A rumor has it that you are starting your own business! How awesome is that?
If you took the first couple of steps already, then you are probably thinking that it is much harder than you have imagined. It is true, there is a bunch of things you are managing right now. You should give yourself a pat on the back every now and then. If it were easy, you would probably be doing something wrong.
Managing the paperwork and those first customers can be nerve-wracking. Some businesses require you to have employees right from the start, and we are not going to go into how stressful that could be. Whatever it is that you are starting we hope you have a strong stomach.
Whether you have a family recipe that is so good it deserves its own restaurant or a startup that is going to make the world a better place, it requires engaging people. You need patrons in your restaurant and your guerilla marketing and flyers can only get you so far and destroy so many trees. Your startup can't really make the world a better place if there is no interest in your solution.
You need to get online!
That is where the world is. That is where your patrons and your investors are. People use maps on their phone to find nearby restaurants with good ratings to fill their stomach. Investors in your startup, or people looking to create a positive impact with your solution, don't walk around looking for flyers. Truth is, even if they are walking around, they are probably staring at their phone and will likely miss it.
Marketing yourself and your new thing online is stressful. You need to know your audience, and with so many options out there, you need to know the right channels to reach them. You probably have a page on Facebook already with a couple of handy followers or you have created a LinkedIn page for your startup.
But where does that lead, though? If you leave it at that, you might have as well killed a couple more trees and printed another set of flyers. We know you are feeling bad right now because you have spent a lot of time reading up about Social Media Marketing and coming up with the right posts.
What is the solution then?
We're going to face you with the hard truth – You need a website. This is probably not an epiphany. You know that already.
And yes, it is a whole new level of hard work. If you are not a developer then finding the right one could be the last drop in your already overfilled glass. You can't just pawn off the work to the neighbor's kid just because his parents say that “He's good with computers”. Playing League of Legends all day long does not equal development skills.
While there is a bunch of tutorials online, which we are sure you have checked several times already, setting up a website properly is no easy task. The website should be impeccable and show some serious effort from your side. Let's be honest here – if you can't get your website right, how are you supposed to get their order right and manage their reservations?
This might be a long-term process even if you catch one rather quickly. Right now, with your restaurant opening in just two weeks, or with that crazy important meetup coming up just behind the corner, you need a website yesterday. You need a website on your business cards that you are sharing around and the one you promise your patrons they can book their reservations through in a couple of days.
Let us help you a bit.
No, we're not going to show you how to create a mediocre website in just a couple of clicks – the internet is already filled with those. We are going to show you how to buy your website more time, using a coming soon, also known as, under construction page.
What is an under construction page?
It is a bit self-explanatory. It is a webpage that serves as a placeholder for your real website, while still doing the marketing part of it.
You have probably seen a couple of these around in your careless scrolling around days. A logo, big timer, and words “Coming Soon” is more or less all that you can find on the website you ended up on while searching for a solution for something. If you were truly interested, and they were truly smart, you might have followed the Social Media links on the page and joined their Facebook group, or have followed them on Instagram.
Why don't you do the same?
Why would I?
Good question. First off, you are buying yourself time to find a developer to create the just right website. You will have the time to choose and create all the things you need to make your business a brand. Logo, the color scheme that will make your customers hungry just by looking at it (Think Mc Donald's yellow arch) and the rest that will make your customers know it's you without you having to introduce yourself or your business.
That should be enough but there is more to it. You have spent ages considering the right name for your website, but it is already taken. Your competitors might have already been putting themselves out there more successfully – When you search for the “Best lasagna in town” it could be their website popping up.
You can prevent this by gaining the advantage of using the keywords first. No need to have the website wrapped up for people to be able to find you – all you need is a Coming Soon page. With it, when someone searches for a lasagna, your Coming soon page will pop up in the results, too. This way you have a higher chance of turning those people into your patrons, instead of them going straight out to the competition.
Best lasagna in town? You can find it in our restaurant! Make sure you put the mouthwatering picture of lasagna on your Coming Soon page. Eat it in three days at this location! Create your reservation via one of our Social Media pages (for now). See where we are going with this?
The newsletter
Your startup, on the other hand, could benefit so much more from a good newsletter. Don't expect everyone to get your idea straight away. Talk to them about it! With the addiction to smartphones and the employee mindset of checking their emails first thing in the morning, plant your ideas into their morning-fresh brains.
How does your newsletter find a way to their inboxes when you need their emails first? It is simple, with your Coming Soon page and the ability to put a “Sign up for our newsletter” form on it. People are tired of it though, and you might kick it up a notch with something free they are getting from it. Free guide on how they can shape the future or solve their problems with your solution?
That free guide will probably work. Here is our guide to help you create Coming Soon page on your own! We're going to show you how to do that by using UnderConstructionPage plugin because it is super simple to use and get your page up there in minutes!
