Are you or your business associates looking for advice to improve the reach of a website that is simply ‘Coming Soon‘ or sitting there in maintenance mode?
The concern, of course, is that so many customers visit your website but leave without a great impression.
If this is what you’re concerned about, and you hope to improve your website experience while creating your product, then you’ve come to the right place.
The reality is that you must consider opportunities to create raving fans even when your website, service, or product is pending.
Like you, we have recognized over time that there are so many benefits to having a placeholder while your website is in creation mode.
That’s where Coming Soon pages can play a pivotal role in your company to drive new potential customers to your brand.
This article will help you understand everything you need to know about great-looking Coming Soon pages, and also what you can do to ensure yours is customer friendly.
What you will learn:
- Why you need a Coming Soon page
- 7 Traits to Consider
- How to create a Coming Soon page
- Final Thoughts
Why you need a Coming Soon page
The fact is that many people are trying to launch a website, and often most sites fail. The reality is that they fail to attract traffic to these sites.
You should know that it does take time to get that momentum going on a website and to start to see a decent amount of traffic visiting your site.
During this time, you should plan for future visitors by putting up a Coming Soon page. This step will alert the google algorithm to your site being online.
You will also be able to add valuable information, such as :
- Product or service information
- Share context around your offering
- Share invite-only content to first browsers
- Social proof to build site authority earlier on
You can also start building a great email list right off the bat. This email list can help you engage your growing following, turning these followers into customers that continuously support you.
Even better, if you are using WordPress to power your site, all of this can be done with simple plugins and themes instead of hiring a designer for custom work that continually needs to be change.
A perfect example of this would be creating a WordPress coming soon page right from a multi-use plugin like Branda and Hustle from WPMU Dev.
With the Branda plugin, you can easily create a coming soon page for your site, and then use the Hustle plugin to set up email submit or mailing list forms. You can see a quick example of this below, along with a countdown timer for when the site officially launches.
Also a Coming Soon page helps you to hide the behind the scenes work that makes your site look quite unprofessional in its early stages. Don’t overlook this aspect as the first impressions generally last.
Therefore it’s so important to have a Coming Soon page. Next, I will share more information on the traits to consider when creating that page.
7 Traits to Consider When Creating a Coming Soon Page
As with most pages online, you must always think about your end consumer experience and how the Coming Soon page can benefit that consumer. This one thing will set your business apart for the better.
These are the seven traits you must look out for:
1. A Clear Value Proposition
A clear value proposition will give your new visitors a specific idea about you and your business. It tells them what value you can bring into their lives.
Ultimately, it’s a one-sentence phrase that’s catchy and easy to remember. This phrase is generally one of the first things your customers see.
Yet, many entrepreneurs have got this wrong and found that their traffic decided to go elsewhere.
As pointed out in this article featured on Business2Community, there are plenty of ways to cover all of your bases when creating something as simple as a “coming soon page”. You can see what we mean through the visual below.
Think about it; customers visit your page for a reason. And that reason is to gain something or for a benefit.
If you aren’t offering anything beneficial, they move on over to the next vendor. This point is so important, yet also attached to this you will find a rarely used aspect which I will detail in the next section,
2. Core benefits of your product or service
Simply put, the core benefits of your product or service is a breakdown of the features and benefits that your customers can expect.
The modern-day consumer has high standards simply because so many vendors are available to sell them the product at their specification. You must keep up and prove that your offering is the best.
You can do this by making it easy to access, and including it just below your value proposition. The structure will also have to be visually pleasing. Consider using a bullet list of benefits. It’s systematic, and your customers will love that.
Naturally, remember that benefits help your customers imagine visually how your product will give them value and make their lives easier.
Think about any new purchase you make; you always visualize how it will fit into your life. Ultimately that leads to you swiping your credit or entering your credit card details online.
3. Single call to action (CTA)
A call to action is one where you direct your customer to act. It will involve several things.
I’ve made a list of examples to consider:
- Free ebooks which can attract customers to your email list
- Rewards/giveaway which educate your customers about your products
- Exclusive invite to a discount on your product if they share your offering on social media
Ensure that you have a bold call to action that grabs attention at once. Yet it should also be related to your product at hand. Again, this can all be set up by using the lead generation or pop up plugin for WordPress.
Avoid unrelated CTA’s, they only confuse your customer and make them feel annoyed by your brand.
