Optimize your website for ‘Open Now’ searches

‘Now-open-search‘ are popular. More and more people are searching online for businesses and services that are currently open. Think of searches such as ‘Restaurant open now’ or ‘Bike store open near me’. If your website is not properly optimized for these searches, you are missing out on valuable customers.

During an optimization project for a hospitality business, I saw how a simple change in the opening hours shown online led to a significant increase in reservations. Local SEO also played an important role in this. Find out how to optimize your website to become more visible in ‘Nu-open search results’.

Use Google My Business and keep your opening hours up-to-date

Google My Business (GMB) is one of the most important tools for getting found in local searches.

Google Search Console often shows that businesses without an optimized GMB profile do not rank as well in local results. Make sure your business profile is fully completed and that the opening hours shown are always up-to-date. Google uses this information to determine if your business is relevant to a “Now-open search.

Businesses that regularly check their opening hours listed online perform better in local search results. (This is especially important around holidays and special occasions).

So check your opening hours regularly. Use the option to set special opening hours and make sure your business address and contact information are always correct. A well-maintained GMB profile increases your reliability and visibility in local search results.

Optimize your website with relevant keywords

For your website to appear in “Now-open searches,” it is essential to strategically incorporate the right search terms.

A thorough keyword analysis helps determine which terms are popular within your target audience. Consider keywords such as “Open Now,” “Open Today,” and “Immediately Available. These terms can be naturally incorporated into the title and meta description of your page, the h1 and h2 headings and the content of your landing pages.

A good example of the right content is a sentence like, “Our store is now open and we are here to help you! By optimizing your content in this way, you increase the chances of your website ranking higher in relevant searches.

Use structured data (Schema Markup)

By adding structured data to your website, you’ll find that search engines interpret your opening hours much better. Therefore, use the OpeningHoursSpecification markup to indicate when a business is open. This helps search engines process your information correctly and increases the chances of your business showing up in search results with “Now-open” filters.

An example of a structured data implementation in JSON-LD:

{

“@context”: “https://schema.org”,

“@type”: “LocalBusiness”,

“name”: “Your Company”,

“openingHoursSpecification”: [

    {

“@type”: “OpeningHoursSpecification”,

“dayOfWeek”: [“Monday”, “Tuesday”, “Wednesday”, “Thursday”, “Friday”],

“opens”: “09:00”,

“closes”: “6 p.m.”

    }

  ]

}

By applying this markup correctly, you help search engines display your opening hours correctly and increase your chances of ranking higher.

Provide current and prompt communication

Customers want certainty when looking for a business that is open at that time. Businesses that do not clearly communicate their opening hours are missing out on customers. Make sure your website always provides up-to-date information. A clear section on your homepage with your opening hours helps visitors quickly find the right information. In addition, a live chat or chatbot can be helpful for questions about opening hours.

Remember to update your social media regularly with current opening hours and updates. This is especially helpful for unexpected changes, such as changed opening hours on holidays or special promotions.

While organic search results are important, you can further increase your visibility with Google Ads and Facebook Ads. A client in the retail sector saw a 35% increase in store visits by adding ad extensions such as location extensions and callout extensions with “Now-open listings. This attracts directly interested customers who are actively looking for your products or services.

Summary

By optimizing your website and business profile for “Now-open searches,” you increase the chances that customers will choose your business at the moment they need your service or product. Keep your opening hours up-to-date, use relevant keywords and use structured data to improve your findability. This way you make sure that your business will always be found by customers looking for something now!