been perusing the web a bunch lately (whatever) and it must be "web makeover season". i'd probably say 10% of the websites i've visited in recent days have had some component of their site that is "coming soon".the whole concept of coming soon in this day and age is an interesting one. it still works for movies...sorta. if it's a blockbuster with cult following or about 1-2 prior to release "coming soon" might seem relevant to most folks. it also might work for construction projects - think "new gap store in the mall - coming soon" - although that works as more of a physical placeholder than a hype generator. but on the web, "coming soon" simply doesn't work or make sense.
of course, i understand... when you're redesigning your website with all the coolest features and bling, you want to tell the world about it. it's exciting. but there in you forget: the web is all about immediate access to information. i don't care about the information you're going to have 2 weeks from now... if it's not up now it's not worth it to tell me it will be there in 2 weeks. and why, if you have an existing website that you're redesigning, would you ever take down the existing website and replace it with a "coming soon" sign? it doesn't take much to update specific content information on the web and quite frankly i go to very few websites for their design. where the web is all about instant access, there's no hype generated, or any other benefit for that matter, in telling your consumer that the information they are seeking now is "coming soon".
