For about a month every year, the opening hours on a lot of UAE business websites are wrong. This Ramadan website checklist covers the changes to make before the month starts, and the ones to undo after Eid.
The Ramadan website checklist, in short
Start around three weeks before Ramadan. That leaves time to get changes approved before the month begins, because approvals tend to slow down once it does.
Here's the short version. The sections below take each point in turn.
- Ramadan hours on your website, Google Business Profile and WhatsApp Business
- Iftar and suhoor timings, if you serve food or drink
- Delivery cut-off times and any changes to delivery days
- A Ramadan offers page on an address you can reuse next year
- Who answers WhatsApp, and when, during the month and over Eid
Opening hours, everywhere they appear
Hours live in more places than you remember. The footer. The contact page. A line in the header. Your Google Business Profile. The WhatsApp Business profile and its away message. Sometimes a block of code in the page that nobody has looked at since launch.
Change them all on the same day. Customers often check Google Maps first, and if Maps says one thing and the website another, they'll ring to ask or not bother at all.
Google Business Profile lets you set special hours for chosen dates, which suits Ramadan because the listing goes back to normal on its own. Our Google Business Profile guide covers the rest of the listing.
On the website, a short notice near the top of the contact page works better than a banner across every page. Write the actual hours. "Ramadan timings apply" tells the customer nothing.
Reduced working hours for the month are usually announced shortly before Ramadan. If yours depend on that announcement, prepare the text now and fill in the times once they're confirmed. Then set a reminder for the first working day after Eid to switch everything back. It's the step most often forgotten, and Ramadan hours still showing three months later look careless.
Iftar and suhoor timings for restaurants and cafés
For a restaurant or café, Ramadan can change the whole shape of the day. Some close in daylight hours and open from iftar until late. Others stay open for takeaway all day. Your website needs to say which you are.
Be careful with exact times. Iftar is at sunset, which moves by a minute or so each day across the month and differs slightly between emirates. A single published time like "iftar at 6:12pm" will be wrong within days. "Doors open 30 minutes before iftar" stays right all month.
If you run an iftar or suhoor menu, give it its own page with the price per person and how to book. People share these links in family and office WhatsApp groups, so a clean page with a booking button does more than a PDF menu nobody can open properly on a phone.
Updating menus and prices on restaurant websites is the sort of change our Care & support add-on covers, at AED 399 a month.
Delivery cut-offs and what customers are told
If you deliver, your drivers' hours probably change during the month. The website should say so before the customer pays.
Put the new cut-off time on the delivery or checkout page, and on product pages for anything perishable. "Order by 2pm for same-day delivery" is clear. A vague note about possible delays isn't.
Plan for the run-up to Eid as well. Gifting and clothing orders usually pick up towards the end of the month, so set a last order date for delivery before Eid and show it plainly. Customers would rather know the date than find out from a delivery message on Eid morning.
Check your delivery partner's Ramadan schedule before publishing your own.
A Ramadan offers page you can bring back
If you run Ramadan offers, give them a page of their own rather than a pop-up. Pop-ups irritate people on phones and can't be found through Google.
Use a plain address like /ramadan-offers/ and keep it from year to year. Don't create /ramadan-2026/ and then /ramadan-2027/. A page that returns each year with fresh content stands a better chance of turning up in searches than a new page starting from nothing.
After Eid, don't delete it. Replace the offers with a short note that they've ended and a link to what's current, then update it next year.
Keep the tone respectful. A greeting at the top is fine. Wordplay about fasting, or images that treat the month purely as a sales event, is best left out.
Who answers WhatsApp during the month
A lot of enquiries in the UAE come in on WhatsApp, and during Ramadan they come in at different times. Expect more of them late in the evening, after iftar.
Decide who's answering and when. If your team works shorter hours, set a WhatsApp Business away message that gives your reply hours. Then check the website isn't still promising "replies within 10 minutes" if that won't hold. Our guide to WhatsApp on your website has more on setting up the button and messages.
Eid needs the same treatment, with one complication. The holiday dates depend on the moon sighting and are often confirmed only a day or two ahead. So word the message in a way that holds up regardless, such as "We're closed for Eid and back on the first working day after the holiday", and add exact dates once they're announced.
Launch dates, approvals and the rest of the year
Planning a new website or a redesign? Avoid launching in the middle of Ramadan. The build can carry on as normal. Approvals are what slow down, because owners and managers keep shorter hours and whoever signs off may travel over Eid.
So either finish and launch a couple of weeks before Ramadan, or plan to go live after Eid. Ramadan moves about 11 days earlier each year, so check the dates each time.
One honest point. Don't start a full website redesign just to get a Ramadan campaign out. An offers page added to the site you already have will do the job, and you'll make better decisions about the redesign once the month is over.
The same thinking applies later in the year. Summer is quieter for many UAE businesses, which makes it a sensible time to build before the busy final quarter, when events like GITEX fill diaries.
If you'd like us to make your Ramadan changes or set up an offers page, call or WhatsApp us on +971 52 292 3875.
Questions people ask
When should I update my website for Ramadan?
Two to three weeks before the month starts, so the changes are approved and live on the first day.
Should I put exact iftar times on my website?
Only if you'll update them every day. Times tied to sunset, such as "from iftar until 2am", stay accurate all month.
Is it better to make a new Ramadan page each year?
No. Reuse one address, refresh the content each year and leave a short note on it after Eid.
How do I show Eid closing dates before they're confirmed?
Describe the closure in relation to the holiday, then add exact dates once they're announced.
Can I launch a new website during Ramadan?
You can, but approvals usually take longer. Launching before Ramadan or after Eid is easier for most businesses.