The holiday season is one of the most important times of the year for businesses, whether you’re in retail, services, or hospitality. It’s when your customers are looking to shop, dine, or book events, and ensuring they know when you’re available is critical. One of the easiest ways to make sure you’re reaching your audience during this time is by updating your Google My Business (GMB) profile with accurate holiday hours. As SEO experts, we understand the impact this simple action can have on your online presence. Let’s explore why setting your holiday hours can improve your visibility, customer satisfaction, and ultimately, your bottom line.
Boost Your Local SEO Rankings
Google My Business is a powerful tool for boosting your local SEO rankings. Your GMB profile provides important information to potential customers, including your business name, address, phone number, website, and operating hours. Google uses this information to determine when your business is open and when it’s closed. If you don’t update your hours for the holidays, customers might encounter outdated information, which can lead to negative experiences.
By updating your holiday hours, you signal to Google that you’re actively managing your profile, which can improve your rankings in local search results. If your business is more easily found, you’re more likely to attract customers who are specifically looking for services or products during the holiday season.
Prevent Customer Frustration
There’s nothing more frustrating for a customer than showing up to a business only to find it closed when they expected it to be open. This is especially true during the holidays, when many businesses adjust their schedules to accommodate increased demand or special events.
By setting your holiday hours in advance, you help prevent these inconveniences. Customers can check your GMB profile, Google Search, or Google Maps to find out when you’re available, reducing the chances of confusion or frustration. Keeping your information up-to-date ensures you maintain a positive reputation, even during the busy holiday season.
Enhance Customer Experience with Accurate Information
In addition to the basic operating hours, GMB allows you to specify special holiday hours. For example, if you’re closed on Christmas Day or operating with reduced hours on New Year’s Eve, customers need to know. The convenience of having accurate hours displayed right on the search results and Google Maps is a great customer experience boost.
By adding holiday-specific hours, you’re providing a seamless user experience. Customers can plan their visits accordingly without needing to call ahead or search through your website. This can lead to more positive interactions and even encourage repeat visits.
Drive More Traffic with Google Posts
Google My Business also allows you to create posts that show up alongside your business profile in search results. During the holiday season, you can use these posts to highlight special promotions, new products, or any changes in your holiday hours. This not only helps customers stay informed, but it also encourages them to take action, such as booking an appointment, making a purchase, or visiting your store.
By actively posting holiday-related content, you can further engage with your audience and keep your business top-of-mind. This added exposure can increase foot traffic and online conversions, making your holiday season more profitable.
Manage Holiday Season Expectations
The holidays are a busy time for both customers and businesses. You might have special events, sales, or promotions that require extended or altered hours. If you don’t update your GMB profile to reflect these changes, you risk disappointing customers who show up expecting one thing but find another.
For example, if you’re a restaurant with special hours for Christmas Eve or a retail store with New Year’s sales, setting the correct hours allows customers to plan their visits accordingly. This helps manage expectations, ensuring customers know exactly when they can take advantage of your offers or services.
Track Holiday Engagement Insights
By updating your holiday hours, you open the door to tracking valuable customer engagement insights in Google My Business. When customers interact with your profile (like checking your hours, clicking on your website, or getting directions), Google provides data that can help you understand how well your business is performing during the holiday season.
This data can be instrumental for future planning, helping you assess how many people visited your profile, which hours saw the most traffic, and when customers were most likely to engage with your business. These insights are essential for refining your strategy for future holidays and adjusting your marketing efforts accordingly.
Updating your Google My Business profile with accurate holiday hours is a simple yet highly effective way to ensure that your business is visible and accessible to customers during the holiday season. By keeping your profile up-to-date, you improve your local SEO, provide a better customer experience, and ultimately drive more traffic to your business. As SEO experts, we highly recommend that businesses of all sizes take the time to set their holiday hours now and monitor the changes closely.
Stay ahead of the competition this holiday season by making sure your customers can always find you when they need you most!