When setting up a new website, many individuals and companies like to use a ‘Coming Soon’ or an ‘Under Construction’ page or plugin for their site while it is still being developed. This not only lets you put your website out there earlier, but also creates a buzz around the launch of your exciting, new website.
These are typically simple one page sites, showing a countdown to the launch of the website, and perhaps some information regarding what the website is for, and so on. Whatever the case, an attractive page of the sorts is a great way to keep your users interested and coming back to see the final result.
From simple and sleek designs, to colourful & outrageous pages, you can find whatever type of page you’d like with WordPress themes and plugins. Below are a few of the latest themes I’ve selected for various reasons, followed by the plugins.
Themes
MUMM
MUMM is a creative and innovative ‘Coming Soon’ theme with a special type of scrolling system. It employs multiscroll.js to create these cool, divided multi scrolling pages. Besides looking stunning, it is also functional, offering an easy to customize layout with a contact form, about section, and more.
xTime
xTime is a fully responsive coming soon template that is both easy to set up and customize, and also looks great in the end. It’s got various versions ranging from a full screen slideshow to a YouTube video background or even static backgrounds, all with the possibility of combining a background colour or gradient overlay.
Get xTime
Cepot
Cepot is another simple, responsive coming soon template, this time featuring a YouTube background video as well as social options. You’ve got links to your short ‘about’ paragraph, basic contact form, as well as newsletter subscribe section – all you need from an attractive coming soon site.
Get Cepot
Landis
A simple, no extra frills, one-page landing page for your under construction website. Landis lets you inform your users of what is going on with your new, amazing site, and is very easy to create and launch in a short amount of time.
Start
Start is a responsive coming soon template that incorporates all the basic needs of such a page into a modern, stylish layout. It includes features such as the almost compulsory countdown timer, contact form and even a twitter feed so your users can stay even more updated.
Launcher
A free alternative to a cool coming soon theme, Launcher lets your visitors know how long is left till the launch of your new site in a responsive manner. It includes various functions such as a subscription box, twitter integration and even an options panel to easily configure the theme.
GapInvite
A responsive coming soon theme built on the skeleton framework, GapInvite is a great way to inform your users about the progress of your new site. Incorporating image or slider versions, an easy to use options panel, and a few other cool additional features, it serves its purpose well and looks good doing it.
Get GapInvite
MyCountdown
MyCountdown is an attractive and innovative style of coming soon or under construction web pages. Its got some awesome functionality, combining your countdown and newsletter sign up with some amazing HTML5 and CSS3 effects. MyCountdown even offers Google Maps incorporation and an AJAX contact form.
Get MyCountdown
Bravodo
Bravodo is a fully responsive and very clean coming soon theme that is made using the Bootstrap framework. It uses a full background image slideshow, countdown timer, Google web fonts, and more. It’s great for that early exposure before you send your site live.
Get Bravodo
Plugins
Coming Soon & Maintenance Mode
A Coming soon or Maintenance mode page with a full-sized background image slideshow, as well as the obligatory countdown timer, various social icon options, and an opt-in form. An ideal solution to a new website that is soon to be up and running.
Get Coming Soon & Maintenance Mode
Launchpad
Launchpad is a free plugin to use as your landing page while developing your website. It creates a beautiful page that is attractive as well as functional, informing your users of when the site will be launched, as well as some information about it. You’ve got multiple customization options to make sure it’s unique to your needs.
Get Launchpad
MiniGO
MiniGO is a minimal coming soon page that is pretty sophisticated, yet simple. It is easy to set up and customize, however the options available to you emphasize the amount of work put into making this plugin look so good and work so well. From slick 3D page transitions to different countdown timers, you can customize it as you’d like.
Get MiniGO
Anticipate
A coming soon plugin that allows you to inform your users of what is going on whilst you create your new website. It’s fairly simple, incorporating a progress bar, social networking options and some other options that you expect to find on such a page.
Get Anticipate
Verde
A beautiful way to show your users that your website is currently under construction. Verde has a minimal, but creative look, incorporating a great admin panel with plenty of options, a selection of image, video and abstract backgrounds, and other cool effects and functions for you to create the ideal landing page.
Coming Soon Pro
A simple and flexible coming soon page plugin that not only shows your users when your site is due to be unveiled, but also easily captures email leads and also includes a lot of powerful features such as customizable CSS3, social media integration, Google Font integration, and many more.
In Conclusion
In conclusion, having a ‘Coming Soon’ page seems to be a good idea, especially to promote your new website (and url) as early as possible, creating that buzz around the launch, and piquing your potential visitors’ interest as to what it could feature.
For any of you that might have some reservations about these pages, perhaps fearing they might somehow negatively impact your site, here is a video from Matt Cutts explaining why this is not so, and encouraging the use of these pages.
Whichever type you choose, be it a theme or a plugin, the end result is going to look the same. So in the end it all comes down to finding a good looking design that you suits your needs and functions cleanly.
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