How To Make a Website Under Construction Page

The effort it takes to overhaul or repair your website can seem daunting. First, you have to conceal the site behind the curtain—you can’t have anyone nosing around while it’s under construction. Second, when the site becomes inaccessible, visitors get confused. Nobody wants to lose customers, traffic, or Google search ranking because the site is temporarily unavailable.

The good news is, there is a straightforward solution: add an Under Construction page to your website. Smart design of your under-construction page protects your brand reputation and prevents negative SEO repercussions.

Learn how to build and launch your Under Construction page for maximum effectiveness.

What is a website Under Construction page?

A website Under Construction page is a placeholder displayed when a website is undergoing big changes. Its purpose is to inform visitors that the site is temporarily unavailable. While under construction, the site won’t be browsable. This prevents users from encountering broken links and incomplete content. It’s like putting a “Closed for Renovation” sign in a store window.

What are the benefits of “Under Construction” signage?

Creating an Under Construction page delivers a better customer experience because it helps visitors understand why your site has changed and when it’s coming back. It can also raise brand awareness, especially if you’re a new business. Turn construction mode into a marketing opportunity. Create buzz and collect sign-up emails until the site is live. In the meantime, you can redirect web traffic to social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn, so customers can continue to engage with the company.

Use cases for a website Under Construction page

You’ll want to activate “under construction” mode whenever you need major fixes or updates for these reasons:

• Major redesigns and rebuilds. Use one when you’re completely overhauling your existing site—for example, changing hosting platforms, rebranding with a new design, or restructuring your product categories.

• Backend maintenance. Sometimes for security reasons, you must perform critical updates or bug fixes that require the entire site to be offline for a short period to preserve data integrity.

• Initial development stage. When you’ve registered a domain and aren’t ready to launch your online store, you can use the page to notify visitors that work is underway on the site. As you approach the launch date, you can change the under-construction page to a Coming Soon page.

When to use a Coming Soon page

A Coming Soon page works just like an Under Construction page—both are placeholders, but coming soon serves a more strategic marketing purpose. An Under Construction page suggests that something is broken and you’re fixing it. The goal is damage control and setting expectations around the unavailability. A Coming Soon page is about building excitement for something like a rebranded site or a new store. It encourages engagement—often through email sign-ups, social media follows, or even preorders.

Here’s when to use a Coming Soon page instead of an under-construction page:

• New website launch. Build buzz and collect email addresses from future customers interested in your products before your ecommerce store opens.

• New product/collection pre-launch. To announce a new product line, you can use the Coming Soon page to gauge demand by offering preorders, letting customers reserve items before official release.

• Rebranding. Tease a new brand identity to generate interest for the refreshed look and feel.

• Event/sale promotion. Use a Coming Soon message to announce a planned flash sale, seasonal event, or special promotion, and harvest email sign-ups for notifications.

How to set your Shopify website to “under construction”

When your own website requires major fixes or maintenance, you need to activate under construction mode (sometimes referred to as maintenance mode), which hides your site and alerts interested visitors to come back later. Shopify has a quick and easy way to do so:

Use Shopify’s built-in password page

This is the quickest and simplest way to put your store under construction. Shopify provides a default password-protected page that you can enable and customize. Coding knowledge isn’t required. Just take the following steps:

1. Go into Shopify admin.

2. Go to Online Store > Preferences.

3. Find the Restrict Store Access/Password protection section.

4. Check the box next to “Restrict access to visitors with the password.”

5. Enter a password in the provided field that you would share with anyone you want to grant access (like team members and beta testers).

6. Add a message for your visitors in the text field provided. Don’t leave the field blank, or the visitors will be confused. A few lines are usually enough.

7. Click Save.

Once you activate password protection, a password page displays whenever someone visits your website, preventing unwanted access. This, in effect, becomes the Under Construction page (or Coming Soon page). The page has a few special features:

• Its own header and footer sections in the theme editor, distinct from typical site pages

• An email signup banner section to give customers a way to subscribe so they will receive notifications when your website reopens

Edit password page settings

The password page is fully customizable. Edit your content, color scheme, and fonts in the Shopify theme editor. Customization settings vary depending on the theme and templates. Explore editing options by taking these steps:

1. From your Shopify admin, go to Online Store > Themes.

2. Find the theme to edit and click on Customize.

3. Click the Home page drop-down menu, and then click Password.

To edit the sections on the password page:

1. Click the section you want to edit. Most themes allow editing of the header, content, construction template, and footer sections.

2. Make changes. For example, add your brand logo to the header, add an email sign-up banner and custom message, and add social media links to the footer.

3. Optionally, add other sections and blocks to your password page with further details.

4. Click Save.

How to set your online store to “under construction” with a plug-in

Another way to set up an Under Construction page is to use a WordPress plug-in or similar Shopify app from the Shopify App Store. Plug-ins handle the technical complexities, so you can design and activate the page without coding knowledge.

Here are the general steps for WordPress, a popular platform for these plug-ins:

1. Log in. Log in to your WordPress Admin Dashboard. Go to yourdomain.com/wp-admin.

2. Find a plug-in. Navigate to Plugins in the sidebar, click Add New. In the search bar, type the name of the under-construction template plug-in you’ve chosen. Some plug-ins call it a maintenance mode page.

