Blog / How to get your business hours right online

How to get your business hours right online

By The bizhq team · Published October 27, 2026 · 4 min read

Short answer: Set your regular hours in your Google Business Profile, add special hours for holidays and short closures of up to 6 days in a row, and mark longer closures as temporarily closed. Then make your website and Facebook page show the same hours.

To get your business hours right online, set your regular hours on your Google Business Profile, add special hours for holidays and short closures, and use "temporarily closed" for longer breaks. Then make your website and Facebook page say the same thing.

Wrong hours cost you customers. A customer who finds a locked door may simply go somewhere else.

How do I set my regular hours on Google?

Google's help page says to open your profile, go to Edit profile, then Hours, and choose "Open with main hours". Tick the days you are open and pick opening and closing times.

If you close for lunch, add two time slots for the same day. Google's example is a business open in the morning, closed in the afternoon, and open again in the evening, which needs two entries. Google's guidelines also say to give your regular customer-facing hours, and that you may use your current seasonal hours as your regular hours.

Google says you can also set extra hours for special features, such as delivery or senior hours. Most small service businesses will not need this.

What about holidays?

This is where most owners slip. Google's page on special hours says you can use them when your hours change or you close for up to 6 days in a row. Holidays and events are what they are for.

Two useful details from that page:

  • Confirm your hours for official holidays, even if they are the same as usual. Google says this shows customers your hours are accurate.
  • Special hours only show if your regular hours are set to "Open with main hours".

Google also says a special hours entry cannot run longer than 24 hours. If you work past midnight, split it into two entries.

When should I mark my business temporarily closed?

Special hours are for short changes. If your closure is longer than that (Google's pages put the line at about a week), or you don't know when you will be back, Google's page on marking your business as closed says to choose "Temporarily closed". Then your profile shows that status on Google Maps and Search.

Google warns that temporarily closed businesses can rank after open ones. So use it only when you need it, and switch back when you reopen.

If the closure is for good, Google has a separate "permanently closed" option. Don't use special hours for that.

I work by appointment or I travel to customers. What do I put?

Google's guidelines say some businesses shouldn't provide hours, and they name businesses that operate only by appointment. Read the guidelines page for your case. Whatever Google shows, your website can say how to book: "Call or text to make an appointment."

Mobile and service-area businesses (a mobile notary, a house cleaner, a dog groomer with a van) have a different rule about the address. Google says if you don't serve customers at your business address, hide it. A hybrid business, which serves people at a location and also travels, can set hours for when its staff are available, according to Google's page on service areas.

On your website, say when you take calls and texts, even if Google's listing has no hours.

How do I keep Google, Facebook and my website the same?

Pick one master copy. A note on your phone works. When hours change, update all three places on the same day: Google, your website and your Facebook page. Look at each one afterwards on your own phone.

We did not read Meta's help pages for this post, so check your Facebook page's own settings for where hours live. Also see why your listing and website should match.

Google says it reviews changes before they go live, and it does not say how long that takes. So update early, not the morning of the holiday. When you change hours, Google says customers may see a confirmation message on your profile and, on mobile, a post in the Updates tab. You can edit or delete that post.

Where bizhq is the weaker choice

A free bizhq site shows your hours as text, edited from your phone. It has no booking calendar, so customers call or text to book.

Yearly holiday checklist

Do this in early November, then again in early May.

  1. Write down which holidays you close for. Examples: New Year's Day, Memorial Day, July 4, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas. Only list the ones you observe.
  2. Add each as special hours on Google, even if you are open (Google says to confirm those too).
  3. Put the same dates on your website and Facebook page.
  4. Planning a longer closure, like a trip? Use special hours if it is 6 days or fewer, and temporarily closed if it is longer.
  5. Check your regular hours still match real life.
  6. Tell regulars by text or a post. See what a small business website should say for the basics to keep current.

Prices and limits in this post were checked on September 20, 2026. They can change, so check the company's own page before you decide.

See it on a sample site

These are made-up businesses built on the free plan, so you can see how a finished site looks and reads on your phone.

Want a free website for your business?

bizhq builds one for you to edit from your phone. No credit card, no hosting fee.

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