Quick answer
- A coming soon page is a short holding page that proves the business exists, says what is coming and collects interest. It is not a landing page and it is not the website.
- Include your name and logo, one line on what is coming and for whom, a reason to sign up, a way to contact you and a little credibility.
- Leave off "under construction" wording, countdowns without a real date, invented numbers and more than one ask.
- Get clear consent before you send marketing emails, say what you will send and link to a privacy notice.
- Let the page be indexed, give it a real title and description, and set up Google Search Console from day one.
- Keep the same domain when the full website launches and carry the sign-up list across.
- It is a small job. If we are building your website, we can put a branded holding page live early in the project.
A coming soon page, sometimes called a holding page, is the short page that sits on your domain before the real website is ready. Most startups treat it as an afterthought: a logo, the words "coming soon" and nothing else. Done properly it does three useful jobs. It proves the business exists to anyone who looks you up, it starts collecting the people who are interested before you launch, and it gets your domain working with Google while the full website is being designed.
What a Coming Soon Page Is For
It helps to be clear about what the page is and is not. A holding page is a placeholder with a purpose: it tells visitors what is coming, gives them one thing to do and keeps the domain live. It is not a landing page, which makes a full pitch for a product and asks for a sale, a trial or a booking, and it is not the website, which has to do all of that across several pages. Our guide to landing pages versus full websites explains when each is the right choice for a launch.
The Eight Things to Include
1. Your name and logo
The page is the first thing many people will see with your branding on it, so use the real logo, colours and typeface rather than a placeholder. If you are having a logo and brand identity designed alongside the website, ask for the holding page to use it as soon as the logo is approved.
2. One line that says what is coming and for whom
"Something exciting is coming" tells nobody anything. One plain sentence should say what the business does and who it is for: "Payroll software for independent UK restaurants, launching spring 2027" or "A new independent dental practice for Walthamstow". If you cannot write that sentence yet, our guide to writing website copy for a startup will help.
3. Launch timing, only if it is real
A month or a season is enough: "launching in March" or "opening summer 2027". Give a precise date only if you are confident of it. Missing a published launch date is a poor first impression, and quietly moving it is worse.
4. An email sign-up with a reason to sign up
The form is the point of the page, so give people a reason to use it. "Be first to know", early-bird pricing, a founding-member offer, a waiting list with limited places or a genuinely useful download all work. Ask for the email address only. Every extra field reduces the number of people who complete the form.
5. A way to contact you
Suppliers, journalists, potential partners and early customers all need a way to reach you. An email address on your own domain is enough.
6. Social links that are actually active
Link to the profiles you are using, not every network you have registered a handle on. An empty account linked from the holding page undermines it.
7. A little credibility
A sentence about the founders and their background, a line about who is backing you, an accelerator or grant you are part of, or the names of early customers who are happy to be mentioned. Even one of these turns an anonymous page into a business someone can believe in.
8. The legal basics
If you are collecting email addresses you are collecting personal data, so you need a short privacy notice that says what you collect and why. A limited company must also show its registered name, company number and registered office address, which fits neatly in a footer. These are the same requirements the full website will have, and our startup website checklist lists them in full.
What to Leave Off
- "Under construction" wording. It describes a problem rather than a business. Say what is coming instead.
- Countdowns without a real date. A timer that ends in nothing, or resets, costs you trust before you have any customers.
- Invented numbers. "Join thousands of others" when there are forty people on the list will be found out, and it is a poor habit to start a business with.
- Autoplaying video or heavy animation. It slows the page down on a phone and distracts from the form.
- More than one ask. Sign up, follow us, download the app, read the blog: the more options you offer, the fewer people do any of them. Pick the sign-up.
- "Coming soon" as the page title. The title is what Google shows in results and what sits in the browser tab. It should carry your business name and what you do.
Collecting Sign-Ups Lawfully in the UK
Sending marketing emails to individuals in the UK needs their consent, and a launch list is marketing. The rules are not onerous if you set the form up properly from the start:
- Make it clear that signing up means receiving emails from you, and say what you will send and roughly how often. "Launch news and early-bird offers, about once a month" is enough.
