Update Your Business Hours of Operation: A Simple Step for Better Local SEO and Customer Visits
Google is an obvious element of modern life and while mysterious to many, businesses can manage their presence using their free Google Business Profile (GBP).
This is so critical that Main Street America has partnered with Growing with Google to help get businesses up and running which includes claiming their GBP listing.
We've invested in developing a Google Business Profile integration so updates you make your Locable account updates Google, Google Maps, and the Knowledge Pane.
Google Update's Focus on Openness
Google's recent update places significant emphasis on 'openness' as a key local SEO ranking factor. This change highlights the importance of having up-to-date business hours on your Google Business Profile (GBP).
Google's SearchLiaison recently wrote on X, "The team tells me we've long used "openness" as part of our local ranking systems, and it recently became a stronger signal for non-navigational queries. This might change in various ways, as we continue to evaluate the usefulness of it, however."
Accuracy matters to Google. Updating your hours regularly, if they change, is a great and simple way to improve your rankings and get more traffic directed to you when people search for related products and services during your open hours.
Word of warning: don't try to game the system or you may find your profile suspended.
Inaccurate Hours Affects Locals & Visitors
Ranking more prominently is merely one benefit to accurate hours of operation. The ramifications of inaccurate hours extend beyond mere inconvenience.
As Jamie Furbush, CEO of the Frankenmuth Chamber, pointed out in a recent Zoom meeting, incorrect business hours can lead to significant customer frustration. This dissatisfaction arises when potential visitors rely on Google for accurate information, only to find discrepancies upon arrival.
"Hours of operation change a lot around here and if you change them in your Locable account it updates Google Business - we're getting a lot of complaints from visitors [to Frankenmuth] that Google something and the hours aren't what the business is. Even if the business updates their hours on their own website it's not refreshing Google Business. Guests are getting mad and it's becoming quite common right now."
Your Locable account isn't one-more-thing a local business needs to do - it enables you to do less and get more.
A business or nonprofit can update their Locable account and have those changes appear on your own website or free profile, update Google Business Profile, update directory listings at participating Main Streets, Chambers, and DMO's, and many other places like this restaurant in Monticello IA experienced.
