Google may have added the hours, but it’s a good idea to double-check and confirm them. Incorrect hours can easily lead to unhappy customers. To add or edit hours of operation:
Existing customers and community members may be aware of your new location, but what about future customers and community members? They won’t know to visit your old location to find your new location. You don’t even exist to them yet! This is why it’s crucial to update your business listing with any and all changes to your information as soon as possible. Even the smallest changes need to be reported, such as to a different suite or floor within the same building. Accuracy is crucial in getting online listings and search engines to benefit your business.
Google uses your website and online listings to gauge your credibility and determine how high it can rank you in results. Having a website is a must, but if you do not have one, you can at least perfect your Google My Business profile so that consumers can learn about your business via search results pages.
- Create a Google account
- Search for your business on Google Maps
- If your business shows up, no action is needed, your listing has been created
- If your business does not show up, click “add a place”
- Fill in your information, click “submit”
- Check your email
Get discovered
Consumers like to quickly check Google to ensure a business is open before they plan their visit. Don’t risk losing business simply because your hours are not listed.
Further your reach
This benefit has to do with editing your category in Google My Business. By choosing a category, you enable your business to get discovered by people who are searching for the product or service you offer rather than your specific business name (think about how many customers don’t yet know you exist). This is especially helpful for businesses whose name doesn’t imply their offering. For example, “Sam’s Auto Repair” is pretty straightforward, but “Happy Trails” could be a dog walking service, hiking tour company, or a bike path paving company. Categorizing your business’s Google listing is an easy way to get more of the right people to learn that you exist.
If you’re moving the location of your business, word of mouth will inform some, but not all. Announcing your move on social media will inform more, but not for long, as the posts will eventually get buried under new ones. In order to prevent the loss of existing customers and to promote the increase of new customers, update your Google business listing to ensure a seamless transition.
Drive leads
Search engines are not the only tool people use to find products and services they need. There are hundreds of apps and directories out there today that are more specifically directing people to the right destination for them. However, these platforms build their databases by crawling the web and relying on larger search engines to gather this information, such as Google. As a result, many of the listings in these smaller but more commonly used directories contain information that has trickled down through Google business listings. Update your Google listing to make sure that the hundreds of other applications out there will be populated with the right information and can multiply your reach.
There are many different circumstances that will call for you to update or make edits to your Google business listing. Below are just a few.
Boost exposure
Having multiple locations can be confusing for search engines and people. Make sure that you update and verify each individual listing within your Google account to contain information specific to that location.
Here’s how to create a Google listing, which you will need to claim before making any changes or updates.
When should I update my Google business listing?
Unlike your lemonade stand from childhood, people are not just driving by—they’re actively searching for businesses like yours. They’re on Google Maps and Google Search, searching for products and services near them and doing research to compare businesses. In order to get found by the people who have the intent to buy from you, you’ve got to update your Google listing.
Business moving or relocation
In fact, according to Google, 84% of consumers use their computer or tablet to search for local businesses online, and 88% use their smartphone. By creating and maintaining your Google business listing, you can ensure that your business reaches as many consumers as possible where they are spending a lot of their time.
Just as a complete and accurate listing can drive traffic to your website and store, an inaccurate or incomplete listing can drive customers away. Yikes! Regardless of how the inaccuracies occurred, consumers will automatically attribute them to deficiencies or incompetencies on your part. Be sure to stay on top of your listing and fix any erroneous information that may appear.
Multiple business locations
When you were a kid and you had a lemonade stand, where did you set it up? Not in the backyard or in the house, but on the street. Why? Because that’s where people are. The same concept holds true for businesses today. If you want to be seen, you need to be where people are; and today, people are online.
Inaccurate business information
Google is constantly crawling the internet for updated information in order to provide the most accurate and reliable search results. The more consistent your contact information is across the web, the more favor you’ll win in Google’s eyes.
No website
Important: Click or tap twice if an attribute does not apply.
How to change your business hours on Google
For more detailed instructions on creating and claiming your Google business listing, head here.
Having a Google business listing will do nothing to benefit your business unless it is accurate, consistent, and up to date. Do your job of maintaining your business listing so that Google can do its job of helping to get your business found by the people looking for it. More information for more people means growth for your business and more happy customers!
- Log into your Google My Business account
- Select Info
- Look for the clock icon
- Click on the pencil icon to add or edit
- Add hours for every day of the week
- Click Apply
To edit the attributes in your Google My Business Listing via desktop:
- Log into your Google My Business account
- Choose Info
- Look for Add attributes next to the tag icon and click on the pencil to edit
- Review and select attributes for your business
- Attributes that have not been set are shown with a “+” symbol
Your Google business listing (known by Google as your Business Profile) is a free listing you can create to help get your business found in more local searches, rank higher than your competitors, and get chosen by more customers. However, it’s not just a set it and forget it listing. If you want to stay at the top of results, you need to optimize and maintain your listing, just as you would with your website.