- Do not use pre-ticked boxes, and do not bury the consent in terms nobody reads. A clear statement next to the button, or an unticked box, is the standard.
- Link to a privacy notice that explains what you collect, why, and how to be removed from the list.
- Keep a record of when and how each person signed up. Any reputable email tool does this automatically.
- Include an unsubscribe link in every email you send, and act on it promptly. An established email marketing tool handles all of this for you.
The SEO Settings That Matter
A holding page will not rank for anything competitive, but it starts the clock on your domain, and a few settings make a real difference:
- Let it be indexed. Some holding-page tools hide the page from search engines by default. Switch that off. You want Google to find the domain now so that the full website launches on a domain it already knows.
- Write a real title and description. The page title should be your business name and what you do. The meta description should say what is coming and for whom. Both appear in search results when people look you up.
- Set up Google Search Console for the domain and submit the page. You will see from day one when people search for your name, and the account is ready for the full site.
- Keep the same domain for the finished website. Launching the real site on a different domain throws away whatever the holding page has built. If you have not settled on one yet, our guide to choosing a domain name covers it.
- Claim your Google Business Profile if you serve a local area, using the same business name and address as the page.
For what to do once the full site is live, see our guide to getting a startup website found on Google.
How Long to Keep It and How to Hand Over
A holding page should be measured in weeks, not months. If it has been up for six months the business looks stalled, and the sign-up list goes cold. A startup website of up to ten pages typically takes three to six weeks once the content is ready.
When the full website goes live:
- Launch it on the same domain, at the same address, so nothing that pointed at the holding page breaks.
- Keep a sign-up form somewhere on the new site, and carry the list across in the same email tool.
- Email the list. They asked to hear first, so tell them first, ideally with the offer you promised.
- Update the title and description if they still say "launching soon", and submit the new sitemap in Search Console.
- Run through the launch checklist so the legal pages, analytics and forms are all in place.
Do It Yourself or Ask Your Designer?
A coming soon page is a small job. If you are comfortable with a website builder or the page builder in an email tool, you can have one live in an afternoon, and the eight points above are all you need to get right. The limitations are that it will look like a template, and you will replace it rather than build on it.
If you are working with a designer, ask them to put a branded holding page live at the start of the project rather than at the end. When we design and build a website for a startup, we can do exactly that: the holding page uses the real logo and colours, collects sign-ups from the first week, and is replaced by the full site on the same domain and the same hosting. It is a small piece of work, so ask for it to be included when you get a quote. Our startup website design prices set out what a full project includes, or contact us and tell us when you are hoping to launch.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does a coming soon page help with SEO?
A little, and mainly by starting the clock. Google can find and index the domain, Search Console starts collecting data, and your business name begins to be associated with what you do. It will not rank for competitive searches, because it has almost no content. The real benefit is that the full website launches on a domain Google already knows rather than a brand-new one.
Should a coming soon page have a countdown timer?
Only if the date is real and you are confident of hitting it. A countdown that reaches zero with nothing behind it, or one that is quietly reset, damages trust before you have any customers. If the launch date might move, say when you expect to launch in words, or leave timing out altogether and ask people to sign up to hear first.
Can I run ads to a coming soon page?
You can, and it is a reasonable way to test interest in an idea, but keep your expectations modest. A page with a single sign-up form converts a small share of visitors, so the cost per sign-up can be high. Ads work better once there is a landing page with a full pitch, pricing and proof, which is a different page from a holding page.
How much does a coming soon page cost?
Very little. A holding page is one short page with a form, so it is a small job for any designer, and it is often a small addition to a website project, so ask for it to be included when you get a quote. If you are doing it yourself, website builders and email marketing tools offer holding-page templates that cost nothing beyond the domain.
Should my coming soon page collect email addresses?
Yes, if you can give people a reason to hand one over and you will actually email them. A launch list is the cheapest marketing a new business will ever have. Collect only the email address, say clearly what you will send, get consent for marketing messages and keep a record of it so you can use the list lawfully.