too.

Do it in October, not December

If you wait until the week of Thanksgiving to update your hours, you’ve already missed the customers who checked in advance. Set them all at once for the whole holiday season while you’re thinking about it right now.

Bonus: post about it

A quick Google Post saying “We’re closed Thanksgiving Day, back Friday at 8am” takes thirty seconds and prevents the most common holiday complaint local businesses get.

Now go answer your phone.