Before the season
- Make sure at least two people can log into your Google Business Profile, website, and social accounts, from their phones.
- Know how to set special hours and mark the business temporarily closed on Google.
- Have a short notice ready to post on your website’s home page.
- Write down who to call if your website goes down, and print it. Our who-to-call card is made for this.
When a storm is coming
- Google Business ProfileSet special hours for the days you’ll close, or mark the business temporarily closed if you don’t know when you’ll reopen. Temporarily closed doesn’t hurt your listing the way marking it permanently closed would.
- WebsiteA banner at the top of every page: closed from when, when you expect to reopen, and where you’ll post updates.
- SocialPost the same information, and pin it.
- PhoneUpdate your voicemail greeting.
After
- Reopen the profile and remove special hours as soon as you’re open.
- Take the banner down, or change it to “We’re open.”
- Post photos showing you’re back. Customers wonder.
- Watch for storm-related scams aimed at your customers using your name, and warn them.
Written by Nikita Huttenlocher, founder and lead engineer at Huttenlocher Technologies, a web design and software company in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.