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Designing “Coming Soon” Pages
Deciding what to do once you’ve purchased a domain but haven’t yet launched the website is always a bit of a conundrum. Leaving up your domain registrar or Web host’s generic page seems unprofessional, especially if you’re trying to drum up advance press for your new project. At the same time, you don’t want to spend too much time on a temporary page when you really should be working on the website itself.
The best thing to do is create a simple “Coming soon” page to notify visitors of what will eventually be there. Good “Coming soon” pages come in two basic varieties: the informational design, which simply tells visitors what will be there after launch; and the page that invites early visitors to sign up for updates or even to request a beta (or alpha) invitation. Below are some great examples of each, followed by some best practices for creating your own “Coming soon” page. You definitely won’t see among these the generic “Under construction” page (with the cute construction graphic) that used to litter the Web.
1. Tips On Designing A Good “Coming Soon” Page
Here are some best practices and tips to keep in mind when designing your own “Coming soon” pages, as well as examples.
Tell Us What to Expect
When someone lands on your “Coming soon” page, they should get an idea of what your website will be about and why it might be useful to them. This is especially important if you’re asking visitors to sign up for updates or to check back regularly. If we can’t tell what the website is for, why would we bother coming back?
Give us at least some indication of the website’s purpose. This doesn’t mean you have to spell out everything the website will offer; rather, hint that it’s something we might be interested in. For example, if you will be offering a time management app specifically for Web designers, you might say that the website will help streamline the workflow of Web designers. It gives a taste of what the website will do, while maintaining some mystery.
KISSmetrics
KISSmetrics provides a ton of information on its “Coming soon” page, including a form to sign up for updates and a blog to keep abreast of new developments. It’s a great example of a “Coming soon” page that keeps visitors informed and gets them excited about the pending launch.
Birdboxx
Birdboxx gives a basic explanation of the services it will provide when the website launches.
Anipals
Anipals gives plenty of information on the website’s features without giving away too much.
Novalistic
This “Coming soon” page explains what the new page will be about, when it will be released and also allows its visitors to sign up for the future updates.
Should You Provide Updates?
Letting visitors sign up by email to be notified on the website’s launch can be a useful marketing tool. If you don’t offer this feature, by the time your website does launch, those visitors may have forgotten about you. Of course, how often you send out an update is entirely up to you. Some websites send out an announcement only when the website has actually launched. Others send out regular updates on the progress of website’s development.
If you’re trying to build advance buzz around your website’s launch (which, in all likelihood, you are), then sending updates on a semi-regular basis could go a long way to building your website’s credibility and name recognition. If you send an update every week or two, your prospects likely won’t forget about you. Just indicate on the sign-up page that updates will be sent that often, to avoid being labeled a spammer.
You have a couple of alternatives to the standard email sign-up form, though. One is to run a blog that keeps visitors updated on your progress. This is most commonly done for Web apps, with the blog offering regular updates on development. Another common method is to use a Twitter account to keep prospective users updated. Just make sure that the link on your page to your Twitter account is prominent.
MyNiteLife
MyNiteLife lets visitors sign up for updates via email.
DesignSvn
DesignSvn gives visitors the option to sign up for updates via email or to follow it on Twitter.
Remindness
Remindness lets visitors sign up for email updates.
Brand Your “Coming Soon” Page
If you already have a logo, a basic design or color scheme and font picked out, include them on your landing page to start building the brand in your visitors’ minds. Advance branding sets your website apart from your competitors and generally doesn’t cost any more to implement or take additional time. Even something as simple as using your website’s eventual font or color scheme can make you much more recognizable to future visitors. When your website finally does launch, it will have an air of familiarity to your visitors.
Fontdeck
Fontdeck includes its logo and what will presumably be the website’s color scheme on its “Coming soon” page.
Silverback
Silverback used the gorilla cartoon and basic design theme of its website on this “Coming soon” page.
Foundation Six
Foundation Six uses what will presumably end up as its logo and color scheme.
Create Some Intrigue
The point of your “Coming soon” page is to get people to talk about, and come back to, your website. Even if you want to give some information on what the website will be about, creating some mystery around the launch is helpful. Curiosity is a great motivator and may get more people to sign up for updates. It also gets people talking, because visitors will ask their friends if they have any new information about the pending launch. Advance buzz can bolster your launch traffic and even attract media attention.
