Importance Of Hours In NAP

[Mich]

Hey Guys

So I run a business where the hours I keep are variable and generally speaking I am available by phone 24/7. Should I just put this to 24/7 in Google My Business?

My concern with setting fixed hours is that I'll have to do so everywhere to be consistent so 2 questions really:

• Is there anything wrong with putting 24/7 if you are service based business who services people at your location AND elsewhere (and you've set your business up like this in GMB)?
• How detrimental to your local SEO would inconsistent hours across your citations be?

Thanks!

 

[Eric Rohrback]

I would put whatever is accurate on your website. If you are available by appointment or phone call 24/7, then make that clear to anyone reading that page. Don't overthink this - make sure someone who needs the service knows when and how they can contact you.

To answer your second point, how detrimental are inconsistent hours? Umm... very. Think less about how the search engines will see it, because you're not getting revenue from search engines. If your hours are wrong and someone doesn't know they can call you then you just lost a sale. If you take calls 24 hours a day, make sure people know they can call or else they'll just call a competitor who does list it correctly.

If for example you're on a rotating schedule (M/W/F - 8am-6pm, T/Th - 6am-4pm or w/e it is), then just make sure you're listing whatever is accurate. If people think they can't call you, they won't. If they call and you don't answer, they won't call you again.

Be consistent and be accurate to what your hours really are.

 

[Colan Nielsen]

Consistency and accuracy is important. I wrote a blog recently that demonstrates just how quickly incorrect hours can work there way through the local ecosystem.

Why the $%!# Does Google Keep Updating My Business Hours? (A Case Study) | Imprezzio Marketing

Takeaways
Your website is the most authoritative citation out there!

If you have a business or a client that is experiencing the problem of Google auto-updating your business data, specifically the business hours, check the website first. When scanning your website, make sure your business hours don?t contain unnecessary punctuation marks.
Next, scan and update the major data aggregators and the top 50 local citations to ensure that the hours are correct.