How to do that?
First, you will be needing a WordPress site. Don't start pulling your hair out just yet. Remember all those video tutorials? If you follow them carefully, setting up the basics shouldn't take more than a couple of hours.
Next, you should install the UnderConstructionPage plugin. Install and activate it, and it is time to set up the under construction page. This part will take you about a couple of minutes unless you want to go wild with customization. Still, the thought of being online in just one afternoon sounds like a time well spent and a pretty good thing to do for your business.
Let's say you are creating the Coming Soon page for your restaurant. Let's take it step by step so that you can wrap it up in a matter of minutes and go back to planning your menu for the grand opening.
How to setup your Coming Soon page using a template
Fairly simple. Head on to the plugin, and let’s take it from there.
Step 1: Activate your Coming Soon page
You will see the main page first because you need to activate the page.
Simply enable it to get the Under Construction Mode started. The best part of this plugin is that it has those amazing instructions under each option in gray, so even if you are unsure what “Automatic End Date & Time” means, you can learn it by reading those tiny gray letters!
Yes, you can set up start and end time for your Coming Soon page. If you set up these, you can rest assured that the page will show up on a certain date, and end on another.
Step 2: Miscellaneous Settings
Before you head on to create the page, you might want to set up some additional tweaks. The good news is that most of those are already set up, by default, to your benefit. For example, Google Analytics Tracking is already set up as on.
Step 3: Affiliate links
Want to see how many people came to your website through your Facebook or Instagram page? If you are looking to check which commercials are faring better than others and to improve your outreach, use this feature.
Step 4: Pick a template
Now, to the fun part. Under the Appearance tab, you will see a handy collection of over 150 templates you could use. We should warn you, the number may vary. There is a new template coming out each week!
With such a number, it can get confusing. Luckily there is a filter you can use to help you out. We’re going to go with “food” as a filter for our restaurant.
That makes life easier! We’re going to click now on “New page based on this Template” to get the party started.
Step 5: Coming Soon page assembling
What you can see in front of you is the super simple and very beginner friendly drag and drop editor. On the left, you can see two columns: page properties and add a new element.
Once you set the page properties, you can head on to the elements. Simply drag and drop each of the elements you want to have on your page where you want to have them.
Add the Social Icons so that people can find you on them and add additional text. You can add the contact form, or add another image. Totally up to you!
Step 6: Final touches
Once you have all the elements, it is the time to customize them so that you can say what you want to say with your Coming Soon page.
Simply click on the editing button and edit on the spot! You will be able to see the changes happening as you are making them, so even if you are doing this for the first time, you can create exactly what you envisioned.
Once you make the last tweak your Coming Soon page is up and running!
Starting from scratch
If none of the templates work for you, you can still go ahead and create the Coming Soon page as effortlessly as you would have created it with the template. With UnderConstructionPage you can create the page from a blank template, too! You will still be able to take advantage of the first three steps, though.
So let’s create an Under Construction page from scratch for your startup. Let’s say that your startup has created a solution for money transactions without any banks involved using blockchain, and now you are selling your own Bitcoin.
When you reach step four, choose “Create a new page from blank template”, instead of using an already pre-made one. You will get to see this then.
That can look a bit intimidating, but don’t worry! All the elements are still there!
Step 4.1: Use a background, if you want to.
There is quite an amount of options you can choose from under page properties. You can go with a transparent one, to put a focus on your copy, or you can select the picture you think represent your startup best.
The last two options are rather interesting. You can also use a Youtube or a Vimeo link, and use a certain video as your background, or you can use the animated option and create some wow effects on your Coming Soon page. We’ve gone with the latter, considering the nature of the startup.
Step 5: Add elements
To create the much-needed hype, you definitely need a timer here. You should also head out and get their email for that early bird newsletter you are planning to send out. Separate them with dividers, and in about ten minutes, you can end up with a basic Coming Soon page that will do the trick.
Step 6: Customize the elements
Each of the elements can be further customized to match the overall vibe. You are able to edit the module first and then to focus on the element itself. Here is how you could edit your timer.
Of course, as usual, you will be able to see the changes happening in front of you, so you don’t have to worry even if you are unsure about the paddings and pixels. Try it, make a mistake, fix it, and you will end up with an impeccable Coming Soon page in minutes!
To sum it up
In the end, it probably took you longer to read this article than it would take you to set up your Coming Soon page! Whether you have a beauty salon or travel blog, you can choose the appropriate template and get the page up and running in no time. If you have already figured out your brand for your tech startup or construction business, you can add them manually and figure the page from scratch!
Regardless of how you choose to use it is fairly easy to accomplish what you need to accomplish. Create a beautiful placeholder to gain an advantage of the needed keywords, and create the hype your business deserves. Let’s admit it, there is no easier way to get online and get those beloved customers!
