Coming-soon and page-not-found pages, and redirects
Write your own page-not-found message, with a search box and a way home. Send old addresses to new ones so links keep working after a rename or a move. A site that is not published, or was taken off the internet, shows a Coming soon page.
PLANSEvery plan
The problem it solves
- You move from your old website and every Google result and printed QR code now leads to an error.
- A visitor mistypes an address and gets a blank technical error page, so they leave.
- Renaming a page breaks the links people saved and shared on WhatsApp.
- The site needs to come down for a week, and you do not want visitors to see a broken page.
How it works
- Open the editor's Site tab > Page not found. Type the title and text visitors see when an address does not exist.
- Open Redirects and type one line per address: old address | new address, for example /old-menu | /menu.
- Publish. Visitors and search engines that ask for the old address are sent to the new one.
- To take the site down for a while, a Website Manager uses Unpublish in the back office. Visitors see Coming soon until you publish again.
Everything it does
Page not found
- Your own title and text; without them: This page is not here, and It may have moved. Try the search, or start from the home page
- A search box over your site and a button to the home page
- The page uses your site's header, footer, colours and fonts
- It answers as a real not-found page, so search engines drop the wrong address
- Also shown for a blog post, collection item or product address that does not exist
Redirects
- One line each: old address | new address
- The new address can be a page of your site (starting with /) or a full web address (starting with http:// or https://)
- Permanent redirects, so search engines move the old address's standing to the new one
- A redirect wins over a page at the same old address
- Up to 500 lines
Coming soon
- Shown when a site has not been published yet, or was taken off the internet with Unpublish
- A fixed message: Coming soon, This site is being built. Please check back shortly
- Publishing again brings the site back at the same address
- An address not connected to any site shows Nothing here yet
Who uses it
Website EditorWrites the page-not-found text and keeps the redirect list.
Website ManagerPublishes, and unpublishes the site when it should show Coming soon.
VisitorLands on the right page from an old link, or finds their way from the not-found page.
Where you use it
- Web: the editor's Site tab > Page not found and Redirects
- Web: Websites > Sites > the site > Unpublish
- Not built: your own design or words for the Coming soon page; it is a fixed message in your site's colours
What you control
Settings
- Page not found title and text: the default words until you type your own
- Redirects: none to start with
Questions
We are moving from an old website. How do we keep our Google results?
List each old address with its new one under Redirects, for example /contact-us.html | /contact. Visitors and search engines are sent on permanently.Can one line redirect a whole folder?
No. Each line matches one exact old address. List each address you want to keep.Can I design my own Coming soon page?
Not yet. The Coming soon page is a fixed message. To show your own words before launch, publish a one-page site with your message and add the other pages later.Can a redirect send visitors to another website?
Yes. Use a full address starting with https:// as the new address.Related features
BUILDING THE SITEPages, publishing later, versions and password pagesAdd pages and set who can open each one: everyone, only with the link, with a password, or members only. Publish now or at a set time. Every publish is kept as a numbered version you can bring back, and a secret test link shows your changes before they go live.BUILDING THE SITEYour own domain with HTTPS, or a free SmartMy addressEvery site is online at once on a free SmartMy address. When you have your own domain, add it in the editor. SmartMy shows the two records to add, checks them every hour, and serves the site over HTTPS. Visitors on your other addresses are sent to the main one.BUILDING THE SITESearch engine set-up done for youEvery page gets a title, a description, a share picture and the structured details Google reads. Empty ones are written from your own words. A sitemap, redirects and a Search and AI check come with it.BUILDING THE SITEPage check for speed and accessibilityOne button in the editor checks the open page for what makes it hard to use or slow. It scores the page out of 100 and says how to fix each point.BUILDING THE SITEDrag-and-drop editor: type on the page itselfYou change your website on the page as visitors will see it. Click a heading and type, drag sections into order, and pick layouts from live pictures with your own words. Everything saves by itself, and nothing goes live until a manager publishes.
See your business on a real design.
Tell us what you do and what the site needs to do: bring enquiries, take bookings, show your work or sell. We will start your site from the closest design with you.