Opening Hours
Accurate opening hours build trust. Nothing frustrates customers more than arriving to find you're closed when Google said you'd be open. Let's get your hours set up correctly.
Setting Your Regular Opening Hours
What to do
Enter the hours you're normally open each day of the week. Be accurate — these show to customers and affect when you appear in searches.
Step by step
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Go to your business information in business.google.com and find the "Hours" or "Opening hours" section.
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Set hours for each day. Click on each day and enter your opening and closing times. If you're closed on certain days, mark them as "Closed".
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Use the times you're available to customers. These should be when customers can actually reach you or visit you — not when you arrive early to set up or stay late to clean.
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If you have a break during the day, you can set multiple time ranges. For example, "9:00 AM - 12:00 PM" and "1:00 PM - 5:00 PM" if you close for lunch.
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Be honest about your hours. If you sometimes close early when it's quiet, set the hours you're reliably open. Better to underpromise and overdeliver than have customers arrive to locked doors.
Examples by industry
If you answer calls 8am-6pm weekdays and Saturday mornings, set those hours. If you also take emergency calls 24/7, you might set that differently (see 'More hours' below).
If you're open 7am-5pm Monday to Saturday and closed Sunday, enter that exactly. If you close for a break between lunch and afternoon service, show that too.
Enter your reception hours — when patients can call and when appointments are available. Typically something like 9am-5pm weekdays.
Standard office hours for most — 9am-5:30pm weekdays. If you're closed for lunch (rare for offices), show that.
**Inaccurate hours damage your reputation.** If customers repeatedly arrive when you're closed, they'll leave negative reviews mentioning it. Google also tracks when businesses are actually busy versus their stated hours — consistent discrepancies can hurt your listing.
Setting Special Hours (Holidays & One-Offs)
What to do
Special hours let you set different hours for specific dates — bank holidays, Christmas, or any day you're operating differently than normal.
Step by step
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Find "Special hours" or "Holiday hours" in your hours settings. It's usually near your regular hours.
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Add upcoming holidays. Google often suggests major holidays (Christmas, Easter, Bank Holidays). Confirm whether you're open, closed, or operating reduced hours.
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Add any other special dates. If you're closing for a one-off event, annual leave, or refurbishment, add those dates too.
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Set this up in advance. Add special hours before the date arrives, not after. Customers plan ahead.
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For extended closures, add all the relevant dates. Going on holiday for two weeks? Add special hours for each day.
**Set up the whole year's bank holidays at once.** When you first set up your listing, go through all the major UK bank holidays and set your hours for each. It saves you remembering to do it later.
Using 'More Hours' for Specific Services
What to do
Some businesses have different hours for different services. 'More hours' lets you specify these separately.
Step by step
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Check if 'More hours' is available for your business. Not all categories have this feature. Look for "More hours" or "Additional hours" in your hours settings.
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Common 'More hours' types include: Senior hours, drive-through hours, delivery hours, pickup hours, kitchen hours, happy hour, etc. The options depend on your business category.
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Add any that apply to your business. If your kitchen closes an hour before your café, you could show kitchen hours separately. If you offer emergency services outside normal hours, you could show that.
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Only add what's genuinely different. If your delivery hours are the same as your opening hours, you don't need to add them separately.
Examples by industry
If you're available for emergency calls 24/7 but normal enquiries are 8am-6pm, you might use 'More hours' to show emergency availability separately.
Kitchen hours (if food service ends before drinks), breakfast hours, or specific happy hour times could be shown separately.
You might show different hours for emergency appointments versus routine bookings if applicable.
Probably not applicable for most solicitors — standard office hours cover it.
Marking Your Business as Temporarily Closed
What to do
If you need to close for an extended period (refurbishment, illness, holiday), you can mark your business as temporarily closed rather than just setting special hours.
Step by step
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Only use this for genuine extended closures. A few days off should use special hours. Weeks or longer might warrant 'Temporarily closed'.
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Find the option in your business info settings. Look for "Permanently closed" or "Mark as closed" and select "Temporarily closed" not permanently.
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Add a reopening date if you know it. Google may let you specify when you'll reopen.
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Remove the temporary closure when you reopen. Set your listing back to normal as soon as you're operating again.
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Be aware this affects visibility. Temporarily closed businesses may not appear as prominently in searches. Only use this when necessary.
**Never mark your business as permanently closed unless you're actually closing for good.** Permanently closed listings essentially get removed. If you're just taking a break, use temporarily closed or special hours.
Hours for Service-Area Businesses
What to do
If you're a service-area business, your hours represent when customers can reach you to book or enquire, not necessarily when you're physically working.
Step by step
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Set hours when you're available for contact. If customers can call you 8am-6pm to book a plumber, set those hours. The actual work might happen outside those times.
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Consider 24/7 availability if applicable. If you genuinely take calls at any time (emergency services), you can set 24 hours. But only if you'll actually answer at 3am.
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Be realistic. If calls after 6pm go to voicemail and you return them next morning, your hours are effectively until 6pm, not 24/7.