Better Blogger
Better Blogger gives us a basic idea of what its web site will be about without giving away too much.
Good Morning
Good Morning gives away virtually no information about what the app might do, but the name suggests that it might be related to time management or productivity.
uoOo
uoOo seems to be somehow related to video, but it doesn’t give us any more information than that.
Remember SEO
While a “Coming soon” page won’t likely make a big difference in your search engine ranking, that’s no reason not to optimize it for search engines. Use keywords and proper meta tags, and encourage those linking to your website to use good anchor text. And if you use good SEO practices to begin with, you won’t be penalized by search engines (and might even gain some decent credibility among search engines), meaning that when your website does launch, its search engine ranking will climb that much faster.
2. Informational Designs
Informational designs do what you would expect: inform early visitors about the current and future status of your domain. This design can be very simple, with just a name and text like “Coming soon,” or it might go more in depth. In either case, it is usually a single page, sometimes with an additional information page. In some cases, it also includes the owner’s contact information.
Boagworld
A great design with basic information about the return of a well-known podcast.
FiveSecondProjects
This website takes a slightly different approach, providing a link to a video with more information.
After Some Words
A unique “Coming soon” page that links to the website’s MySpace page.
Holey Coww
This page include a quite lengthy introduction to the site as well as links to Twitter and Facebook.
Zombie Corp
Another very simple “Coming soon” page, with contact info of the owners.
Moses Mehraban
A simple page that gives information about the website owner’s current business activities.
Leaf Ordinary
A minimalist page with a link to more information.
I heart spaceships
A fun page that includes contact information for the website’s developers.
Smart Pixel
A very minimalist page design, but with a fun twist.
Human Binary
Another really fun page design that gives plenty of information on what the website will eventually hold.
fcukstar
A more advanced page that includes a link to a website preview and pricing information.
Zenbou
Another very minimalist design that includes plenty of hints on what the upcoming website will include, as well as a link to the Twitter feed.
Shabith Ishan
A very well-designed page, with links to various social media feeds.
3. Page To Receive Updates Or Request Invitation
These pages allow visitors to sign up for updates or receive an invitation to a beta or alpha test. They’re especially popular for online apps, but other websites use them as well. Sign-up forms are generally short, with a field for an email address and maybe one for a name. The page often includes some information about the website, too, though emphasis is kept on signing up for updates.
FavMovie
The title gives sufficient information on what the website will feature, and the sign-up form is simple.
Statnip
A simple page with a single-line sign-up form for receiving updates.
ClockMeIn
A basic page that includes a single-line form for requesting an invite.
Bontq
A simple and clean “Coming Soon”-page with a newsletter web form.
investobiz
This page gives some basic information as well as a single-line form to sign up for the newsletter.
PackageTrail
A unique page design that includes a single-line form to request a beta invitation.
Addressful
A “Coming soon” page that includes both informational and beta invitation request elements.
Hello Human Icons Icon Collection One
This website offers information on the upcoming launch and invites visitors to sign up for updates with just their email address.
The Upstate Design Collective
Another page that incorporates both informational and sign-up elements, plus a link to the group’s Twitter feed.
MealNation
A slightly longer update sign-up form.
Hosteeo
A basic sign-up form that includes a teaser to generate more interest.
Gigdom
An informational page that includes a beta test registration link.
ClassOwl
A simple two-field sign-up form to get updates.
ChkChkBoom
A “Coming soon” page that lets visitors choose between updates via RSS and email.
SCIPLEX
A very simple page, with a couple of lines on what’s coming and a one-field sign-up form.
Inhouse Grind
A simple page with basic information and a one-field sign-up form.
Zipliner
Another very simple form that lets you sign up for a beta invitation.
Designatr
A graphically bold page with a simple sign-up form and basic information about the website’s purpose.
Further Resources
- 27 Cool “Coming soon” Page Designs
A great round-up of “Coming soon” pages from 2008 and earlier. - 25 Best “Coming soon” Pages
Another excellent round-up of “Coming soon” page designs. - LaunchSoon Gallery
An extensive gallery of “Coming soon” pages. - Design a Successful “Coming soon” Page
An article from SitePoint that covers some essentials of a good “Coming soon” page and includes some great examples. - Tips for Designing an Awesome “Coming soon” Page
A great article from Line25 that offers some tips on designing great “Coming soon” pages, as well as some design examples.
