Special hours: why and how to add them to your Google listing!

Update your Google My Business listing by adding special hours to boost your SEO and let your customers know if your outlet occasionally changes its opening hours! This guide explains why and how to add special hours to your Google listing.

What are “special” hours, and when should you let customers know?

Special hours on Google My Business let business owners specify opening hours for particular days, such as public holidays or other times your business will be temporarily closed. This ensures customers know the business’s exact opening hours for these particular days.

Two general reasons why you should add special hours are:

• to factor in public holidays, for example, if your store will close or its opening hours will be different.
• to let customers know you will be temporarily closed for personal reasons.

Why provide this information?

Adding special hours at the appropriate time is a must if you want customers to know exactly when your store or establishment is open. This means a potential customer won’t waste their time visiting your outlet only to find it shut – a poor customer experience that can harm your company’s reputation.

On the other hand, if you don’t provide special hours, an orange alert (as above) will appear on your Google My Business listing: “Easter Monday: Opening times may vary”, meaning people looking at your listing will have no idea if you’re open or not!

If you add special hours (even if they are the same as your usual ones), a green “Public holiday opening hours” alert will appear (see above). Internet users will then know the opening hours displayed are accurate, and they can visit your establishment.

Also note that the moreactive and well-managed your Google Business Profile is, the more Google’s algorithm will place it at the top of search results!

How to add special hours to your Google listing?

Updating these is quick and easy and done via your Google business listing by following these steps:

1. Click on “Edit profile”.
2. Click on the “Hours” tab at the top of the page.
3. Next to “Special hours”, select “Add”.
4. Select the date and edit it.
   • For public holidays: Click “Review” next to the date suggested by Google. Once you’ve confirmed the updated hours, they will appear in green on your listing.
   • To add a custom date: Select “Add” and choose the day for which you want to set specific times (for example, if you close for a stocktake).
   • To edit an existing date: Select the relevant date from the list and adjust the times.

5.  Save your changes and make sure the published online information has been correctly updated.

What about public holidays in different countries?

Google presets public holidays automatically, whether you update your opening hours or not, and this is why you’ll see a green or orange alert on your listing.

To make sure you plan and anticipate opening hour changes, you can consult the list of public holidays in the country(s) where you operate.