Local SEO
4 min read
Closing for the Winter? How to Update Google the Right Way
Every November, half the Jersey Shore locks up for the winter and the other half changes its hours. Google can handle both. It just needs you to tell it the right way.
The short answer
If your business closes for 6 days or fewer, set special hours on your Google Business Profile. If it closes for 7 days or more, or for the whole off-season, mark it Temporarily closed, then set your regular hours again when you reopen. Don’t mark a seasonal business Permanently closed, and say in your business description which months you’re open.
Two settings, one rule
Google gives you two tools for time off, and the rule for choosing is simple. Special hours cover changed hours and closures of up to 6 days in a row: Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, a week you close early. Temporarily closed is for anything longer: 7 days or more, the whole off-season, or a closure with no reopening date yet.
The mistake we see most around Monmouth County is a third option that isn’t on Google’s list: leaving the profile alone. The listing keeps saying Open, someone drives to Belmar on a Saturday in January, finds a locked door and leaves a one-star review. That review is still there in June.
If you close for the whole off-season
Mark the profile Temporarily closed. In your Business Profile, go to Edit profile, then Hours, and choose Temporarily closed. Google’s guidelines name the off-season as a reason to use it.
Don’t choose Permanently closed. It’s the wrong signal for a business that’s coming back, and it’s a harder mess to clean up than a temporary closure.
Say when you’re open. Add your season to the business description, for example open May through September, and post an update with your reopening date once you know it.
Update your website too. Put your closing and reopening dates on the home page and the contact page. Google and AI assistants read both, so the two should say the same thing.
Keep answering messages and reviews. Closed isn’t invisible. People still read your profile in February while they plan the summer.
If you just change hours or close for the holidays
Set special hours for each day that’s different. Thanksgiving is November 26 this year, and Christmas and New Year’s Day both fall on a Friday. Enter them now, before a customer or Google suggests an edit for you. Special hours only show on the dates you set, so there is nothing to undo afterward.
If you’re open fewer days a week all winter but not closed, the cleaner fix is to change your regular hours for the season. Special hours are meant for days, not months.
When you reopen
Set your regular hours again. That’s what takes the Temporarily closed label off. Then check the details that drift over a winter: the phone number, the menu or booking link, photos that show last year’s specials, and any edits Google applied while you weren’t looking.
Do it a week or two before opening day, not the morning of. If a change goes into review, you want that review done before the first warm weekend.
Why this matters at the shore
Seasonal hours hit the businesses that make the shore what it is: restaurants and bars, hotels and inns, and the shops on the boardwalk from Asbury Park down to Sea Girt. Getting it right costs nothing, and it’s one of the first things we check in our local SEO work for Monmouth County businesses.
If you want us to check your profile before you close for the season, Book a Call.
Related reading
Sources: Google Business Profile Help on special hours, marking a business closed, and the guidelines for representing your business, checked November 2026.
Follow-up questions
It’s the setting Google’s own guidelines tell seasonal businesses to use in the off-season, so you’re not breaking any rules. A profile that says Open while your door is locked does more damage, through bad reviews and suggested edits from customers.
Temporarily closed. Special hours cover closures of up to 6 days in a row. For 7 days or more, Google says to mark the business Temporarily closed, then set your regular hours again when you reopen.
Set your regular hours during the season and mark the profile Temporarily closed in the off-season. Add the months you’re open to your business description and your website, so both say the same thing.
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