Seasonal hours and holiday updates on your site

If your hours change for the holidays, your patio closes for winter, hunt-club catering ramps up in the fall, or you pause installs in the worst cold, your website and Google listing should say so. Customers plan around what they read. Wrong information is worse than sparse information.

What counts as seasonal

• Holiday hours and multi-day closures
• Weather-driven changes (storms, ice, extreme heat)
• Tourist or event peaks in Central Virginia
• Menu swaps and limited items
• Construction, remodeling, or temporary relocation
• Slow-season reduced hours vs peak busyness
• Appointment-only periods when walk-ins stop

If front desk staff keep answering the same calendar questions, put the answer on the site.

Update the site and Maps

Google Business Profile has special hours for holidays. Use them. Then make sure the website hours block does not disagree. People check both. Sometimes in the same minute.

Social posts help and then fade. The site and Maps are the durable places.

Put temporary notes where people look

A short notice near the top of the home page and contact page works for time-bound news. Do not hide holiday hours three clicks deep in a PDF. When the season ends, remove the notice. A stale “closed for Christmas” in February is its own error.

Calendar checklist (steal this)

1. Before major holidays, confirm open/closed and short hours with the person who schedules staff.
2. Update the site and Google Business Profile the same day decisions are final.
3. If you take online orders or bookings, make those systems match public hours.
4. After the holiday, strip temporary language and restore normal hours everywhere.
5. Each quarter, skim for leftover season language (“Summer 2024 specials”).

Storms and last-minute changes

When ice hits Richmond or a supply issue shuts a kitchen, speed beats design. Who can edit the site or Google listing in under an hour? If only an agency can, know the after-hours contact. If only one employee can, document the logins.

Seasonality as opportunity

Honest seasonal content helps more than fluff. Generator service before storm season. Patio open. Holiday catering deadlines. These answer questions people already have. Keep claims true. Put dates on them when dates matter.

What we recommend

Make hour and notice changes easy. Or make them a quick request with a fast turnaround. A site that cannot reflect the calendar becomes a liability every November and every ice storm. Keeping the public story accurate is part of keeping your site updated without living in it.