The Holiday Hours Trap: Don’t Let Google Maps Drive Your Customers Away This Summer
Imagine this scenario: It is a scorching hot summer afternoon.
A potential customer is looking for a local service, opens Google Maps, and sees that your business is marked as “Open until 8:00 PM.” They drive all the way to your location, search for parking, walk to your door, and find the metal shutter down with a handwritten note taped to the glass: “Closed for summer holidays.”
How do you think that customer feels?
Frustrated, ignored, and highly likely to never return. To make matters worse, they might even pull out their phone right there on your doorstep and leave a stinging 1-star review before walking away.
This is one of the most common—and expensive—marketing mistakes local businesses make during July and August: failing to update their seasonal hours online.
Why Google Maps Hours Matter More in Summer
During the summer months, consumer routines completely shift. People travel, explore new neighborhoods, and rely 100% on their smartphones to decide where to spend their money.
If your Google Business Profile displays incorrect hours, you aren’t just losing a single afternoon sale. You are actively driving ready-to-buy customers directly into the arms of your competitors who kept their profiles updated.
In the digital age, your digital storefront must match your physical one.
How to Do It Right (In Under 2 Minutes)
You don’t need to permanently change your year-round schedule to let people know you are on holiday. Google Business Profile has a specific feature built exactly for this: Special Hours.
Here is how to set it up before you head to the beach:
Access your Profile: Log into your Google Business Profile dashboard.
Find “Special Hours”: Do not edit your main weekly hours. Look for the “Special Hours” or “Holiday Hours” section.
Select Your Dates: Choose the exact days you will be closed or operating on a reduced summer schedule.
Confirm and Save: Google will display a clear notice to users on those specific days, letting them know that your hours may differ due to the holidays.
Taking two minutes to update this simple setting protects your hard-earned local reputation, keeps your customers happy, and ensures you return from your holidays to a business people still trust.
Keep your digital front door accurate this summer!