(al)
Cameron Chapman is a professional Web and graphic designer with over 6 years of experience. She writes for a number of blogs, including her own, Cameron Chapman On Writing. She’s also the author of Internet Famous: A Practical Guide to Becoming an Online Celebrity.
- 90 Comments
- 1
- 2November 17th, 2009 2:01 pm
Exactly. I really thought the same thing. Great work. Keep going!
- 2
- 3November 10th, 2009 1:38 am
Great inspiration, thanks for this awesome collection!
- 4November 10th, 2009 1:39 am
Hey I’ve been looking for this actually… so thanks!
- 5November 11th, 2009 1:57 pm
Word!
- 5
- 6November 10th, 2009 1:41 am
Great post with some fantastic examples. I think using the “coming soon” page as a platform for not only fore-mentioning a websites release but gaining early information and signups is a great idea. And no more ugly, text only, “under construction” pages!
Thanks Cameron and SM for sharing. - 7November 10th, 2009 1:42 am
Awesome list, lots of inspirations. :-)
And here’s another one: http://wuit.com
- 8November 10th, 2009 1:43 am
Good Post, But I think this discussion all ready done before.
- 9November 10th, 2009 1:46 am
Awesome and interesting post! thx
- 10November 10th, 2009 1:49 am
Some great design points there but you forgot the number one rule of Coming Soon pages. Don’t let anyone see it twice. There’s nothing that puts me off a website more, even before I’ve seen it, than constantly being confronted with a coming soon page for months. It’s very important that people remember that a coming soon page is not a temporary/replacement site. Every effort should be made to get your project/site up and running asap because people won’t wait around on the Internet for too long and someone else will surely build it faster.
But great article, thanks. :)
- 11November 10th, 2009 1:59 am
Nice article, just the inspiration I need :)
- 12November 10th, 2009 2:01 am
Very inspiring writeup! I think the number 1 factor to coming soon pages is to show your visitors that you’re actually working on your site, instead of just putting the page up ‘for show’ or, in lieu of an under construction page. What better way than with subscription forms and social media links :)
Thanks for featuring my site, NOVALISTIC, I really didn’t expect its (later) inclusion :D
- 13November 10th, 2009 2:09 am
Excellent selection, Coming soon pages are becoming really important for new websites. Thanks for including my article as reference.
I also recommend a coming soon page I made for my next site, maybe you like it, you can check it out on:
http://www.creadictos.com - 14
- 15November 10th, 2009 2:28 am
Nice one, just working on such a page!
Anybody knows a good Wordpress plugin to collect these email addresses in a “Wordpress” style way?
And not a complete mailinglist system like mailpress but just a plugin to collect the email addresses. - 16November 10th, 2009 2:37 am
Very nice collection, always interesting to offer updates!
Seen http://www.isitxmasyet.com ? - 17November 10th, 2009 2:45 am
Nice…
:) - 18November 10th, 2009 2:50 am
thanks for the post, cool ! and inspiring, when browsing also found this one; http://www.wohnungpage.de
- 19November 10th, 2009 2:52 am
Some great inspirations here, nice list!
- 20November 10th, 2009 3:13 am
As always you guys are the one who inspired us.Thank you for featuring my site. :)
- 21
- 22November 10th, 2009 3:15 am
so true. awesome examples of beautifully designed pages too. makes me wonder how you’re able to find so many. :) it’s quite a useful collection.
- 23November 10th, 2009 3:15 am
Wow, not only do we get some great looking pages, but also the heads-up on some forthcoming intriguing products and services!
- 24November 10th, 2009 3:20 am
I think Paddy (above) is right that you need to carefully manage how long the page is up for, and if you do give an actual launch date (which some do) then you need to stick to it.
As an idea, how about a page with some sort of ‘progress bar’ that lets people see how close the launch is? You know, a bit like while you’re waiting for an OS to install. That would be an interesting approach.
Another idea I’ve seen is that a designer will put up a few screen designs on the ‘coming soon’ page that let the visitor get a glimpse of what the site will look like. That can work well I think.
You mention several times keeping a sense of mystery and not giving away too much information. I was thinking about Google Wave and thinking about how they did the exact opposite of this. It certainly generated a *ton* of interest. But maybe it then set up expectations a little high too?
