Google opening hours: prepare for holidays and closures
Keep regular and special opening hours accurate, with a simple way to prepare holidays, closures and your return to normal hours.
A customer who finds your door closed after checking your hours cannot easily know where the error came from. To them, your business information was unreliable. Opening hours therefore deserve attention before spending time on descriptions or posts.
The problem is often organisational: the team knows about a closure, but nobody is responsible for updating the information. A short procedure makes that responsibility clear.
Use the right type of change
Google provides special hours for a temporary adjustment or a closure of up to six consecutive days. For seven days or more, its documentation directs businesses to the temporarily closed status. Google also recommends confirming holiday hours even when they do not change. Source: special opening hours.
Check the guidance when preparing a long closure or an unusual situation. The field you choose should describe what is happening; an update post does not replace the relevant opening-hours change.
Prepare for the next thirty days
We suggest reviewing upcoming dates at the start of each month. Use the schedule actually approved by the person responsible, not just a general calendar. Two neighbouring shops may make different decisions for the same public holiday.
Record dates, opening periods, any breaks and who confirmed the information. For a day with two opening periods, check the lunchtime and evening closures separately. A time entered in the wrong place can make the business appear open continuously.
Allocate responsibility without complicating it
A small shared table can contain four columns: date, confirmed hours, information sources updated and check completed. Add initials or a work name so the team knows who finished the check.
Fictional example: a shop closes on a Monday for stocktaking. The manager confirms the date; a colleague updates Google and the website; the final check might simply mean opening the public profile on a phone. The table does not need to become a complex system.
Test the customer's journey
- Search for the business and open its hours.
- Check the affected date, not just the usual week.
- Compare the profile with your website's contact page.
- Check any information on your answerphone.
- After the closure, confirm that the reopening matches your actual arrangements.
If Google still shows an old value or a review in progress, keep a note in your records. Clicking 'save' alone does not prove the final information is displayed.
Connect hours with your communication
A post can explain an unusual closure and how to get back in touch. It must agree with the hours entered. Keep the message short: date, useful information and next step. Leave out internal details that do not help customers.
Include this task in your monthly content calendar. For multiple businesses, have each local schedule confirmed before sharing a common message.
In Optimaps, Optimisation then Opening hours lets you manage regular hours, special dates and additional hours available for your activity. Choose the days, review the time periods and approve sending. Optimaps does not guess your holidays. Hours already filled in remain accessible here without cluttering the guided journey for missing information.
