Under Construction

I think that every single web design client that I have ever had has failed to understand that one thing you do not want to do with a website, is put a sign up that says "under construction". I have had to explain it to each one - and they were all intelligent business people.

Under construction signs seem like such a logical thing to do. People figure they can get their site up, register it, get people coming in, and just put a sign on each page they have not yet finished. Bad Idea!

First of all, you gain no advantage by doing so. You are better off just adding the pages later, rather than putting them in before you have them finished. If you MUST put them up and finish them slowly, there are much better things to do.

"Under Construction" signs are a red flag to search engines, and to people. They tell them outright that you are not finished, and have nothing of value on the page. It is much better to put a notice like this:

"We have a lot of (name item) to put on this page, we request your patience while we get it ready for you. In the mean time, if you have questions, or need (specific item), please email us at (email address)... We'd be happy to help you personally."

This kind of notice lets your customers know what you have, and where they can get it if they want to email. It is NOT a substitute for real content, but it is better than a notice that tells everyone that you aren't prepared.

If you take this course of action, it is advisable to get real content into place as quickly as possible, even if it is just one or two bits - a paragraph or two if it is information, a product or two if it is a sales site. Any little bit will tell them you really are working on it, and it will help you get indexed by the search engines and bring you more traffic, sooner.

Avoid the "Under Construction" plague, it will just harm your business, both with people, and with search engines.

Written by Laura Wheeler