Summer on the peninsula is a different world from February. Hours stretch, menus grow, rentals book out, charters run every morning — and then, sometime after Labor Day, it all winds back down. The business adapts in a day. The website and the Google profile usually don't, and that gap costs you in both directions: summer visitors who think you're closed, and winter visitors who drive out to a locked door.
The fix isn't more marketing. It's a short, repeatable check you run at the two turning points of your year.
The two dates to put on your calendar
Pick them now, based on your own business, not the calendar:
- A few weeks before your busy season starts. Visitors plan trips ahead. The family booking a July week is searching in April, and they're judging you on what your listing says then.
- A week or two before you slow down or close. This is the one most businesses skip — and it's when the wrong-hours reviews happen.
Set both as repeating reminders. Everything below takes about an hour each time.
1. Hours: one truth, in every place
Wrong hours are the fastest way to lose a customer and earn a one-star review in the same afternoon. Seasonal businesses change hours more than anyone, so this matters double.
- Update your Google Business Profile hours first — it's what most people see, often before your website. Use special hours for holidays and one-off dates, and change your regular hours when the season itself changes.
- Then make your website match, word for word. If Google says "closed Tuesdays" and your site says "open daily," customers trust neither.
- Check the other places your hours live: Facebook, Yelp, TripAdvisor, your voicemail greeting, the sign on the door.
- Avoid "hours vary." It reads as "call first," and most people won't. List the actual days and times, even if they change next month.
Closing for the winter? If you're open some days, update your hours rather than marking the business closed. If you're fully closed for months, Google lets you mark the profile temporarily closed — just remember to reopen it, and put your reopening date on your website so no one wonders whether you're gone for good.
2. Say what's open — not just when
Hours answer "are you open?" Customers also need to know "open for what?"
- Restaurants: is the full menu running, or the winter menu? Is the patio open? Update the menu on your site and on Google.
- Lodging and rentals: which units are available, and are there minimum-stay changes for peak weeks?
- Charters and tours: what's running, which dates, and what's weather-dependent?
- Shops and services: reduced hours, appointment-only days, or a shorter list of services?
A single, dated line near the top of your homepage does a lot of work: "Winter hours through March: Thursday–Sunday, 11–7. Full menu returns in May." The date tells visitors the information is current, not left over from two seasons ago.
3. Keep taking business while you're closed
The quietest months are when next summer gets booked. A site that goes dark, or just says "closed for the season," sends those planners to someone else.
- Keep booking open for future dates if you take reservations. People book summer weeks in winter.
- Offer something to do now: gift cards, a waitlist for opening day, a newsletter sign-up for the season opener.
- Set an automatic reply on your contact form and inbox that says when you'll answer: "We're closed until April 1 but reading messages weekly — we'll get back to you by Friday." An inquiry acknowledged is one that doesn't go to a competitor.
4. Refresh your photos and posts
Your profile photos should look like the business a visitor will find this season. Add a couple of current pictures at each turning point — a phone on a clear day is plenty. Post a short update on your Google profile, too: "Summer hours start Memorial Day weekend" or "Now open weekends through the winter." It shows Google and customers that someone is minding the store.
5. Don't forget the locals
In the off-season, your customers are mostly the people who live here year-round — and they search the same way visitors do: "breakfast Long Beach," "plumber Ilwaco." Make sure the things locals care about are easy to find: weekday specials, off-season hours, how to reach you. A business that clearly stays open, and says so, picks up the neighbors who assume everything shuts after Labor Day.
The one-hour checklist
Run it at both turning points:
- Google Business Profile: regular hours, special hours, and open/closed status are right.
- Website: hours match Google exactly, and the homepage has a dated line about what's open.
- Other listings, voicemail, and door sign match too.
- Menu, rates, schedules, or services on the site reflect this season.
- Booking, gift cards, or a waitlist are available for future dates.
- Contact form and email auto-reply say when you'll respond.
- Two new photos and one Google post are up.
Where to start
If you only do one thing today, search for your own business on Google Maps and read your hours out loud. If they're not what a customer would find at your door this week, fix that first — everything else can wait until your next turning point.
If you'd rather have a second pair of eyes on it, the free check-up looks at your website and Google presence together and tells you what's out of step.
Where this leads: hours, notices, and seasonal menu changes are the kind of small edit the Website Plan includes, made within three business days, so they happen on schedule without you logging in. Taking bookings for next season is the online booking add-on, and keeping your Google profile in shape year-round is part of our Local SEO service. For the full profile check, see Is your Google Business Profile costing you customers?