Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! With Christmas Day and New Year’s Day falling on Sundays, the observed holidays are Monday December 26th, and Monday January 2nd, 2023.
Do your customers know your schedule? You may post hours on your storefront, but it’s too late if they’re already there and you’re closed. Smartphone users are used to searching in Maps apps and mobile browsers, but it’s all too easy to forget to update special hours on all the third party sites that affect search results. This doesn’t just apply to retail, restaurants, and entertainment, but also to healthcare, finance, and other professional services.
Update special hours and holiday closures on Google Business Profiles for Google local search and maps results, Yelp Business Profiles for Apple maps results, and Bing Places for Bing maps results (yes, Bing is a smaller percentage of search, but I’ve found a significant set of Microsoft users keep default desktop browser settings and not realize that they aren’t searching on Google!).
Do you own a local business and are you unsure how to update these local business directories, or are you not even sure if they’re claimed for your business? I’ve been working with local businesses for 13 years and specialize in local SEO. Contact me if you have a local business, or know another local business that needs help communicating their special events, news, hours, and specialties in local search.