Something to Show While Your Website Is Still Being Built
Two new coming soon designs are available. They are what your domain shows while the real site is being put together.
Why this is not a trivial page
The gap between registering a domain and having a finished actor website is usually weeks and frequently months. During that time the address is live, you are giving it out, and people are visiting.
What they find matters. A half-built site with placeholder text and no reel actively damages you. A blank page or a hosting company's default page is worse. A deliberate holding page with your name, a photograph and a way to reach you is a completely respectable thing for somebody to arrive at, and it buys you the time you need.
What the new designs do
- Your name, large, and what you do.
- One photograph, full bleed on one design and framed on the other.
- A contact route, so the page is still functional.
- An optional line about what you are working on.
- An optional signup so people can be told when the site opens, using newsletter signups.
What they deliberately do not have: a countdown timer. Countdowns create a deadline you will miss, and a timer that ran out three weeks ago is the single worst thing that can be on a holding page.
Say something specific
"Coming soon" is a wasted sentence. "New site opening this spring. Currently in [production] at [venue]" is a page that does real work while the site is unfinished.
The same argument as everywhere else: a page that says something beats a page that says nothing, and it gives search engines a reason to index the address at all.
Set a limit for yourself
The honest risk with a good holding page is that it becomes permanent. It looks fine, so the pressure to finish disappears, and two years later it is still there.
A better plan for most people is to publish a small real site: name, headshot, reel, contact. Four items and it is live. The onboarding checklist is built around exactly that.
Choosing between the designs is covered in choose your coming soon design.
Create a free actor website and put something real up instead.
