Holiday closure message for website
Closed for the holidays.Say it everywhere.
A good holiday closure message says five things: the dates with weekdays, the day and time you reopen, what still works, where to get help now and any deadline that matters. Say it in the same words wherever a customer looks: a banner, your contact page and footer, your booking calendar, the chat, your email reply, your voicemail and Google. The generator below writes the copy for each from one set of dates, and the rest of this page covers where it goes and when it comes down.
By the Builderify team
What should a
holiday closure
message say?
Five things.
A closure message works when it answers what a customer would otherwise email you: are you open, when are you back, can I still order or book, and who do I call if it can’t wait. Write it once, with weekdays, and use the same words on every channel, so a customer who sees the banner, then the chat, then your email hears one story.
Keep it short. A banner is one line, a notice on your contact page is three or four sentences, and an email reply starts with the return date in the subject line, because that is the line people see first. The five things at right are written for a made-up garden center; the generator below writes the rest.
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01
The dates, with weekdays
Closed for the holidays: Thursday, December 24 through Sunday, December 27.
A phrase like “over the holidays” makes people count days. A weekday and a date doesn’t.
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02
The day and time you reopen
Back Monday, December 28 at 9am.
Without it, nobody knows whether to wait for you or go elsewhere.
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03
What still works
Online orders stay open and ship when we reopen.
This is the line that keeps the sale: the order, the booking or the answer that doesn’t need you.
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04
Where to get help now
For anything urgent, call our on-call line at 555-0142.
One number or one address that someone will check, not five ways to reach a closed door.
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05
The deadline that matters
Last day to order before we close: Monday, December 21.
A last day to order or book is the date people plan around, and the one they miss if you leave it out.
How do you write a
closed for the holidays notice?
Enter the dates once, copy it everywhere.
Fill in the dates, and the generator writes four messages and the dates to set elsewhere. It starts with a made-up garden center so you can see a finished set; replace each field with yours. The wording is plain on purpose, so edit it into your own voice before you publish. Nothing you type leaves your browser.
4 days closed · back Monday, December 28
Website banner
One line, for the top of every page
Closed for the holidays: Thursday, December 24 through Sunday, December 27. Back Monday, December 28 at 9am.
Contact-page notice
A few sentences, for a contact page or popup
Fernhill Garden Center is closed for the holidays from Thursday, December 24 through Sunday, December 27. We reopen on Monday, December 28 at 9am. Online orders stay open and ship when we reopen. We'll answer messages when we're back. For anything urgent, call our on-call line at 555-0142.
Email auto-reply
Subject and body, for your automatic reply
Subject: We're closed until Monday, December 28 Thanks for your message. Fernhill Garden Center is closed for the holidays from Thursday, December 24 through Sunday, December 27, and we reopen on Monday, December 28 at 9am. We'll reply then. Online orders stay open and ship when we reopen. For anything urgent, call our on-call line at 555-0142. Thank you, Fernhill Garden Center
Voicemail greeting
A script to read aloud
Hello, you've reached Fernhill Garden Center. We're closed for the holidays from Thursday, December 24 through Sunday, December 27, and we'll be back on Monday, December 28 at 9am. For anything urgent, call our on-call line at 555-0142. Please leave your name, your number and a short message, and we'll call you back when we reopen.
The same dates, to set elsewhere
- Closed days
- Thursday, December 24 · Friday, December 25 · Saturday, December 26 · Sunday, December 27
- Google Business Profile
- Add special hours and mark each of the 4 days as Closed.
- Booking calendar
- Add a date override to close each of the 4 days.
- Email auto-reply
- First day Thursday, December 24, last day Sunday, December 27. Gmail ends the reply at 11:59 PM on the last day.
- Banner or popup
- Set it to end after Sunday, December 27, so it is gone when you reopen on Monday, December 28.
Weekdays are worked out for you
Pick the first closed day and the day you reopen. The weekday names come from the dates, so “Thursday” is right for the year you are in.