These CTA’s will be vital to increase your fan base while you’re building your product. Once you’ve indicated an excellent call to action, your next focus must shift to building authority for your customer.
4. Social Proof
Social proof is simply a way to show your potential customers you have some authority in the marketplace, and it builds a sense of trust.
Examples of social proof include:
- Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Tiktok followers
- A published book
- Testimonials from experts in the industry
- Videos showing celebrities raving about your service
Social proof is of enormous importance for a brand to succeed. And if taken seriously, you can build a large following through social media presence.
Do this by using Facebook ads, networking, affiliate marketing engagement, or leveraging your other brands. Another great option is to use testimonials or to show where you might have received news, media or press coverage in the past.
Alternatively, engaging influencers on various social media platforms can yield excellent results.
The idea of influencers also brings me to the next point, which you will see is quite essential when consumers have the opportunity to imagine themselves using your product or service.
5. Photos or videos of the product in use
This ties in nicely with using influencer marketing, and onboarding influencers onto your network to share your product.
You will find a win-win opportunity whereby your influencers can provide you with quality content for your Coming Soon page while they get a fee for lending their brand name to you.
Alternatively, you can make use of websites like Fiverr and Upwork to get high-quality content at a reasonable price.
Another critical factor is that users want to visualize how your product or service works, so make sure you provide this tool.
Many websites currently try to keep things minimal, yet I would steer you towards using as much leverage as you can when starting a new brand. Let’s look at the next section that will show you what every Coming Soon page must adopt.
6. Exclusivity
The average consumer wants to feel unique, special, and you have to create that feeling when they visit the Coming Soon page. Exclusivity can be a vital trait during the early phases of a new brand.
Here are a few ways to create exclusivity:
- Include a “by invite-only” section – it will make potential customers wonder how to get in
- Have a VIP mailing list, which they can only access once they meet specific criteria
- Attach yourself to more prominent brands, and aim to leverage their brand
Yes, it may seem simple but can do wonders for your engagement on your Coming Soon page and ultimately lead to more sales and more traffic too.
7. Create Scarcity
Scarcity is another tool you can use to keep your visitors engaged on a Coming Soon page. The idea that you will miss out on something somehow always drives consumer behavior.
It’s so common there is even a word for it: FOMO.
It means the Fear Of Missing Out.
Here are a few ideas to include for scarcity:
- Add a referral element with rewards and have a time frame for people to use it
- Include a countdown timer on your website for exclusive access to content
Scarcity is an excellent way to persuade people to take action on your page. You can use many tools to do this, including plugins on WordPress, Shopify, Wix, and other popular platforms.
8. Bonus Trait
We have covered seven traits, but we have two more that you can use on your Coming Soon page that will improve your customer satisfaction and improve sales.
Use a survey: Often, when your website is not up yet, you may still be in the finishing stages, and it’s a good idea to engage your prospective customers with a survey. People love to share their opinions, and it will build an emotional connection with your future customers.
Keeps things very simple: Simplicity keeps site visitors on your page. They are often eager to understand more about your page and also what they can learn from it. This step will create an air of mystery and consequently get people talking.
How to Create a Coming Soon Page
Now that you have a good understanding of the traits of a great Coming Soon page, you may be wondering how to do it.
Not to worry, we have you covered. Historically, it was a challenge to create beautiful one-page sites. I have good news for you; you can now create these pages on your own.
The bad news is that you may need to do a little extra work to set up the page. That said, it will be worth your time.
Since WordPress powers over one-third of websites on the internet, we highly recommend finding a coming soon or maintenence mode plugin that makes the creation and management process a whole lot easier.
Final thoughts on Creating that Perfect Coming Soon Page
In this article, we have taken a deep dive into Coming Soon pages and how they can help your business show a professional face while building your product or service.
It’s important to note that these pages have vital traits to consider to ensure that you maximize on any traffic coming over.
These are simple opportunities to keep your customers in the know. Keeping customers informed will serve another purpose too. It will be pivotal in building a continuous customer relationship that helps you provide value now and in the future.
Now, it is all about implementing the seven traits, and you can do this through your current website platform or use an automated service.
The choice is ultimately yours, but whatever you choose, remember to incorporate these ideas for maximum exposure.
Thank you for reading along so far, and we hope you implement these tools to take your Coming Soon pages to the next level.