- 25November 10th, 2009 3:23 am
And by the way, I think using rel=”nofollow” for comments on this site is fine. But of course it’s nice to be able to click to learn a little more about a commenter sometimes. So why make it so difficult for people to leave their URL? It seems like the way to add it is to leave a comment, then click to ‘edit’ the comment, and add the URL at that point… maybe add it to your initial comment form?
- 26November 10th, 2009 3:24 am
The myNiteLife page has been there for a few years now I think. It’s been there ages and still no site!
Wonder whats happening as I live in Sheffield.
- 27November 10th, 2009 3:36 am
“1. Tips On Designing A Good “Coming Soon” Page”
Here’s a tip – don’t put a page up until you have some content to put on it! Putting a “coming soon” page about a product or service you are launching is one thing, but “under construction” pages are just unnecessary dilution.
- 28November 10th, 2009 5:23 am
agree
- 28
- 29November 10th, 2009 3:37 am
nice sites !
- 30November 10th, 2009 3:41 am
just needed at the moment
- 31November 10th, 2009 4:35 am
Damn, too late for me…
- 32November 10th, 2009 5:28 am
I’m not even in this phase. Very interresting post. You forgot the important comming-soon-site: “Chrome for Mac” :)
- 33November 10th, 2009 5:33 am
I think that some kind of count down or progress bar would be a useful if the “under construction” page will be around for a while. Other things would be offer “before launch” beta access to those that sign up with their email.
The biggest problem, I think, is that most “under construction” pages need to looks good, and I have the hardest time with graphic design. So I can’t get too fancy.
- 34
- 35November 10th, 2009 6:13 am
Far too fancy for my liking… what’s wrong with the good-old traffic cone and ‘under construction’ text?
- 36November 10th, 2009 6:20 am
It’s not necessarily up to the same standards as these, but we threw up a quick ‘coming soon’ at newhiker.com also.
For anyone that has done this in the past, what sort of conversion rates and or sign-up stats are you seeing?
- 37November 10th, 2009 6:21 am
Thanks “Cameron Chapman” reallly awesome post….
Thanks for SM :)
- 38November 10th, 2009 6:56 am
Thanks Cameron, nice post. Many insightful comments also.
- 39November 10th, 2009 7:16 am
Haha!
Lovely, i put mine online a few hours ago! happy to see i covered most of the points!love
thai - 40November 10th, 2009 7:25 am
@Mark Goddard Hi Mark,
It has had to take a shelf for a year, we have had too much work on to get anything sorted out with it, but it will be coming soon!
- 41November 10th, 2009 7:32 am
http://www.resify.com has a really nifty look. You should check it out and also sign up!
- 42November 10th, 2009 7:33 am
Lovely! I think a new job title for “Coming Soon Page Designer” could be cropping up soon!
- 43November 10th, 2009 7:57 am
Great list. We met with these guys in Portland and this post reminded me of their current site. http://www.colorcubic.com/ We like it.
- 44
- 45November 10th, 2009 9:19 am
Great roundup, definitely some inspiring pieces in there.
- 46November 10th, 2009 10:14 am
Amazing stuff, I love it. It’s very inspirational, thank you so much!
- 47November 10th, 2009 10:22 am
There are some really amazing ideas here. Thanks for putting it together.
- 48November 10th, 2009 12:14 pm
Good tips and great inspiration. Thanks!
- 49
- 50November 10th, 2009 2:27 pm
very nicely done…good post, like all ideas and also these two in comments http://www.colorcubic.com/ and http://www.brandfunda.com/
- 51November 10th, 2009 2:55 pm
This article is a really awesome source of inspiration, but I don’t understand why much better examples (like http://bontq.com or http://creationshop.com/) were not included…
- 52November 10th, 2009 4:31 pm
Thanks for this inspirational coming soon page round-up. Trying to come up with a design for one right now, and it’s been so long since I had to make a coming soon page, this sort of thing is just the inspiration I was looking for.
- 53
- 54November 10th, 2009 7:20 pm
Awesome..! Thanks Cameron..
- 55November 10th, 2009 7:30 pm
Well here’s mine too :) I’m a graphic designer who designs T-shirts for passion !!! Check this out!
http://www.gearyourfaith.comWell, I have the complete site ready, but just haven’t decided to cut the ribbons yet, so to get a preview click on Sneak Peek!!!
Again, thanks ‘Smashing Mag people’ you guys do an awesome job!