US or UK dates
US style reads “Thursday, December 24 through Sunday, December 27”. UK style reads “Thursday 24 December to Sunday 27 December”. Pick the one your customers read.
Read it aloud before you record it
The voicemail script is written to be spoken. Give a different number from the one that rings to voicemail, and cut anything that makes you stumble.
Where should you post
a holiday closure message?
Nine places a customer might look.
Customers don’t read your site the way you do: some land on the contact page from Google, some open the chat, some book on the calendar, some call. Put the same message wherever one of them could ask, and note which places sit outside your website, because Builderify can’t reach those. Five are in Builderify, and four you set elsewhere.
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01 In Builderify
Website banner or popup
Say it at the top of every page, and write the end date when you write the banner. An announcement has an expiry date, so it takes itself down; a popup has start and end dates in your website’s timezone and can be limited to chosen pages.
BuilderifyNotifications, Popups GuideSchedule an announcement bar
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02 Outside Builderify
Contact page and footer hours
Change the written hours too. A footer that still says Monday to Friday, 9 to 5 contradicts the banner above it. Update the contact page, the footer and any “visit us” page on the same day, and put them back when you reopen.
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03 In Builderify
Booking calendar
Close each day with a date override, so nobody books a slot you can’t keep. In Builderify Bookings, a date override closes a day or gives it different hours, in your website’s timezone, and your weekly hours stay as they are.
BuilderifyBookings
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04 In Builderify
Live chat
A chat button nobody answers is worse than none. With Only show when an agent is online switched on, the block is hidden while nobody on your team has Live Chat open, so leave it closed while you’re away. It checks whether the module is open, not your opening hours.
BuilderifyLive Chat
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05 In Builderify
AI chatbot
It answers from what you’ve taught it, so teach it the dates. Write a Q&A with the closure dates, what still works and where to go for urgent help, test it by asking “Are you open on Friday, December 25?”, and delete it when you reopen.
BuilderifyAI Chatbot GuideTrain a chatbot on your website, Stop an AI chatbot making things up
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06 In Builderify
Callback requests
They keep arriving while you’re away. Each request waits in the queue with the caller’s timezone and the time that suits them, first asked, first called. Say on the button when you’ll call back, so a request left on Friday, December 25 isn’t late when you ring on Monday, December 28.
BuilderifyCallbacks GuideAdd a call me back button
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07 Outside Builderify
Email auto-reply
Turn on your email’s automatic reply with a first and a last day, and put the return date in the subject line. In Gmail the reply starts at 12:00 AM on the first day and ends at 11:59 PM on the last, so the last day is your last closed day.Gmail
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08 Outside Builderify
Voicemail
Record the script from the generator before you close, and put your normal greeting back the morning you reopen. Say the dates with weekdays, the day you’re back and one number for anything urgent, and read it aloud first: if it’s hard to say, it’s hard to follow.
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09 Outside Builderify
Google Business Profile
Set special hours for each closed day and leave “Closed” checked. Google says special hours cover closures of up to six days in a row, and that for seven or more you should mark the profile Temporarily closed, which can rank after open businesses for broad searches.Google: special hoursGoogle: closures It also suggests confirming hours for official holidays, even when they match your regular ones.
When does it go up,
and when does it
come down?
On a schedule.
Put it up about two weeks before you close, and take it down the morning you reopen. Two weeks gives people time to order or book first, and a week is the least that helps. Write the end date into every message when you write it, so most of the taking down is already done.
Four ways a closure goes wrong
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A phrase instead of a date
“Closed over the holidays” sends people to a calendar. Write the weekday, the date and the day you’re back.
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A different story in each place
The banner says the 24th, the email says the 26th and the voicemail says “after the holidays”. Use the same words everywhere.
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A banner nobody takes down
Write its end date when you write the banner, so taking it down needs no one to remember.
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No way to reach you
If something can’t wait, name one number or one address that someone will check.
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01
Two weeks before
Set the dates once.
Add special hours on Google, date overrides on your booking calendar and the banner with its end date already written in. Google lets you schedule special hours for holidays ahead of time.Google
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02
One week before
Tell people what to do first.
