Ask HN: review my app for instant "coming soon" pages

Hi everyone!

I'm working on http://soonhere.com. The idea is to provide the simplest possible way for a startup or a web developer to get a temporary "coming soon" page.

I'd really appreciate any thoughts you might have. In particular:

* Is there anything that's not obvious about how the site works? Anything needs explaining, perhaps in some kind of contextual help?

* I'll be introducing a PRO plus plan soon, with more features and higher limits; are there any features in particular you suggest adding?

And the mother of all questions:

What do YOU need from your "coming soon" page? What features would make you pay for it?

It's not a bad idea but your own front page has way too much information on it. What are we supposed to read first? Have a look through the hn archives for gradual signup patterns. Look at the front pages of some really successful sites and you'll see there's usually just a single call to action. You might also want to switch to a front-page layout that's similar to the kind already widely in use. It's not just that it's good in itself - it's that because many other sites use it, it's clear how to read it: demo video / call to action / bullet point info at the top, more info lower down and below the fold.

This is all totally separate from how well your own service works, but it's just as important, because if you don't get your own front page right it doesn't matter how well your service works.

Oh, and I have a bunch of parked domains, so it's a worthwhile idea.

I was looking for an example of the service, so I was looking for demo or example or tour - I didn't realize the 'Live Preview' link is clickable. Could just be me but I think it should be displayed more prominently and visually look more clickable and perhaps label it better.

And your site should be at least as snazzy as the coming soon page to set a good example - much of the value of your service is in its looks, I'd think.

Great idea with a lot of potential.

I'd strongly consider a complete from-the-ground up rethink of the new-user flow. This may sound harsh, but I'd argue that as the site exists now there is no clear new-user flow. There's no concise path through what's being presented.

If you're stuck, a good exercise is to go grab 5 people and show them the site. Don't explain anything. See what they do. See if they get it. See if they interact with it the way you expect a new, fresh potential user to. (In effect this is what you did by posting to HN, and we're probably a big chunk of your target.)

To be honest, I didn't even try the service because I'm not sure what to do/click:

1. There's no clear call to action other than the red "create your page now" button, which I'm not going to click if it requires an email address/website, when I don't understand what I'm signing up for yet. "View a sample page", "see demo", might be better.

2. The most prominent thing that jumps off the page visually is "$9/mo". I think I understand that you're selling a value-added service (which is good), but why don't you hook me on trying the service for free, or pitch me a great demo before showing me dollar signs? Seeing the value-added pitch at the top and in prominent color, before I understand the service is a clear path to my browser's back button.

3. "try it free for a few days with no obligation" isn't comforting. What happens after a few days? Is the basic "here's a pretty landing page for your soon-to-be-built site" a free service indefinitely? It's just not clear.

It's as if you need to step back and consider what one simple goal is most important to you for a new user landing on this site, and then strip away everything that doesn't directly support that. To paraphrase some quote: "perfection isn't achieved by adding, it's achieved when there's nothing left to take away."

I hope the comments here will prove helpful (and not too harsh), and again, great idea. Good luck with it.