Google My Business at the end of the year: how to sell more

To sell more with Google My Business at the end of the year, update your profile before the holidays: set special hours, post photos of your Christmas products, turn on products and offers, reply to reviews, and post often. Google's free profile is the first contact for anyone looking for a gift, a holiday meal, or a service in your area.

Anyone who searches for “bakery near me open on Sunday” or “gift shop in Santa Cruz do Rio Pardo” first sees the business profile panel, with photos, hours, and reviews. If that shop window is out of date, the sale goes to the competition.

Why does using Google My Business matter more at the end of the year?

At the end of the year, shoppers decide fast and close to home. According to a Google survey with Ipsos, 75% of consumers are willing to buy from stores or websites they've never bought from before this season. That means new customers are looking for businesses right now, and your Google profile is the way in.

A complete profile, with correct hours and recent photos, builds trust instantly. A profile with the wrong hours on December 24, for example, leads to an annoyed customer and a negative review on the worst possible date.

When should you update your business profile for the holidays?

Start 4 to 6 weeks before Christmas. The reason is simple: Google takes time to process changes, and photos and posts need to build up activity to signal that the business is active.

Suggested order of changes:

1. Check name, category, phone number, address, and website.
2. Set special hours for Christmas and New Year's.
3. Post photos of products and your space with a seasonal feel.
4. Add products and services with prices or price ranges.
5. Turn on messaging and reply to pending reviews.

How do you set special hours for Christmas and New Year's?

The special hours feature on the business profile lets you schedule temporary changes, including when the business closes for up to 6 days in a row. It takes priority over regular hours on display, and Google shows something like “hours might differ” on the panel.

Here's how:

• Open your business profile and find the hours section.
• Add special hours for December 24, 25, and 31 and January 1 (and adjust the days before with shorter hours, if that applies).
• Make sure your regular hours are correct for all other days.
• Remove the special hours after the holidays so they don't stay active the following year.

Don't use the description field or posts to announce holiday hours: people looking at the panel trust the official hours field.

What should you post on your profile to attract gift shoppers?

Post as if your profile were the store window. A customer in Santa Cruz do Rio Pardo looking for a last-minute gift wants to see what you have today, not a photo from 2022.

• Photos of seasonal products: gift baskets, kits, holiday meal items, gift wrapping.
• Offer posts: a promotion with start and end dates, a clear call to action, and a link or phone number.
• Products section: add your best sellers with a photo, description, and price.
• Short videos: behind the scenes of putting orders together, new arrivals, the team in action.

Recommended minimum frequency: 1 to 2 posts a week during the season, more on peak days.

How can you use reviews to sell more over the holidays?

Recent reviews influence the decision of people who have never bought from you, and at the end of the year that share of new customers is large. Reply to all pending reviews before December and keep the habit going through the season.

Two practices that work:

• Ask happy customers for a review at the time of purchase, with a QR code at the counter or a direct link on WhatsApp.
• Reply to negative reviews politely and with a solution, because readers judge the business's reply too.

Is it worth creating a specific year-end offer or campaign?

Yes, and Google itself recommends treating the season as a separate campaign. In Google Ads' official guidance, the suggestion is to create a new campaign dedicated to the season, with its own budget, which can be reactivated after 1 year if it performs well. Even businesses that only use their business profile, with no ads, can apply the same logic: a seasonal offer of their own, with a name, a deadline, and a goal.

Set simple goals and break them down, as Sebrae-SP (the São Paulo branch of Brazil's small business support agency) suggests in its Christmas material for small businesses: sales goals by month, week, day, employee, category, and product. Without numbers, you can't tell whether the season was actually good.

What common mistakes hurt sales at the end of the year?

• Special hours not added, or added wrong, on Google.
• Old photos with no reference to the season.
• A profile without an up-to-date phone number or with unanswered messages.
• Stock that's advertised but out of stock in the store.
• Negative reviews left unanswered during the search peak.

All of these can be fixed in an afternoon. The cost of not fixing them is losing customers to whoever showed up with better information in search.

Quick profile checklist for the season

1. Special hours for the 24th, 25th, 31st, and 1st set up.
2. At least 5 new year-end themed photos.
3. Products and services added with prices.
4. 1 to 2 posts a week with an offer and a deadline.
5. Every review answered.
6. Phone number, website, and directions checked on the map.

Ready-made checklist: what to do the week of Christmas?

During Christmas week, the focus shifts from attracting customers to running operations. Confirm stock, staff, and hours for Christmas Eve; post one last message with your hours for the 24th and 25th; and reply to messages and reviews every day. If the business is closing, add the closure to your profile so customers see it before they leave home.

Get Google My Business ready for the end of the year with expert help

A well-configured Google profile is the cheapest way to show up for people who are deciding on a purchase right now, in your city. Gather the information, follow the checklist, and track the results in the profile's own performance dashboard.

If you'd rather outsource this routine, OutBox Soluções Digitais, headquartered in Santa Cruz do Rio Pardo, SP, and serving clients all over Brazil, takes care of Google Business Profiles and the online presence of businesses in many industries. Get in touch to request a review of your profile before the holidays.