Many remodelers list no hours on Google. Here is the ten-minute fix to make before Thanksgiving.
A large share of remodelers leave hours blank on Google, right before families plan next year's projects over the holidays. The number, and this week's fix.
A homeowner standing in her kitchen on Thanksgiving weekend, staring at the cabinets her in-laws just criticized, is a real lead. If she pulls up your Google profile and it shows no hours at all, she has no idea whether calling Monday at 7 a.m. is welcome or rude, and she taps the next listing that tells her.
That blank hours field is more common than you would guess. In our benchmark of 116,602 remodelers and general contractors, 28.3% list no hours on their Google Business Profile. That is not a small group of sleepy listings. It is a big slice of your competition, and it is the easiest gap on this site to close.
What the number actually means
Contractors leave hours off for a reason that sounds sensible. "I am on job sites all day. I do not keep office hours. I call people back when I can." All true. But Google does not read your reasons. It reads a blank field.
Here is what a blank field does in practice:
- Google shows the homeowner nothing about when you are reachable, while the listing next to yours says "Open, closes 6 PM."
- Searches that include "open now" or "open Saturday" have nothing to match you against.
- The profile looks unfinished, and an unfinished profile reads as a part-time operation to someone about to trust you with a $60,000 kitchen.
Compare the other numbers in the same report. Only 33.8% of remodelers show Saturday hours, and 18.7% show Sunday. Weekends are when couples sit down together and talk about the basement. If your profile says you take calls Saturday morning, you are in a much smaller group.
Why this matters more in the next six weeks
Late November through December is planning season for remodeling. Families are home together, they see the house through a guest's eyes, and many of them want work started in the new year. They are not ready to sign. They are ready to make a shortlist.
A shortlist gets built from the map results and from AI answers, and both lean on complete profiles. The Google Business Profile guide covers the full setup. This week, just do the hours.
This week's fix, in about ten minutes
1. Decide when you actually answer. Not when you are on site. When you or someone on your team will pick up or call back within the hour. For most small remodelers that looks like Monday to Friday, 7 a.m. to 6 p.m., plus Saturday 8 a.m. to noon.
2. Enter those hours in the profile. Open your Business Profile from Google Search or Maps, choose Edit profile, then Hours. Set each day. Leave Sunday closed if you truly do not answer.
3. Add holiday hours now. Google lets you set special hours for specific dates. Mark Thanksgiving Day and the day after, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and New Year's Day the way you will really handle them. If you will answer texts on Black Friday but not take calls, say closed for calls and make sure your text-back covers it. A profile that shows normal hours on a holiday when nobody answers is worse than one that shows closed.
4. Add appointment hours if you do site visits. If your profile offers more hours types, such as by appointment or online estimate hours, use them. A line like "estimate visits Tuesday and Thursday afternoons" sets expectations before the call.
5. Match the website. Put the same hours in your site header or footer and on your contact page. Mixed signals between the profile and the site make Google trust both a little less. The website essentials guide lists where hours belong.
What to do about the calls you still miss
Listing hours means more people will call during them. You will still be on a ladder for some of those calls. That is fine, as long as every missed call gets a text back within a minute or two: "Hi, this is Dan with Northline Remodeling. I am on a job site. What project are you thinking about? I will call you back by 5 today." That one text keeps the shortlist spot you just earned.
If you want to see what slow callbacks cost, put your own numbers into the missed call calculator. A remodel lead is worth far more than a service call, so even one lost inquiry a month adds up. The missed calls guide has the full follow-up sequence.
A quick check before you close the tab
Search your business name on your phone, not your laptop. Look at what a homeowner sees:
- Hours shown, with today's status
- Holiday hours set for Thanksgiving week
- A phone number that rings someone or texts back
- A website link that loads and shows the same hours
If all four are there, you have moved out of the 28.3% this week, before the holiday planning starts. The full benchmark report shows where the rest of your profile stands against other remodelers.
If you would rather have someone handle the profile and the text-back for you, try any service free for 14 days with no card. Text or call (385) 899-2246, or start at /free-trial/.
Steven has spent the last several years running growth campaigns for local service businesses, general contractors and remodelers among them, and builds the benchmark datasets on this site from public Google listings. About the editor