Google: Marking a Business ‘Temporarily Closed’ Doesn’t Impact Rankings

By Matt Southern
 SEJ STAFF Matt Southern Lead News Writer at Search Engine Journal

Search Engine Journal/ shutterstock

Google’s Danny Sullivan confirms that marking a Google My Business listing as temporarily closed will not harm rankings or visibility.

As businesses shut their doors to mitigate the spread of coronavirus, Google introduced a “temporarily closed” indicator in Google My Business.

Initially there was concern about this indicator negatively impacting search rankings.

A concerned business owner reached out to Sullivan suggesting Google should introduce a solution that wouldn’t lead to reduced visibility in search.

That’s important as some businesses are still operating online even though their physical location in closed.

Here is Sullivan’s response:

Danny Sullivan
✔
@dannysullivan
Temporarily closed doesn't impact ranking or visibility.

Google: Marking a Business ‘Temporarily Closed’ Doesn’t Impact Rankings

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A temporarily closed business will now be treated the same as an open business:

“If your business is affected by COVID-19, update your Google My Business profile to provide the most accurate information to your customers…

Marking your business temporarily closed will not affect search ranking and it will be treated similar to open businesses.”

This is a brand new change that Google just rolled out. Sullivan says the company plans to have better messaging about it soon.

For now, the most important thing to note is you can mark a business as temporarily closed without consequence.

After doing so, Google will display the following message on the business’s profile in search results.

Google: Marking a Business ‘Temporarily Closed’ Doesn’t Impact Rankings

Now that you know there’s no impact to search rankings, here’s how to mark a business as temporarily closed.

Google My Business: Temporarily Closed
To make a business profile appear as temporarily closed on Google Maps and Search, follow the steps below:

Sign in to Google My Business on desktop.
In the menu on the left, click Info.
To the right, point to the section “Close this business on Google.”
Expand this section and click click “Mark as temporarily closed.”
Source: Google My Business Help

FAQ
What should I do if my business is temporarily closed due to COVID-19?
Update your Google My Business listing to keep customers informed as to the actions you’re taking in response to the coronavirus outbreak.

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