Whether your WordPress website is getting ready to launch for the first time or you’re in the process of changing your WordPress theme to a new one, it’s important to announce to visitors that your site hasn’t simply vanished, but that it’s a work in progress and will be available soon. To do just that, WordPress webmasters can choose from a long list of ‘Under Construction’ and ‘Coming Soon’ themes and plugins that not only tell the world that your site is undergoing maintenance but also help you stay connected with visitors in the meantime.
Why You Need an Under Construction Page
Websites can be temporarily unavailable for a variety of reasons ranging from regrouping after hacking to a complete makeover that reflects major changes in direction. Websites may even need a ‘Coming Soon’ template if they’re changing their WordPress theme to a new one or redoing the overall appearance of their site. Regardless of the reason, though, when a site isn’t available in the way visitors expect, those visitors won’t remain engaged and return when the site is up and running again. That’s why it is so critical that when you start getting higher traffic to your website you sustain these visitors through smart practices when undergoing changes to your site.
A stylish and appealing ‘Under Construction’ announcement lets visitors know that you haven’t forgotten them—and that you’ll be back soon. More than that, though, many of the free and premium ‘Under Construction’ WordPress themes and templates include a variety of features that make your ‘Under Construction’ page a mini-website all on its own. This is great so visitors can get a glimpse of the website’s new look and keep updated on its progress. Keeping your visitors updated through your redesign or rebuilding can help your monitor user feedback to your site updates.
WordPress ‘Under Construction’ themes and plugins can also act as placeholders for new sites that aren’t yet ready for launch, and in that situation, they can also help to engage new visitors so that they have a reason to return once the site is fully up and running. Most ‘Under Construction’ and ‘Coming Soon’ themes and plugins can create a standalone landing page, they can also be used on an existing website to announce the coming arrival of a new product, service, or another opportunity.
Features to Look For
With hundreds of options to choose from, there are a few features to look for and consider as you are selecting how to update your current theme. The current crop of WordPress Under Construction themes and plugins for sites can do far more than simply tell visitors that your site is undergoing maintenance. To get the most out of your ‘Coming Soon’ theme or plugin, look for additional features that can help boost visitor engagement and keep your brand visible even though your main site is down. These can include:
- Subscription and contact forms that allow you to collect email addresses and send email newsletters, even while your site is down.
- Blogging templates for posting news and updates right from the Under Construction page.
- Countdown timers to let visitors know exactly when your site will return.
- Multiple layout options and landing page templates.
- Elements on how to write an About Us page and other sections for letting visitors know about the new site’s features.
The best ‘Under Construction/Coming Soon’ themes and templates for WordPress sites also feature extensive options for customizing, including drag and drop page builders, multiple templates and layout options, and integration with social media and mail managers like Constant Contact. Here’s a few examples of the most versatile and feature-rich themes and plugins for creating stunning ‘Under Construction and Coming Soon’ pages for websites of all kinds. Most are available both in free and premium versions that have additional features.
Paper Plane
Paper Plane is a free WordPress theme that also includes a construction template with three different customizable layouts for a single ‘Coming Soon’ page. This ‘Coming Soon’ WordPress website template can stand for the site or be added as a landing page for new products and services. Paper Plane also includes a subscription form and support for mail services.
WP Maintenance Mode
WP Maintenance Mode is a free, fully responsive WordPress theme that includes a subscription form for collecting email addresses while the site is ‘Under Construction’, and multiple landing page templates for a custom look. WP Maintenance Mode also includes an optional countdown timer and SEO optimization tools included in its construction template.
Launch
Designed for new sites preparing to launch as well as product launches on an existing site, Launch is a clean, landing page theme with a fully responsive design that also includes all the tools for collecting subscriber emails and sending newsletters even before a new site is up and running. The basic version of the Launch website template is free, but a premium upgrade offers more features.
XLander
XLander is a free mobile-friendly ‘Coming Soon’ WordPress theme designed for building a standalone landing page. This theme includes a visual composer and multiple flexible layouts, plus a library of 55 different animations to add to your new landing page for more visual interest.
Rabbit
Rabbit is a minimalist ‘Coming Soon/Under Construction’ theme that allows users to create a mini-site with services and “About Us” sections, as well as templates for blogging while the site is undergoing maintenance.
Along with themes, a variety of WordPress plugin options make it possible to add an ‘Under Construction’ or ‘Coming Soon’ page to an existing WordPress site. Although these plugins are more limited than fully functioning themes, they’re easy for anyone to install and use, with no coding required.
Under Construction Page
This free WordPress ‘Under Construction’ plugin has more than 50,000 active installs. After installing and activating the plugin, users can customize the page appearance and the content that it displays. No coding is needed and all settings can be managed from the site’s admin dashboard.
Coming Soon Page/Maintenance Mode
This free WordPress plugin is one of the most popular ‘Under Construction’-type plugins available, with over 300,000 active installs. The ‘Coming Soon’ page plugin is mobile responsive and compatible with all WordPress themes. It can be customized from the WordPress dashboard, or users with coding experience can also add their own HTML and CSS for additional customizing.
When your WordPress website has to go down for needed maintenance or you’re getting ready to launch a brand new site, you’ll most likely need an ‘Under Construction’ page. The best WordPress theme options and plugins for creating your page can tell the world what’s going on and market your site at the same time.
If you have any more questions about WordPress ‘Under Construction’ themes please feel free to visit our support page.
12 Comments
Oh Great! This is Nice Post. I like your all tips which are in the post.
thanks it was great i really struggle with using wordpress
I use WP maintenance mode plugin to create my website under maintenance page. Amazing Guide for web developers.
Thanks for sharing The informative post.
Best in the industry
thank you so much!
Nice Post Shared! Thanks for sharing it.
Nice Post Shared! Thanks for sharing it.
Really, Nice stuff. I liked your writing style, each and every topic has cleared very easily. 🙂
Thanks for awesome suggestions, i am looking for good Under Construction Themes, i found “WP Maintenance Mode” really helpful.
will try other themes also.
It is really important to have a under construction option so that it’ll let the users know the site is under maintenance.
Thanks for this guide.
its very necessary to provide “Site under construction” when the site is not working as if customer visit the site and some how the website does not open then it may be possible that customer will not visit site again.