Switch the banner on, change the written hours on your contact page and footer, and add the chatbot Q&A. If customers need to order or book before you close, put the last day in the banner.
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03
Your last open day
Turn on the replies.
Switch on the email auto-reply with its first and last day, record the voicemail, and send yourself a test message to check the reply arrives.
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04
While you’re closed
Leave the chat closed.
Keep Live Chat closed so its block stays hidden. If you check in, callback requests wait in the queue in the order they arrived.
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05
The morning you reopen
Take it all down.
Turn off the email reply, put your normal voicemail back, delete the chatbot Q&A and restore the written hours. The banner and the booking overrides ended themselves, because you gave them dates. Special hours apply only to the dates you set; if you marked the profile Temporarily closed instead, change it back yourself.Google
What does Builderify cover
while you’re closed?
The website and the calendar.
Builderify covers what happens on your website: the banner or popup, the booking calendar, the chat, the chatbot and the callback queue. It doesn’t answer your phone, set your email’s automatic reply or edit your Google profile, which is why the generator writes that copy for you to paste where it belongs.
Set once, with dates on it
- Website banner or popup Notifications, Popups
- Booking calendar Bookings
- Live chat Live Chat
- AI chatbot AI Chatbot
- Callback requests Callbacks
Set where it lives
- Contact page and footer hours Use the generator’s copy in your own tool.
- Email auto-reply Use the generator’s copy in your own tool.
- Voicemail Use the generator’s copy in your own tool.
- Google Business Profile Use the generator’s copy in your own tool.
A closure banner, priced.
A closure banner is one notification, and the widget that shows it counts page loads like any other. Every account gets 250 free credits a month and there is no monthly fee. One-time packs start at $9, and purchased credits never expire. See the pricing page for the whole rate card.
5 credits
per notification you publish
10 credits
per 1,000 page loads with the widget on them
250 free
credits every month, with no monthly fee
Put the dates in once, then set them where each one lives. Start with an announcement with an expiry date, so the banner takes itself down, and close the days on your booking calendar.
Start freeClosing for the holidays, answered.
Five things: the dates you are closed, with weekdays; the day and time you reopen; what still works; where to get help now; and any deadline that matters, such as the last day to order. Use the same wording on every channel, so a customer who sees the banner, then the chat, then your email gets one story.
Lead with the dates and the day you are back, then add what still works and one way to reach you. For a website banner that can be one line: "Closed for the holidays: [first day] through [last day]. Back [weekday, date] at [time]." The generator on this page writes a banner, a contact-page notice, an email reply and a voicemail greeting from the same dates.
About two weeks ahead is a sensible default, because it gives customers time to order or book first, and a week is the least that helps. Set your special hours on Google Business Profile as early as you can: Google lets you schedule them for holidays ahead of time.
Open your profile, choose Edit profile, then Hours, and next to Special hours select Edit. Pick each date and leave the Closed box checked, or enter the hours you will keep. Google says special hours cover closures of up to six days in a row; for seven or more it says to mark the profile Temporarily closed, which can rank after open businesses on broad searches.
Use a date override for each closed day, so nobody can book a slot you cannot keep. In Builderify Bookings, a date override closes a day or gives it different hours, in your website's timezone, and your normal weekly hours stay as they are.
Only if someone will answer it. In Builderify, a chat block with Only show when an agent is online switched on is hidden while nobody on your team has Live Chat open, so it disappears while you are away. It checks whether the module is open, not your opening hours, so opening it to check in brings the block back.
No. Builderify covers your website: the banner or popup, the booking calendar, the chat, the chatbot and the callback queue. Your voicemail greeting and your email's automatic reply are set with your phone and email providers, and the generator on this page writes the text for both.
Sources
Google’s and Gmail’s help pages were read on 29 October 2026, and Google changes its rules from time to time, so check the current page before you rely on a limit. The Builderify details come from the module pages and the rate card on this site. The dates in the examples are for illustration: check them against your own calendar before you publish.
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