After building landing pages in WordPress for years, I know a waitlist landing page is key to a successful launch. But, honestly, the big question is: where do you even start?
Maybe you’re getting ready to launch a new product, service, or website, and getting people interested feels like a lot. I’ve felt that same stress, so I get it.
That’s why in this guide, I’m going to show you the exact steps I use to create waitlist pages that work, from the plugins I use to the tips I’ve learned.
How to Create a “Join the Waitlist” Landing Page in WordPress:
How Do Waiting Lists Work?
Waiting lists are a simple but powerful tool for businesses. When a product, service, or event isn’t immediately available, people can join a list, signaling their interest. This helps you understand demand, plan your launches, and prioritize those who’ve shown early interest.
Here’s how they work:
- Sign-Up: You add yourself to a waitlist, usually with your email, when something isn’t yet available.
- Order of Access: Early sign-ups often get priority access to the product or service.
- Notification: When it’s ready, you’ll get notified, giving you a chance to buy before the general public.
- Exclusive Perks: Sometimes, waitlists come with bonuses like early access, discounts, or special content.
Essentially, a waiting list lets you manage demand and build excitement. It also lets you collect leads from customers who are likely to buy.
By using a waitlist, you can have a more successful launch and make sure the most interested people get first dibs.
How to Create a Landing Page for a Waitlist
Step 1. Install and Activate SeedProd
You may have heard that setting up a waitlist landing page is hard on WordPress. But with the right tools, I’ve learned that it’s easier than you might think.
For instance, landing page plugins like SeedProd can help you spin up professional pages in under 30 minutes.
In fact, SeedProd is one of the best WordPress page builders, with over 1+ million users. With hundreds of pre-made landing page templates, it’s easier than ever to get started with a new page fast.
Moreover, SeedProd’s visual drag-and-drop builder lets you customize any page to meet your business goals. And because it doesn’t require any coding or help from a developer, even beginners can create a high-converting waitlist landing page.
✏️ Note
You can also use SeedProd to create a custom WordPress theme, but for today, I’ll focus on the landing page builder.
First, you need to download the SeedProd plugin.
You then need to upload the plugin to your WordPress website and activate it. If you need help, refer to this guide on installing a WordPress plugin.
Step 2. Create a Pre Launch Landing Page
After installing the plugin, go to SeedProd » Landing Pages from your WordPress admin and click the “Add New Landing Page” button.
On the next screen is SeedProd’s landing page template library. It offers various designs that you can filter by page type, including:
- Coming soon
- Maintenance mode
- 404 page
- Sales
- Webinar
- Lead squeeze
- Thank you
- Login
So browse the templates until you find a design close to how you want your waitlist page to look. From there, hover your mouse over the template and click the checkmark icon.
For instance, I liked the look of the City Coming Soon Page template, so I’ll pick that one.
After choosing your template, you can enter your landing page details in the following popup, like its name and URL. From there, click the Save and Start Editing the Page button to launch your template in the drag-and-drop editor.
Step 3. Customize Your Waitlist Landing Page
For the best waitlist landing pages, focus on customization to meet your specific business goals. But before I do that, let’s take a brief look at the visual editor so you can find your way around.
As you can see, SeedProd’s visual editor has 2 primary columns.
You can find blocks and sections for adding content on the left. And on the right, you can preview how your customizations will look.
To customize any element on the page, simply click it, and you’ll see its settings in the left-hand panel. For example, you can change your primary headline by clicking it, deleting the default text, and adding your own.
You can do the same thing for your subheading and change it to something more enticing for your visitors.
Then, you can click the Advanced tab for that block and customize it further. In my case, I gave the subheading a new color to stand out.
Changing the background image is just as easy. To achieve that, click the cog icon in the bottom-left corner and select the background tab.
From there, you can delete the existing background image and upload a new photo from your computer or WordPress media library. Or, if you have a SeedProd Plus license or higher, you can choose from thousands of royalty-free stock images right inside the plugin.