3. Install the plug-in. Locate the plug-in in the search results, click Install Now, then Activate.

You can tweak settings under the Settings menu (or a new dedicated menu for the plug-in in your WordPress sidebar). Exact settings will vary by plug-in, but generally, you will follow these steps:

1. Enable under construction or maintenance page mode. Look for a toggle or status option to turn on the mode.

2. Design your page. Choose one of the construction website templates and then customize the content. Edit the headline, subheading, and body text to clearly communicate that your site is under construction and why.

3. Upload assets. Upload your logo and select brand colors and fonts. Include key elements like a countdown timer, email sign-up form, social media links, and contact information.

4. Optional exceptions. You might want to exclude some users (e.g., administrators, editors) from seeing the Under Construction page, so your team can still access and work on the live site while visitors see the temporary page.

4. Manage SEO settings. Configure the SEO title, meta description, and keywords for your Under Construction page. Make sure the plug-in sends the correct HTTP status code (a 503 Service Unavailable for maintenance mode), which tells search engines to check back later, without harming your search results rankings.

5. Integrate with email marketing. Some plug-ins can integrate with email marketing services (like Mailchimp and ConvertKit) that make it easy to add new sign-ups to your lists.

6. Preview and publish. Use the plug-in’s preview feature to see how your page will look to visitors on different devices (desktop, tablet, mobile). Once you’re satisfied, save your changes and activate them. 

How to make your website accessible again

When you’re ready to bring the website back online, if you used the built-in password protection setting on Shopify, simply go back to the same section and uncheck the Restrict Access box, then save the change.

For plug-ins, you can go back into the plug-in settings and toggle the status to off or deactivated. Your full website will then become visible to the public once again.

What to include in a website Under Construction page

• Catchy headline and explanatory copy
• Expected launch date or progress
• Engaging visuals
• Clear calls to action (CTAs)
• SEO keyword
• Contact information
• Social media links

Here’s what to include on your Under Construction page:

Catchy headline and explanatory copy

Write a user-friendly message telling visitors the site is temporarily unavailable or being built. Keep a positive tone and briefly explain why the site is under construction. Visitors appreciate being in the loop. Answer important questions like:

• Why is the site closed?

• When will it open?

• Can I go elsewhere to do business with you?

• How can I contact you?

Baking a Difference is an example of how an Under Construction page can demonstrate care for the audience. It tells visitors that the store is being built and that it’s delayed due to a technical issue, and it gives a target date for reopening to set expectations. It also adds a logo to reinforce the brand and invites visitors to sign up for an email notification list. Social icons are in the footer at the bottom of the page. This simple, direct, informative page takes the mystery out of being offline.

Expected launch date or progress

Whenever possible, add a timeline for when your store will be fully operational. It could be a specific date, an estimated date, or a progress bar. This tells visitors to stay tuned and gives them a reason to return. If users encounter a blank page, they won’t know why the site is unavailable. The vast blankness is a missed opportunity to inform and engage visitors.

For example, this password-protected page uses a logo and a colorful background, but there’s nothing to explain why the site is down or under construction, or when it’s coming back. This is likely to cause confusion.

Compare it to the GRIM goth jewelry retailer’s Under Construction page. We get some information (site is opening soon), and in the header, more context (the site is being tested) along with the “Enter using password” link in the top right corner. Although it offers no timeline, at least the visitor has an inkling of what is going on behind the curtain. And the social icon in the footer gives them another way to keep track.

Engaging visuals

Even a temporary page should be professional. Use high-quality images, your logo, and an appealing background image or color that reflects your brand’s aesthetic. Nothing screams amateur more than a generic Under Construction page—or worse, nothing at all. Customers and search engines might assume the site is gone for good.

The Moonless clothing store Under Construction page includes brand colors, the store logo, a product image carousel, and an email sign-up option. Notice how the release date is prominently displayed, which sets clear expectations.

Clear calls to action (CTAs)

Guide visitors toward what to do next by adding a call-to-action button. Offer options like an email sign-up and social media follow links to hold visitors’ interest and capture leads.

At BYTAVI, a fair-trade fashion store, we see custom messaging on the Under Construction page, telling visitors the site is opening soon with a CTA email sign-up button. Links to Facebook and Instagram appear in the footer, so interested customers can follow you and stay engaged. The font and background colors add a customized branding touch.

SEO keywords

When your site is offline, you need to keep search engine optimization (SEO) on life support. Don’t let your search engine ranking falter. To maintain active SEO, add relevant keywords in the Under Construction page’s title, meta description, and body copy messaging. This gives search engines something to crawl, communicating that your site has a pulse, although it is temporarily offline.

If you’re using a plug-in to handle under-construction mode, test that your page sends an HTTP 503 Service Unavailable status code to search engines. This tells them the site is temporarily down for maintenance, preserving your SEO ranking. If you’re using Shopify, this will happen automatically.

Contact information

Add relevant contact info to make it easy for potential customers and partners to reach you for urgent inquiries. You can include an email address, phone number, or a simple email contact form—everything you would include on your Contact Us page.

For example, the athleisure clothing retailer Athleia House of Versatile has an Under Construction page that includes a positive message in the header, along with the brand logo. Front and center is a simple contact form, and several social icons in the footer. Visitors coming here will be well aware that the site is being built, to be unveiled in the near future.

Social media links

Add links to your social media profiles on Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, etc. These give customers an alternative channel to engage with your brand until the site comes back online. In your social media feeds, you can add web status updates and respond to inquiries.