How Do You Automate Holiday Hours On Your Website? (2025/639)

Customers assume your website information is accurate.

When your site displays standard operating hours during holiday closures or reduced schedules, you create frustration, damage trust, and risk negative reviews. People arrive at closed shopfronts, encounter unanswered phones, or receive no email responses because they relied on outdated website information. Automating your holiday hours across all touchpoints prevents these problems whilst saving you from last-minute scrambles.

In this episode, Charly covers:

✅ Where to update holiday hours for maximum visibility and impact
📌 Automating schedule changes on WordPress, Shopify, and Squarespace sites
🔗 Using Google Business Profile to update maps and search results automatically
✅ Coordinating auto-responders, voicemail, and contact form messages
📌 Scheduling announcement banners to display and remove automatically
🛡️ Planning welcome-back messages now to save time when you return

The consequences of incorrect business hours extend beyond inconvenience. Customers who encounter closed businesses after your website indicated you were open often leave negative reviews, contact competitors, or simply lose trust in your reliability. Meanwhile, you can automate most of these updates using built-in features in page builders like Elementor, Thrive, and Beaver Builder, or platform-specific tools in Shopify and Squarespace. For WordPress sites, scheduling plugins exist but should be used cautiously to avoid plugin bloat. The episode covers practical automation strategies alongside manual backup plans to ensure your hours stay accurate without requiring constant attention during your busiest period.

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About the Author Charly Leetham

Charly Leetham has been in technology for over 40 years - from earning her amateur radio license at 13 to founding and running Ask Charly Leetham, a digital services business serving small businesses worldwide. After losing $1 million in a franchise failure, she rebuilt from scratch and has kept her business running for nearly two decades through skill, systems, and relentless practicality.

She hosts the podcast Rise and Shine - Your Business Tech Boost with Charly Leetham and speaks about what it actually takes to build businesses that work and last - not just look good on paper.

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