Tips to Get People to Join Your Waitlist
Now that you’ve customized your template, you can add more content to your page with SeedProd’s powerful content blocks. For example, you can offer an incentive like a free e-book, or a discount to sweeten the deal.
The Advanced blocks, in particular, are an excellent way to build anticipation for your big launch.
SeedProd’s lead generation blocks include:
- RafflePress giveaway
- Contact form
- Social sharing
- Countdown timer
- Social profiles
- Call to action
- Opt-in form
- Progress bar
- Pricing table
- Google maps
- And many more
There are even WooCommerce blocks that allow you to add-to-cart buttons and product grids on your page, or create completely custom WooCommerce checkout pages.
To make your offer irresistible, consider adding a ‘Join the Waitlist’ call-to-action on your landing page. You can also add some urgency to compel visitors to sign up.
For this, you can use the countdown timer block. Simply drag the Countdown block from the left panel and drop it onto your page.
Once the timer is in place, you can change its type, choose a different timer template, and adjust the colors. You can also change how the timer behaves when it finishes counting down.
For instance, you can show a message or send users to another page or URL, as I’ve done by selecting the Redirect option.
Now let’s look at the signup form, which my template includes by default. The signup or opt-in form is where you can collect email addresses from visitors who want to join your waiting list.
With SeedProd, you can edit any part of your waiting list form, such as the form fields, size, alignment, and buttons. Additionally, you can select different form field templates and adjust the colors and spacing.
Keep customizing your design until you’re happy with the results. Then, move on to the next step, where I’ll show you how to connect to your email marketing provider.
Step 4. Connect Your Email List
Connecting your opt-in form to your email marketing provider in SeedProd is pretty straightforward. Simply click the Connect tab at the top of your screen.
From there, you can browse popular email marketing services, and when you find yours, follow the instructions to connect your list. If SeedProd doesn’t have direct integration with your email provider, you can always use its Zapier integration.
And on the same page, you also find direct integrations for Google Analytics and reCAPTCHA.
Step 5. Configure Your Page Settings
The next step is to ensure that your landing page settings are correct. To do so, click the Page Settings tab and browse each section.
Here’s a quick overview of what each section does:
- General: In this section, you can change your page title, URL, and publishing status and add your SeedProd affiliate link.
- SEO: If an SEO plugin is live on your site, you can configure your landing page SEO settings.
- Analytics: If you already have Google Analytics set up on your website, you can use a Google Analytics plugin to track your landing page performance.
- Scripts: You can paste header, body, and footer scripts, such as cookies and tracking pixels, from here.
- Custom Domain: If you have a SeedProd Elite plan, you can use this section to point your landing page to a custom domain name.
After configuring your page settings, click the Save button in the top-right corner.
Step 6. Publish Your Waitlist Landing Page
The final step in this guide is to make your page live. To achieve that, click the dropdown arrow on the save button and select Publish.
Now, you can preview your page to see how it looks. Here’s a final look at the page I created on my test website:
Congratulations!
Bonus: Top Landing Page Tips and Resources
After building your waitlist landing page, you might also like the following tips and guides to make your page more effective:
- Anatomy of a Landing Page: 9 Essential Elements
- A/B Testing for Landing Pages in WordPress: The Easy Guide
- Expert Landing Page Optimization Tips
- Landing Page URL Examples and Best Practices
- How to Create Personalized Landing Pages to Boost Conversions
- Landing Page Headline Formulas to Boost Conversion Rates
- Landing Page Navigation Is Dead: Here’s Why
- What Is a Good Landing Page Conversion Rate?
More Questions About Waitlist Landing Pages
Ready to Build Your Waitlist?
I hope this guide has shown you how simple it can be to create a successful waitlist page on WordPress. If you’re looking for a quick and easy way to get started, SeedProd has tools that can help you build your page in minutes.
Thanks for reading! We’d love to hear your thoughts, so please feel free to leave a comment with any questions and feedback.
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