Do you want to announce a new website launch? If you’re close to finishing your shiny new site design, chances are you want to start getting the word out.
Marketing your website before you launch is a great way to generate interest in your business. What’s more, it can help drive traffic to your site when the big launch day arrives.
Today we’ll explore some essential steps to market your website before launch so that announcing your new site doesn’t go unnoticed.
Now, shall we get stuck into some website launch marketing?
Step 1. Set Up A Coming Soon Page
Every good soft launch of a site should start with creating a coming soon page. But what is a soft launch?
A soft launch of a website is a preview of what your site will look like.
Instead of releasing your full site to the public, you’re giving them a teaser of what they can expect in the days or weeks to come. This helps you fine-tune your site behind the scenes while still offering something for visitors to engage with.
As we mentioned above, a coming soon page is a great place to start. Instead of showing a half-built site to the world, you display a single page letting your visitors know your site will launch soon.
Here are a few benefits of building a coming soon page:
- Visitors won’t see a site that’s under construction.
- You can encourage visitors to join your email list (we’ll cover that in the next step).
- You can include information like welcome videos, special offers, and discounts to create a buzz.
- Adding your social links will help visitors connect with you on social media.
- You can add social sharing buttons to encourage visitors to share your site.
- A coming soon page allows Google to index your site, helping you appear in search results even before your site goes live.
When it comes to building a high-converting coming soon page for your website, SeedProd is the best WordPress plugin for the job.
This drag-and-drop theme builder makes it easy to create any type of page or theme in WordPress, and you won’t need any design experience to get things looking how you want.
As well as being able to activate a coming soon, 404, and maintenance mode page with a single click, you can also create a stunning…
- Thank you page
- Lead squeeze page
- Webinar registration landing page
- WordPress sales page
- Video landing page
And, of course, you can create entire custom WordPress themes without hiring a developer.
Plus, you won’t need to start from scratch, either. SeedProd has a growing library of landing page templates you can customize in the visual page builder to suit your business needs.
But if that isn’t enough, you can design your entire website by using the premade starter templates for your WordPress theme.
Related: How to create a Squeeze Page in WordPress
Customizing your coming soon landing page is super easy too. After selecting your template, you can use the visual page builder to edit the content and add lead-generating page elements such as:
- Countdown timers
- Optin forms
- Giveaways
- Contact forms
- Social media icons
- Stat ratings and reviews
- Testimonials
- and much more.
Just drag them from the left-hand side of your page onto the live page and click each block to customize the content or choose a block-specific style.
And here, you can see a full coming soon page example with many of the features we discussed above.
If you need a little help getting started, you can check out this step-by-step guide to create a coming soon page in WordPress.
Or click here to get started with SeedProd and jump right in.
With your coming soon page ready, how else can you market your website launch? Building an email list is the next logical step.
Alternatively, you can create a waitlist landing page to collect emails.
Step 2. Build an Email List
Building an email list is a smart way to market your new website before launch because it opens a channel of communication between you and your site visitors.
Having this way of communicating lets you send important information about your website directly into the inbox of people interested in what you have to say.
But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Before sending any emails, you need to build your email list, which we’ll show you how to do now.
The great thing about using SeedProd to build a coming soon page is it lets you collect email signups from the same page. Let’s take a look at how you can do this yourself.
From the landing page builder, scroll down to the Advanced Blocks section and drag the Optin From block onto your coming soon page.
You can then click the block on your page to customize form fields, block templates, and content settings.
Once you’re happy with how your form looks, click the Connect tab at the top of the screen to connect to an email marketing service of your choice.
Seedprod includes integrations for the most popular email marketing services and tools on the market. It’s also possible to connect to Google Analytics, Recaptcha, and Zapier.
Just choose your preferred email service from the available options, then follow the instructions to connect your account.
For step-by-step instructions, see the SeedProd email integration documentation here.
After connecting your email service, anyone who enters their information in your optin form will be automatically added to your chosen email list.
Excellent! Now you’re ready to announce your website launch via email to your list.
But don’t stop there. Displaying your social profiles is an important step we’ll cover next.
Step 3. Link to Your Social Profiles
Social Media is the ideal place to market your website before launch, and your social profiles are like mini hubs for your community to gather when your website is out of action.
Linking to your social profiles on your coming soon page points visitors to those hubs so they can stay up-to-date with the latest developments.
Adding your social profile links to your coming soon page with SeedProd is pretty easy.
From the SeedProd page builder, find the Social Profiles block and drag it onto your page preview on the right-hand side.
Then just like you did with the Optin Form block, you can click the block to edit the contents on the left-hand side of your screen.
Click the gear icon next to each social profile option to show a field where you can add your profile URL.
You can also click the Templates tab to see different block styles.
Remember to click Save when you’re finished.
With that done, let’s move on to the next step.
Step 4. Launch a Preview Video
You might have already noticed that videos are the new favorite way to market anything online. So why should it be any different for you?
Using video to market your website before launch offers a highly shareable way to tell your audience more about what they can expect.
Here are a few things you can do with video content:
- Record a preview of new site features.
- Give people a sneak peek at future content.
- Answer frequently asked questions from your audience.
The options are pretty much endless!
And, to make things even easier, you can add a video right onto your coming soon page for people to watch and share with others.
Inserting a video onto your coming soon page is really easy. From the SeedProd visual page editor, find the Video block from under the Standard section on the left-hand panel and drag it onto your page.
Adding your video to the block is as simple as pasting the URL into the video field on the left.
Now, do you want to know our favorite step in this guide? Keep reading to find out.
Step 5. Network with Influencers
No website launch marketing plan is complete without taking advantage of influencers in your field of interest.
Influencers are people with authority and the power to influence the decisions of their followers. Networking with influencers in your target audience and developing relationships with them can play a crucial role in getting word of your website launch out to the wider community.
Pro tip: You can learn how to win big at influencer marketing with this detailed guide.
One super effective way of networking with influencers is through hosting contests and giveaways. What’s more, successful giveaways have the potential of going viral, directing even more traffic to your website before you’ve launched it.
You can easily add a giveaway or contest to your coming soon page using the RafflePress plugin for WordPress. Even better, SeedProd integrates directly with RafflePress using the Giveaway content block.
To insert your giveaway into your coming soon page, drag the giveaway block onto your page.
Then all you need to do is select your giveaway from the drop-down menu to show a preview on your coming soon page.
How’s that for taking your website launch to the next level? Here’s a preview of what your finished coming soon page might look like:
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Marketing a website before launch helps create awareness, generate buzz, build anticipation, and attract potential visitors. It lays the foundation for a successful launch by driving traffic, gaining early users, and increasing the chances of initial success.
It depends on your target audience and industry. Consider popular platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Pinterest. Choose the platforms that align with your target demographic and engage with your potential audience effectively.
Content marketing involves creating and sharing valuable and relevant content to attract and engage your target audience. Develop high-quality blog posts, videos, infographics, or podcasts related to your website’s niche. Share this content on your teaser landing page, social media platforms, and other relevant channels to establish your brand’s authority and build anticipation.
Track metrics such as website traffic, email sign-ups, social media engagement, conversion rates, and qualitative feedback from your target audience. Use web analytics tools, social media insights, and email marketing analytics to evaluate the effectiveness of your strategies and make necessary adjustments.
Congratulations! Today, you’ve learned how to effectively market your website before launch in 5 easy steps. Now all that’s left is to launch that new site.
What are you waiting for?
Get started with SeedProd today.
If you’re still in the planning stages, this checklist for a successful website launch will help things go smoothly. You might also like this article on how to promote your blog.
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