Seasonal Setting Options for Google My Business

[MainstreamMktg]

Hi there,

Not sure if anyone will have any insight but I have a seasonal business that I am closed for from September to March. I don't want to mark my business as  "permanently closed" through Google My Business as I don't want my customers to think I've gone out of business. I've seen a few times through forums that you can change your business to temporarily closed, but I can't find the specifics on how to do this. Any insight, suggestion or resources would be great!

Thanks!

[JonathanLeplang]

Here is the answer that I've received:

"Hi

At the moment the work round is to set as open for 1 minute at 2am on Monday morning.

It worked for a top contributor but not for Nathan who tried it.

I think it could be a bug affecting older GmB entries?

Its been known about for a long time.

Andrew."

[MainstreamMktg]

Brick and mortar - I have a patio furniture store.

[MiriamEllis]

Thank you for documenting your experience, Matt. May I ask, is your business a service area business (like a plumber), or brick-and-mortar?

[MainstreamMktg]

I actually ended up finding a link for Google Customer Service and got on a support call with a rep to review my situation. There was quite a bit of back and forth and proof required to show why I wanted "temporarily closed" vs. Closed and I needed to provide a 're-opening date' to achieve this. But I was able to achieve it.

The other thing to mention is that there are two ways you can be found on Google for Business listings:  1) via Google Maps Search (google.com/maps) and 2) Google Search.

For the Google Maps Search it is not possible (I confirmed with a Google specialist) to temporarily close a location via the Maps. Google Maps requires you to be open or closed.

For Google Search, once the seasonal location is ready to re-open you have to contact them again to have "Temporarily Closed" removed from your listing.

Hope this helps.

[JonathanLeplang]

Hi Miriam,

I've posted on the GMB Forum and let you know if I've an answer.

[MiriamEllis]

Hi Jonathan,

I wonder if Matt ever posted to the GMB forum. This seems like a bug. I would recommend reporting and would be grateful if you'd let me know what you hear from the Gold Product Experts there.

[JonathanLeplang]

Hi Miriam,

I've the same issue. It seems that you need 1 opening day. You can check the video in attach.

Regards,

Jonathan

gmb-seasonal-closing-issue.mp4?dl=0

[MiriamEllis]

Hmm, I wonder if there's a bug, Matt. How this should work is that you simply remove your open hours when you're not open and then put them back up again when you are. But you're encountering an error message? If that's right, I'd take this to the Google My Business forum: https://www.en.advertisercommunity.com/t5/Basics-for-Business-Owners/bd-p/Basics_for_Business_Owners

Do a search there first to see if anyone else is encountering a similar problem right now. If not, post your business details, explain exactly what you're trying to do and ask if you're dealing with a bug or are making a misstep somewhere along the way.

[MainstreamMktg]

Thank you so much for the suggestion. The info you tried above was the first way I tried to mark as temporarily closed but as soon as I tried to close all the "regular" hours I got an "invalid or missing data error". Do you know if this only works if there are special hours set (i.e. for holidays?)

[MiriamEllis]

Hi Matt!

Glad you've asked, and you're right - you definitely don't want to mark your business as closed. Instructions for this are found in the Guidelines for Representing your Business on Google, which read:

Seasonal hours

​If your business has seasonal hours, use the following guidelines:

• During the season in which you’re open, set hours that reflect the current season's opening hours. You may set special hours for holidays, temporary closures, or other events.
• When your business is out of season, remove all opening hours, so they appear as unset. Set your opening hours again at the beginning of your next open season.

Hope this helps and that you have a good open season!