Every time I prepare to make a website or even an application, I always try to send out a signal, It’s under-construction, I’m working on it, if you think it’s useful, why not come back and get it when it’s finished. It’s worked for me in business environment too. Tell my boss what I’m doing to let them wait in excited or just scrap the whole idea and do something more useful I guess .

When I prepare for my new project I need a new idea which really attractive to my visitors. So first thing I did, google “Under construction page”. And surprisingly at  the very first links, I’m shocked when someone said, you shouldn’t ever put a under-construction logo in your website. I disagree and I sure want to push this page on top of that term in Google. Hope you will help me .

Construction is such a waste of time

The idea is the construction page mean you just not good enough to put a up decent website and you need the help of a construction sign.

Other said, the visitors could see the page isn’t ready and why you need to put a sign like that in your website. Why you should waste your time for that construction page? Because you don’t want to make your main page.

Another idea which maybe more useful is search spiders will leave your websites right away if they find a “construction” page. So you should rather put an poorly built website rather then a construction page.

You have the wrong idea here

Why should I said so? Now I read somewhere said big websites never put up a page like that. Or don’t they?  What the real benefit of construction page beside tell your visitors to come back later? Let’s take a look around to find an answer, shall we!

BETA = Under construction = We’re really working on it

Big companies actually do put up an construction page. It’s just under cover – BETA, maybe a new work of under-construction. It’s just they use it wisely instead of plain simple page said under-construction. Do you know any big company haven’t use this term yet? Let’s come back time a bit with the amazing new email service, Gmail.

Gmail starts in 01/04/2004 with simple plain page (Google tradition) about special features of Gmail. They won’t let you register an account yet, no not yet. They make you wait for it. And the fact that’s the information in that’s page are so amazing and you know they’re working on it that make you so tempted (Don’t know about you, but I did ). Now the magic box – register for the next beta account join the game,  a thousand of users registered to be the very first one receive the accounts, doesn’t matter they still need to wait for months. That’s their strategies. Make people tempted about what they doing without even know exactly how it will actually work. Who said Under construction isn’t working.

Under construction page prove our skills

Do you know Battlefield Heroes? No you don’t? Don’t worry because it’s not even our yet. But do you know, the close beta sign up go over 100,000. It’s amazingly success. You could check it out at their official website.

This is a proper CMS for a under-construction game. What it says? It’s tell people, this upcoming game is amazing by check-out their media libraries. Amazing graphic design and on top of it, with a massive and always up to date website. They send out to their fan. They’re trying their best to make this game come to them ASAP.

Under construction page isn’t just simple and easy

Now, if you think under construction logo have to be an old sign like this: .You’re wrong. My very first attempt for my construction page is this:

I used my old artworks combine together to make a simple construction page. Now, I’m not even a good designer but at least, people know, I’m seriously working on this website and I have the skill to make it good.

I come over this website from reddit :http://www.clarkdols.com/. It’s amazing with flash. And the very first thoughts of me and my friends is what is this website about. We don’t know as it’s said nothing. Where we can submit for mail list. Too bad we don’t know either. I think he should put a subscribe section in there, but it’s amazing enough, don’t you think.

<———- This space will be your suggestion website for other readers, send me a comment of what you think it should be added in here —————->

Is that enough to prove my point?

The matter of fact that’s many under construction page is only appear for such a short time and I didn’t think a day I will write about it like that, I couldn’t save a screen-shot of it. Youtube has quite an impressive under-construction (a chemistry doctor do some research) which I couldn’t find it again to show it in my post. Anyone has it?

Well, I don’t say the whole negative points are wrong. For such a simple plain logo or a simple HTML with 2 word “under construction” those point are correct. However, it’s not so right for any serious project.

What you should and shouldn’t do

You should put up an under-construction page ASAP when you have a domain. Through in a few text, logo, pictures… and link back to your web-blog, main website(s), your email… At least you get a link back and maybe people who want to buy that domain may find your main website as well.

A mail list in your construction page. A lot of visitors want to get the very latest update if they interested in your website. Mail list is the simplest thing to do. RSS also work but well, maybe a bit harder I think.

Under-construction page mean, under-construction. You should keep your website up-to-date. Don’t need to be long. Just say a simple quick news. Make visitors know, this project is alive.

Should put up a feature list ASAP to let visitors know what they’re waiting for. Not many people ready to wait for something that they don’t even know if it’s relevant to them. Don’t keep them wait for too long. Put some text which search spider could pick up isn’t that’s difficult.

Never ever so your visitors a poorly built website, they won’t want to come back to your website anymore. If you need to put a poorly built website on, prove to the visitors, what you’re capable of with good graphic, good features explanations…

<———- This space will be your suggestion for other readers, send me a comment of what you think it should be added in here —————->

Do I miss any thing?

Yes I do. I actually miss quite a lot of thing. It could be due to my bad memory, it could be due to my lack of knowledge and experience. So I hope you could share with me and other reader your idea.

Time to change the flow

As I said on top, the very top of Google is about negative point of under construction page. It’s time to change it. If you agree with my point of view, please spread the words, vote for this post… And if you don’t agree, please also leave me a comment. I would love to hear from both sides.

Thank you for reading such a long article like this