- 56November 10th, 2009 7:41 pm
awesome stuff! congrats @shabith :)
- 57November 10th, 2009 7:47 pm
Hello Cameron :)
I would like to add some more :) :)
Here is an wordpress plugin which can be used to create and customize coming soon wordpress pages. Just have a look
http://tech18.com/how-to-create-customized-coming-soon-wordpress-pages.html
I hope all will enjoy this :) :) - 58November 10th, 2009 7:57 pm
I think the landing page is fundamental to start collecting people interesting in your project and to organize an effecting lunch. When I did it for Get Apps Done it definitely helped us to do a strong lunch with more than one hundred email addresses.
By the way, this is the coming soon page of my Christmas iPhone app: http://ChristmasfyMe.com
- 59
- 60November 10th, 2009 10:27 pm
great designs i’ve seen after a while.
- 61November 10th, 2009 11:02 pm
Very good examples thanks
- 62November 10th, 2009 11:03 pm
Very nice article. I did a similar article 2 weeks ago :) for my coming soon page http://www.justalove.com
- 63November 10th, 2009 11:40 pm
Great Collection
- 64November 11th, 2009 12:05 am
good and valuable information
- 65November 11th, 2009 12:15 am
damN!
- 66November 11th, 2009 1:40 am
Nice collection. I also ran across this coming soon page: http://pixeltango.com
- 67November 11th, 2009 2:16 am
I like a lot…
Nothing worse than a coming soon but doing nothing page! - 68
- 69November 11th, 2009 5:59 am
awesome collection ….
- 70
- 71November 11th, 2009 8:04 am
Thank you so much for including us in the list and everyone voting for us. http://www.mealnation.com
- 72
- 73
- 74November 11th, 2009 8:58 am
Here is another coming soon page example:
Just a tease for what is coming.
- 75November 11th, 2009 9:11 am
Good job by putting all this together. Itis good to have some inspiration to take a look at the moment of designing. http://www.aditivovisual.com
- 76November 11th, 2009 10:07 am
Great list of the “coming soon” pages! :)
Wish mine (http://www.chykalophia.com) was added too :p - 77November 11th, 2009 3:32 pm
Awesome designs.
I’ve recently released WordPress plugin Custom Coming Soon Pages which allows you to display a Customized Coming Soon Page or Under Construction page to normal visitors or regular members of your WordPress based website or Blog – while the Site Administrators see the fully functional website with the applied theme and active plugins as well as a fully functional Dashboard.
You can also use your own xHTML/CSS/Javascript and set as a landing page. For more information and download please visit: http://www.cssjockey.com/wordpress-plugins/custom-coming-soon-pages-wordpress-plugin
Regards,
CSSJockey - 78November 11th, 2009 5:45 pm
Love the collection. I never thought of creating such pages when any of my site is under construction.
Thanks for the inspiration.
- 79November 12th, 2009 7:16 am
Thanks for this wonderful article.
A “Coming Soon” page was always a difficult design decision for me. It was always a struggle to find the balance between a minimalist design and a teaser to entice people to check for more.
- 80November 12th, 2009 4:14 pm
Excellent list, Thanks
For more information, please visit – Russian “Coming Soon” Pages story site : http://www.rukupi.ru/
- 81
- 82November 13th, 2009 3:35 am
Hi Please check this coming soon page. (Dutch) http://www.elektrischeautoverzekering.nl/
Great list by the way!
- 83November 13th, 2009 6:56 am
unconsciously i’m already using one of these. :)
- 84November 14th, 2009 2:18 am
Lots of nice designs here :-)
My favourites are “remindness” and “human binary”.
- 85November 16th, 2009 9:21 am
Thank you for posting up my design!
- 86November 16th, 2009 8:34 pm
Here are many such cool ones.
http://launchsoon.com/gallery.php
PS/Note: These pages were not created using the LaunchSoon script. This gallery features cool Launching Soon pages from around the web.
- 87November 17th, 2009 8:36 am
Great examples, and tips! Thanks for putting this together.
- 88November 18th, 2009 6:05 am
Great article. thanks for sharing it with us.
- 89November 18th, 2009 11:29 am
Just want to say a big thanks to Cameron for selecting our Birdboxx site as an example, much appreciated.
- 90November 20th, 2009 10:33 am
Found this really cool coming soon page. Nice letterpress effect with the logo and other text + the use of CSS3.
http://gr8pixel.com
- 00
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(25 votes, average: 4.80 out of 5)
Awesome post! Lovin’ these examples!