No opening hours on your Google listing? Here is how to add them

When your Google listing has no hours, people cannot tell if you are open now. Many will pick a place that shows "Open" instead. Add your hours for each day, mark your closed days, and check them on your phone.

Lakshmi runs a small tailoring shop in a housing colony. She set up her Google listing two years ago.

She added her name, address and phone. She left the hours empty. She thought, "Everyone here knows my timing."

One Sunday a new family in the colony searched for a tailor. Her listing showed no hours. The shop next to the market said "Open until 8 pm". They went there.

This is an example, with a made up name and business.

Before you open Google, write your real hours on paper.

• What time do you open and close each day?
• Do you take a break in the afternoon?
• Which day are you closed?

Write the hours you really keep, not the hours you wish you kept.

1. Open your Business Profile. You can search for your business name on Google while signed in.
2. Tap Edit profile, then Hours (Google).
3. Choose Open with main hours.
4. Set the open and close time for each day.
5. Mark the days you are closed.
6. If you take a break, add two time slots for that day. For example, 10 am to 1 pm, then 4 pm to 9 pm.
7. Save.

Google may take some time to show the change.

Our full guide on getting your opening hours right on Google also covers festival hours.

1. Open Google Maps on your phone.
2. Search for your business name.
3. Tap the hours under the name. Look at each day.

Check Sunday too. It is easy to miss one day.

Hours change. A new season, a new helper, a new routine. Each time, change them on Google the same day.

Before each festival, add special hours for those dates. Fit a quick look into a ten minute weekly routine.

While you are on your listing, check your phone number too. Our guide on your phone number on Google and apps shows how.

My hours are different every day. Is that fine?

Yes. Set each day on its own. Google shows the right hours for each day.

I sometimes stay open late. What hours do I put?

Put the hours you keep every week. Do not put your latest night.

Will adding hours bring more customers?

Nobody can promise that. But people cannot plan a visit if they do not know when you are open.