Do your website and Google Business Profile details differ? Here's how to correct the address and business hours

Why is it important for the data to match?

People coming from local search results often want to quickly find out where the business is located, when it’s open, and how to contact it. If the Google Business Profile (GBP) shows different information than the website, the customer won’t know which information to trust.

This can have direct business consequences: a prospective customer may arrive at the wrong time, decide not to do business with the company, or choose another service provider instead. The extent of the loss caused by this discrepancy for a specific business can only be assessed based on its own data.

What should you check first?

• Company Name and Address: be consistent across Google Business Profile, the website, and contact forms.
• Hours of Operation: Both regular and holiday hours should reflect actual operations.
• Phone number: Check to see if the number listed in the profile and on the website is available.
• Multiple locations: The information for each location must be accurate on its own.
• Duplicate data on the website: Review the home page, the contact page, the footer, and any location pages.

Google recommends that the information in your Business Profile be accurate and up to date. The ranking of local search results is influenced by factors such as relevance, distance, and popularity, among others. This does not mean that an inaccuracy in the data will necessarily result in a drop in ranking. The first sure step is to correct the data and monitor the results.

Order of corrections: basic information first, then technical details

1. Determine the correct answer. Use the actual address, phone number, and hours of operation as your source. If there are multiple locations, record the information separately for each one.
2. Update your Google Business Profile. Check the address, hours of operation, and phone number on the business's profile. Pay special attention to holiday hours.
3. Refresh the webpage. Review all pages and interfaces where the data appears. Don't just edit the contact page if the address also appears in the footer or on other pages.
4. Make a note of the initial condition. Record the available profile and website data before evaluating any future changes.
5. Check it again after the repair. Make sure the correct information is displayed on both your Google Business Profile and your website.

How can you tell if the result has changed after the correction?

This measurement helps you distinguish the effect of data corrections from other changes. Do not draw conclusions based on a single metric or a short time period. Make a note of what you changed, when you did it, and which data points you are comparing.

Google Company Profile

The metrics available in the Company Profile performance data may include profile views and user actions, such as calls, route requests, or website clicks. The available data and labels are subject to change. Record the values before the fix, then compare data from the same time periods.

Inquiries via the website

If you have access to analytics data, analyze your inquiries, reservations, or purchases by source and destination page. UTM tagging can help you identify traffic coming from a specific campaign or profile, provided your tracking settings are configured correctly. It’s also a good idea to compare your records of calls and bookings with your web data.

Page Speed and User Experience

The accuracy of address and business hours information is a separate issue from website performance. If important pages load slowly or are difficult to use, check the Core Web Vitals metrics in Google Search Console or using PageSpeed Insights. These metrics assess loading speed, interactivity, and visual stability. Improving them doesn’t guarantee more conversions; you’ll need to measure the results.

Structured Data: When Should You Check It?

With LocalBusiness-type structured data, you can provide your business information in a machine-readable format on your website. Relevant fields may include the address, phone number, and business hours. Make sure that the content of any JSON-LD markup matches both the information displayed on the website and the actual data.

Structured data does not replace visible, accurate information on a website, and by itself does not guarantee special search results or higher rankings. If the markup is incorrect or missing, the developer can check the code using the latest tools and documentation from Google and Schema.org.

Tasks by Time Period

Now: Correct the discrepancy

• Please provide the actual address, phone number, and hours of operation.
• Update your Google Business Profile and the relevant sections of your website.
• Record the date of the repair and the available initial data.

Next step: Check how the website looks

• Review the links page, the home page, the footer, and the location pages.
• Check the LocalBusiness structured data if the page uses it.
• Check the Core Web Vitals data for your important pages if performance is also an issue.

In the long term: Make the update repeatable

• Designate a person responsible for maintaining the Company Profile and website information.
• Document how the company handles holiday hours, relocations, and changes in phone numbers.
• If the data appears in multiple locations, consider whether it can be managed centrally in the content management system.

When is a fix sufficient, and when might a more significant enhancement be needed?

Data discrepancies alone do not generally warrant a complete website redesign. First, determine whether the issue can be resolved by modifying a few fields or pages. A more extensive overhaul may be warranted if the website’s structure, content management, or technical condition regularly hinders necessary updates.

When making your decision, please consider the following:

• Business Impact: How much traffic comes from local searches, and what actions does it lead to?
• Scope of the error: Is it a single page, or multiple sites and content areas?
• Repairability: Can this be resolved through targeted improvements, or does the current system prevent the update?
• Chain of Command: Is it clear who modifies the data and when?
• The risk of misinformation: For certain services, an incorrect address or business hours can have particularly serious consequences. In such cases, clarifying the information should be the top priority.

Quick Checklist

1. Check the name, address, phone number, and business hours on your Google Business Profile.
2. Compare this information with the details on the website's home page, contact page, and footer.
3. Update your holiday hours if they differ from your regular hours.
4. Record the profile and website metrics prior to the fix, if available.
5. Check the structured data if the website uses the LocalBusiness markup.
6. Check the performance of important pages if you experience slow loading times or usability issues.
7. Please designate a person to be responsible for the next data update.
8. After making the correction, compare the data for the corresponding periods and take any other changes into account as well.

Summary

If the address or business hours listed on your website and Google My Business profile differ, first determine the correct information, then update it on all relevant platforms. Next, check the structured data and the website’s performance, if applicable. Finally, designate a person in charge and establish an update routine. This way, you’ll not only resolve the current issue but also reduce the likelihood that the discrepancy will reoccur.

Sources and Further Verification

• Google Business Profile Help: Guides on local rankings and managing your business information.
• Google Search Central: Documentation on Core Web Vitals metrics.
• Google Search Central: documentation on LocalBusiness structured data.
• Google Search Console and PageSpeed Insights: Checking Website Performance Metrics.