When your website is under construction, it’s a fantastic idea to put something in place to let people know it’s on its way. Of course, we should know, as that’s what we’re all about! However, even the best-laid plans can often spring a few surprises.
You might have a target date in mind, but things can easily change between now and then.
Essentially, no matter what you have in mind today, it pays to ensure that your holding page remains relevant and valuable for anyone that stumbles across your site, even before it goes live.
Here are five fantastic ways to ensure that your holding page remains relevant no matter how long until launch.
1. Incorporate Live Content
Many websites, especially those for businesses, create a flurry of activity even before the page goes live. You might be on LinkedIn hiring staff, Twitter with the latest updates about everything coming together, or creating Instagram stories around buildings and design choices.
The great news is that much of this content can appear on your under-construction page without the need to edit the website itself.
Most platforms you use each day will incorporate an API. This technology gives you the chance to use data from other sources and present it in a way that perfectly fits your website’s style and tone.
As your social accounts are updated, so is your holding page. So anyone that arrives on the site prelaunch can find out not only where your company was on the day the holding page went up but discover the latest updates and have a reason to check back in the future.
2. Keep Your Content Accurate
Some of the latest news can’t be automated. If something essential changes around the work involved with the website, make a point of adding that in.
This is particularly important if something stated on the holding page is no longer accurate.
If you have a retail store and the website is coming soon, you can still seek out offline leads. If you change your address for any reason, make sure that this is immediately reflected in your under-construction page content.
3. Link Out to Your Social Media Channels
You might have already followed the first tip and incorporated your latest Tweets and posts in live feeds on your site. However, future-proofing works both ways.
Even if you don’t post much, as long as the accounts themselves exist, they’re worth linking out to. Someone interested enough in a brand to discover the site before it even launches would almost certainly take an interest in following them. The wider your social reach, the more people are likely to know of your site’s existence before it launches.
This can also help you to get a foothold in search engine optimization ahead of the launch. Google and other major search engines love sites that have been around for a while, and they’re pretty fond of backlinks, or links to your site from external sources, too.
Even if you only have one page, you’re likely to start attracting backlinks by building awareness. Using the templates and tools here at UnderConstructionPage, you’ll show you mean business and might even attract a few links based on the quality of the design alone!
4. Make Security a Priority From the Beginning
Without looking to scare anyone off from seeing a site through to completion, you become a target for malicious actors as soon as you launch a website. Even a single page, such as your holding page, is enough for a bot to verify that something is happening.
If you have comments open or other interactive elements on your under-construction page, you’ll start to receive spam within weeks or even days of putting the page up. It’s just how things go in cybersecurity and something that you’ll already be accustomed to if you have other websites.
With those bots never taking long to sniff out your site, it’s vital to make security a priority from the outset. If you build your site using a content management platform that utilizes usernames and passwords, like WordPress, ensure the login page is hard to find and the password challenging to break.
Ensure you have an SSL certificate for your site from the get-go so that your web address starts with “https“. This ensures that any data users share through your page, such as an email address, is safe from prying eyes.
If your platform of choice supports plugins, it’s worth adding one of them too. For example, Wordfence is a highly popular option among WordPress users. It works to block malicious access attempts, stop malware in its tracks before it can do any damage, and alert site owners if there are any problems with the site.
Plugin-based solutions are great as they grow with you. They work the same whether you have one page or a thousand, so there’s one less job to do when launch time comes.
5. Start Building Your Brand From Day One
We offer hundreds of templates here at UnderConstructionPage and plenty of customization options on top of that. So there’s no excuse not to keep branding in mind even on the very first page you ever publish.
If you’re expecting visitors to your landing page ahead of launch, don’t miss out on the opportunity to reinforce your message and branding. This means using the same color schemes throughout the page, a familiar logo, and a tone in any content you put up that will continue on the whole site.
Familiarity is a crucial marketing tool. There’s a reason why brands like Coca-Cola and McDonalds still advertise extensively. While everyone knows who they are and what they do, there’s no harm in putting the logo in someone’s head while they’re browsing online or watching TV.
Even if your site never reaches the levels of those companies, getting people used to your colors and logo in advance will serve you well when launch time comes.
Wrapping Up
The beauty of under construction pages is that while they thrive on simplicity, there are no hard and fast rules around what you can and cannot do. So think beyond the concept of the page being something to hold the fort while you get to work. Instead, treat it as a tool that can work for you and help contribute to the eventual launch in good stead!