Launching a website is not a one-day process. On the contrary, it takes a lot of time to build a website and perfectly design all of its features, so you should think about users who decide to visit your page while it is still under construction. Do you really want them to see a website half done that looks like a digital ruin?
I guess not, so you better start thinking about the Coming Soon Page. The name itself is self-explanatory – the Coming Soon Page is a special kind of webpage layout that gives people a sneak peek at what is coming, while also hiding the real work being done on site.
This post will show you everything you need to know about the Coming Soon page and why every website should start with it.
6 reasons to design a Coming Soon Page
A website is the digital mirror of your company, so it must be perfect right from the beginning. Coming Soon Pages can add to the credibility of a business.
It is by far the best way to kickstart your online promotion because you don’t have to waste time and lose precious leads waiting for the real website to launch.
Christopher Jenkins, Web Designer at Resumes Planet
The Coming Soon Page gives you a lot of benefits, but here are the six most important reasons to use it:
- Lead generation: Most pre-launch pages have an email subscription form. That way, you can invite visitors to subscribe and receive brand-related news, including the website launch date. To grow subscriptions, you can offer small incentives such as free case studies or discount coupons.
- SEO: Google is very strict when it comes to website indexing and ranking. If you want to get listed by the largest search engine, you need a credible website with relevant keywords and quality design – even before you launch it.
- Hide construction process: Don’t forget the issue of aesthetics. The Coming Soon Page looks much more attractive than website under construction. Using it, you will hide the design process and post some useful content along the way.
- Build a reputation: A user who sees a developing website with tons of missing elements will probably run away and never come back again. Your job is to prevent this by displaying a totally legit Coming Soon Page.
- Display launch date: Okay, your website is not complete yet, but you still need to keep the visitors updated about the launch date. You can add a countdown timer to the Coming Soon Page to keep users informed, but also to inspire anticipation and excitement.
- Cross-promotion: The Coming Soon Page should contain links leading to your social media accounts. Cross-promotion helps you to raise awareness and let more people know about the forthcoming website.
How to create a perfect Coming Soon Page
Now that you’ve seen the benefits of crafting a Coming Soon Page, you should learn how to build one. First of all, you need a high-quality Coming Soon & Maintenance Mode plugin. With a tool like this, you can make a Coming Soon Page within minutes using and adapting one of many customizable themes.
You can choose colors, typography, templates, and all other features that fit your style and branding guidelines. But it’s not only about the branding and appearance since you also need a plugin that successfully handles your SEO requirements, Google search results preview, email subscriptions, and social media integrations.
Keep in mind that the email subscription form should be the only call to action here. That way, visitors won’t have to make any choices but only stick to that one option. It makes lead generation simple and more effective.
Besides that, you should add a countdown timer. The feature has two purposes:
- To keep users informed about the grand opening, displaying the remaining weeks, days, hours, and seconds. This reveals your professionalism and attention to details, proving that you’ve got everything under control.
- To inspire the feeling of excitement and cause the extra buzz around the website. Hopefully, you will encourage many subscribers to follow the progress and share the news with their peers.
However, you must be very precise and accurate here. Don’t disappoint users who have been waiting for your site to launch just to realize it’s not ready yet.
Things to avoid when building a Coming Soon Page
Although plugins and automation tools make the procedure simple and intuitive, there are still a few traps to pay attention to. A lot of webmasters don’t realize this, so they make beginner-level mistakes:
- Creating vague content
The purpose of the Coming Soon Page is not to reveal the future content, but it doesn’t mean you should leave it completely content-free. On the contrary, you should say what kind of website or business it is, explain the purpose in general, and encourage people to keep following it.
- Not launching on time
I already explained what makes a countdown timer so important, but I need to tell you one more thing – make sure to launch a website as planned. If you immediately make a mistake, how can you expect users to trust you in the future?
- Not promoting on social media
In the beginning, emails subscriptions and social media are more or less the only channels of promotion at your disposal. Use it cleverly to avoid falling behind more agile competitors.
- Not collecting emails
Having visitors’ email addresses will help you contact them once the site goes live. A simple email will help establish rapport with a visitor and may turn him into a regular visitor or user of your services.
- Having a coming soon page for only a few days
Since there are so many positive things about coming soon pages, you want one online for more than a few days. Take the advantage of countdown timers & subscription forms and have the coming soon page online for at least a few weeks.
Conclusion
Web design is a demanding and time-consuming process, which means that your website will not look pretty in the meantime. For this reason, you should craft an attractive Coming Soon Page to keep the visitors informed about the launch date and give them the possibility to subscribe and follow your brand.
Make sure to use this opportunity as it is just the first step towards building a reputable website, but it’s very important for the future success of your online business.
Warren’s lifestyle is full of hiking adventures. When he’s not busy with his guitar or enjoying the sunny day outside, he excels at blogging skills and leaps through social media. Warren works as an author for Resumes Planet, UCP, and the Coming Soon blog.
