A Squarespace coming soon page is a normal layout page with the header and footer switched off, set as the homepage, with every other page disabled so visitors cannot reach them. That is the whole recipe on 7.1, and it takes fifteen minutes: one section with a background image, a headline, one line of text, a newsletter block, and optionally a countdown. It is different from the built-in lock screen you get by making the site private, which shows a password box and nothing else; a coming soon page is public, collects emails, and can be indexed by Google so the domain starts earning trust before launch. Steps for 7.1 and 7.0 are below, then what the page should contain, the SEO settings that make a placeholder useful, and how to switch it off on launch day without leaving a 404 behind.
How do you make a Squarespace coming soon page on 7.1?
- In Pages, click + and add a Blank page. Name it “Coming Soon” and set the slug to
/coming-soon. - Click Edit, add one section with Add a blank section, and give it a background image or colour under the section’s Background and Colors tabs.
- Add blocks: a heading (the business name and a line on what is coming), one sentence of text, a Newsletter block or Form block for early access, and social links if you want them.
- Hover over the page title in Pages, click the settings cog, open Navigation, and switch off Show Header and Show Footer. Squarespace’s landing page guide confirms this option exists on blank and layout pages but not on collection pages.
- Drag the page into the Not Linked section so it never appears in the menu.
- In the page settings, click Set as Homepage.
- Disable every other page: hover over each in Pages, settings cog, toggle Enable page off (controlling who can access pages) (or move pages you are still building to Not Linked and set a page password on them). Disabled pages return “page not found” to visitors while you keep editing them.
- Save, then open the domain in a private window to check.
The site itself must be on a paid plan and set to Public for visitors to see the page; a trial site shows the lock screen regardless (Squarespace’s publish or hide guide covers the states). Hiding a Squarespace site while you work on it covers that private setting and when to use it instead of a coming soon page.
How do you make one on Squarespace 7.0?
Use a Cover page: Pages, +, Cover Page, pick a layout, add the headline, text and a newsletter or form action, then set it as the homepage and disable the other pages. Cover pages have no header or footer by design, which is what makes them the natural placeholder on 7.0. Some 7.0 templates also have a site-wide “under construction” lock screen under Design, Lock Screen, but that is the private-site screen, not a public page.
What should the coming soon page contain?
| Element | Why | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Business name and a one-line description | Google and visitors both need to know what the site will be | “Wedding florist in Bath, opening spring 2027” |
| Launch timing | Sets expectations; a countdown if the date is fixed | Use the free snippet from the countdown timer guide linked below |
| Email capture | The only asset a placeholder can build | Newsletter block connected to Mailchimp or Squarespace Campaigns; say what they get |
| One contact route | Enquiries arrive before launch; catch them | Email link or a short form |
| Social links | Where the story is being told meanwhile | Only profiles that are active |
| One image | Brand mood; keep it under 500 KB | A photo of the work or the space beats an abstract |
| Nothing else | A menu, three paragraphs or a gallery turns it into a bad home page |
If the launch date is fixed, the countdown timer guide has a snippet that drops into a Code block on this page.
What SEO settings should a coming soon page have?
- SEO title and description in the page’s SEO tab, with the business type and place: “[Name] | [Service] in [Town], launching [season]”. The domain begins accumulating age and a first ranking for the name while the real site is built.
- Keep it indexable. Do not hide it from search; a placeholder that Google can see is worth more than an invisible one. The exception is a rebrand you are not announcing yet.
- Connect Search Console now so the launch inherits history rather than starting cold; connecting Squarespace to Search Console takes ten minutes.
- Social sharing image set, so early shares of the domain look finished; the social sharing logo post covers the size.
- Keep the slug
/coming-soonrather than making the placeholder the actual home page’s future slug; on launch the real home page takes over the root and the placeholder is redirected.
How do you replace it on launch day?
- Enable the real pages and check each one in a private window.
- In Pages, set the real home page as the homepage.
- Disable or delete the coming soon page. If it collected any links or shares, add a URL Mapping:
/coming-soon -> / 301under Settings, Developer Tools, URL Mappings. - Keep the newsletter list; move the block to the footer so sign-ups continue.
- Submit the sitemap in Search Console and request indexing for the home page.
Coming soon page, private site or password page: which one?
| Option | Visitors see | Google sees | Use when |
|---|---|---|---|
| Coming soon page (this post) | A designed public page with email capture | The page; indexable | Launching a new business or domain |
| Private site (Site Availability) | Squarespace lock screen with a password box | Nothing | Building a site nobody should know about yet |
| Password-protected pages | Password prompt on chosen pages only | Nothing on those pages | Client review pages, unfinished sections on a live site |
| Trial site | Lock screen, always | Nothing | Before paying; cannot be public |
For a new business the first row is the right one almost every time, and it pairs with the extended trial question: the moment you want the public placeholder up is the moment to move from trial to a paid plan. Building the coming soon page is the first thing I do on a Squarespace project for a new brand, before any other page, because it costs an hour and buys weeks of domain age.
Frequently asked questions
Add a blank page, build one section with a headline, a line of text and a newsletter block, switch off the header and footer in the page’s Navigation settings, set it as the homepage, and disable all other pages so visitors cannot reach them.
Not a dedicated one. Any blank page with header and footer hidden works on 7.1; 7.0 uses a Cover page. Pre-built section layouts under Add Section give a starting design.
Disable each page in Pages (settings cog, Enable page off), or keep unfinished pages in Not Linked with a page password. Either way the coming soon page is the only thing a visitor can reach.
Yes, for a new business or domain. Set an SEO title and description naming the business, service and town, and connect Search Console, so the domain builds history before launch.
A coming soon page is a public page you design, with email capture, visible to Google. A private site shows only Squarespace’s password lock screen and is invisible to search. Use private when the project must stay hidden.
Enable the real pages, set the real home page as the homepage, disable or delete the placeholder, add a URL Mapping from /coming-soon to / if it was shared anywhere, move the newsletter block to the footer, and submit the sitemap.
