Did you know you can add special hours to your Google My Business listing to display over the holiday season? It’s a thing!
Previously, if you wanted to make a change to your business hours on a particular day, you’d have to do it on the day and change it back that night or the following morning. Ain’t nobody got time for that during the holidays!
Now you can schedule your Google My Business page to automatically change opening hours for those days only. Even better – Google will indicate to customers that your special hours are holiday hours, so they won’t assume you’re closed every Monday once the Christmas break is done and dusted.
Holiday Hours are Important
Think leaving your hours as is over the beak is NBD? A US study showed more than 50% of customers would loose trust in a brand if their business hours were incorrect online.
People are busy – which means the vast majority of users rely on business hours displayed on Google, as opposed to hours listed on your website. If your hours are incorrectly shown on your Google My Business listing, it’s going to tick off your customers.
Makes sense! Imagine how frustrated a customer would feel if they had a hankering for pancakes, Googled breakfast eateries, found a café with great reviews, checked their menu, drooled over photos of their syrup-covered stacks, took the time get the kids ready and into the car, drove to the café, got a park, got the kids out of the car… only to find the café is closed between the stat days, despite being listed online as open. Imagine their complete disappointment at (a) not being able to enjoy the delicious pancakes they had their heart set on, and (b) their complete exasperation having to explain to their (now whinging) kids that they’ll have to find somewhere else.
Do you think they’d make the effort to visit that café again? Probs not – which is why keeping these details up to date is a must.
Update Christmas Hours in 5 Simple Steps
If your business is closed for the stat days or an extended Christmas break — OR if you plan on offering longer hours or late nights in the lead-up to Christmas — be sure to add those special/ temporary/ one-off hours to your listing now!
Here’s how:
#1 Go to your Google My Business dashboard — www.business.google.com — and log in if you’re not already
#2 Under the left-hand navigation, select INFO
#3 Select ADD SPECIAL HOURS under your normal business hours
#4 Google will ask you to confirm your hours for Christmas Day and Boxing Day to get started. You can add special hours, or mark your business as closed.
#5 Select the ADD NEW DATE option to add special hours for additional days, then click the APPLY button!
Your special hours will show as being UNDER REVIEW, but we’ve found them to be approved within 15-minutes in most cases.
That’s it! You’re done. Now you can go and enjoy your break, without ticking off a single customer.
For those of you wondering, Facebook currently does not offer an equivalent Christmas hours option, so be sure to post your holiday hours on your page and pin them to the top!
Need help updating your Christmas hours on Google My Business? Contact our team!