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Marking a business as “temporarily closed” and search rankings

google_business_hours_google.com | Feature | Marking a Business as “Temporarily Closed” and Search Rankings

 

Google My Business is one of the most helpful tools for business owners everywhere. It’s easy to learn, practical to use, and fast to update. During this challenging economic time, businesses around the globe are trying their best to survive. Some have already temporarily closed or are considering doing so. Here is all you need to know about setting your business as temporarily closed and search rankings. 

RELATED: Important Changes to Google My Business due to COVID-19

In This Article: 

  1. What Does Temporarily Closed Mean? 
  2. Will Making My Business Temporarily Closed on Google Hurt My SEO?
  3. Should You Mark Your Business Temporarily Closed?
  4. How to Mark My Business as “Temporarily Closed”? 
  5. How to Mark My Business as Open?

Keep Customer Well Informed with a “Temporarily Closed” Notice

What Does Temporarily Closed Mean? 

During the Covid outbreak, the number of businesses forced to close kept rising. And most of these closures are temporary, so having a way to inform the customers, users, consumers of those businesses is needed. Google has given business owners the ability to mark themselves as temporarily closed on Maps and in search. 

Therefore, “temporarily closed” is an option on Google My Business to help businesses choose their current state of operation. Whether they’re currently closed due to the effect of the pandemic or still open for business, they can change whenever they want to keep their customers up to date. 

Will Making My Business Temporarily Closed on Google Hurt My SEO?

Many of our Locl customers are small business owners who are unfortunately having to close their brick and mortar businesses due to Covid-19 temporarily. As these businesses have begun to close, we’ve been working with owners to make sure the information is reflected on their Google My Business page. However, these updates have left some wondering – how will this affect my search ranking factor? Well, there’s been some good news out of Google this week as it relates to search rankings.

Google’s Danny Sullivan, an expert on all things Google Search related, has confirmed that marking a business as “temporarily closed” or changing hours to reflect closures will not harm the search rankings or visibility.

Per SearchEngineJournal.com, as of March 30th, a “temporarily closed” business on Google will now be treated the same as an open business. Google is currently working on having better messaging around the display of closures via search. 

Should You Mark Your Business “Temporarily Closed”?

Woman using key to lock door - Should You Mark Your Business Temporarily Closed | Should You Mark Your Business Temporarily Closed | Marking a Business as “Temporarily Closed” and Search Rankings

Google seems like they are urging businesses to mark themselves as “temporarily closed” on Google My Business. Owners have received multiple reminders asking them to update their profile and keep customers updated. However, this is crucial as Google aims to provide its users with the most accurate information possible. Even though doing this does not affect businesses’ online ranking, many owners still remain skeptical about it. 

Permanently closing down your business on GMB can drastically change your SEO rankings. If it is only a temporary closure, your ranking will not be affected as it will be treated the same as an open business. 

However, business owners tend to notice a drop in the ranking after changes have been made in their operation status. That probably happens for a few reasons, for example, the changes in algorithms. Google’s updated algorithm view temporarily closed business as unfavorable. Another reason is due to the user’s behavior. They have the tendency not to access the temporarily closed business, which significantly impacts the rankings.

Options You Can Choose for Your Business

If you’re going to close your business down due to the pandemic online and in-person, it’s best to mark it as “temporarily closed” on Google My Business. 

On the other hand, if you are able or willing to operate during this time, you might want to keep your customers well informed about your working hours. 

In addition, if you open, you should consider the business hours that best suit your business. 

How to Mark My Business as “Temporarily Closed”? 

Girl opening store - How to Mark My Business as Open | How to Mark My Business as Open? | Marking a Business as “Temporarily Closed” and Search Rankings

To change your operating status from open to temporarily closed on Google My Business, Maps, and Search, you just need to do the following:

  1. Access Google My Business website.
  2. Sign in/log in to your account.
  3. Click “Info”, it’s in the menu on the left. 
  4. On the right-hand side, point to the section “Close this business on Google.” Expand the section by clicking on the arrow.
  5. Select “Mark as temporarily closed.” 

How to Mark My Business as Open?

Here is how you can reopen your business when everything is back to normal: 

  1. Open GMB.
  2. Sign in/ log in to your GMB account.
  3. Click “Info”, on the left-hand menu.
  4. Find the “Reopen or remove this profile” section, click “Reopen this listing.”

For multiple profiles, have a look at this to reopen them.

Everything you do on GMB can impact your business in a certain way. Plus, knowing the importance of updating your business description during Covid-19 is crucial. You need to take everything into account if you want to stay relevant and get through this tough time. 

If you’re struggling to maintain your business and cannot make enough profit to sustain it, we here at Locl can help you here. 

As always, we’d love to help you update your business description and be happy to help brainstorm ideas for communicating your message best. 

Contact us at 503-479-8899 

Or email us at success@locl.io

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