How I Set Up a WordPress Under Construction Page (Free or Pro) 

When I needed to put my WordPress site on hold during a redesign, I created a WordPress under construction page to keep things looking professional and collect email leads in the meantime. You can do the same in about 10 minutes, for free.

In this guide, I’ll walk you through how I build a custom under construction page without touching a single line of code, starting with the free route.

What Is a WordPress Under Construction Page?

A WordPress under construction page is a temporary page that hides your unfinished site and shows visitors a friendly message while you build. It keeps people from landing on a half-finished or broken design that could hurt your reputation.

It also does more than hide the mess. You can use it to build anticipation, share a launch date, and grow your email list before you go live.

If you’re weighing this against shutting the whole site down, an under construction page and maintenance mode serve slightly different jobs, which matters for SEO. More on that below.

What to Put on a WordPress Under Construction Page

Before you build, it helps to know what a good under construction page actually needs. These are the elements I include every time.

• A clear message: Tell visitors the site is being built and when to come back.
• A launch date or countdown timer: A ticking clock builds anticipation and gives people a reason to return.
• An email opt-in form: The single most valuable thing you can add, so early interest turns into a list you own.
• Social icons: Let people follow you somewhere active while the site is down.
• On-brand design: Match your colors, fonts, and logo so the page still feels like you.

Is an Under Construction Page Bad for SEO?

No, not when you set it up correctly. A coming soon or under construction page that stays up for a while serves a normal HTTP 200 response, so search engines can still index a real placeholder page and find your site.

Short, planned downtime is different. For that, Google recommends serving an HTTP 503 (Service Unavailable) with a Retry-After header, which tells search engines the outage is temporary and when to come back (Google Search Central).

In plain terms: use coming soon or under construction mode for a longer build, and reserve maintenance mode for brief work. A plugin handles the right response for you, which is one less thing to get wrong.

How to Create an Under Construction Page in WordPress

To put an under construction page on your site, I use the SeedProd plugin. Before we start, here’s the short version of why.

SeedProd is a drag-and-drop website builder that lets you create custom WordPress themes and landing pages without code. With whitelisted user roles, you can limit access to your website and decide who sees the live site versus the under construction screen.

Building a coming soon or maintenance mode page is quick, and you won’t need a developer. You drag blocks like email opt-in forms, social icons, and countdown timers onto the page and see every change in real time.

The free version genuinely handles coming soon, maintenance, and under construction pages, which is its strongest use case. You only need Pro for advanced access controls and full theme building, so it’s an upgrade, not a requirement for this task.

Let’s use this plugin to create a WordPress under construction page.

Video Tutorial

Step 1: Get Started by Downloading SeedProd

The first step is to install SeedProd. For an under construction page, the free version is all you need.

To get it, go to Plugins » Add New in your WordPress dashboard, search for “SeedProd,” then install and activate the free plugin. That’s enough to follow this whole guide.

If you already own a paid license and want the Pro features, the method is slightly different. Log in to your SeedProd dashboard and click View License Key, Details, and Downloads to reach your downloads page.

Click the Download Landing Page Pro button to save the ZIP file.

Then go to Plugins » Add New » Upload Plugin, upload the ZIP, and click Activate.

For Pro, paste your license key into the field and click Verify Key. You’ll find the key in your account email or under the SeedProd Settings menu.

Once you’re set up, scroll down and click Create Your First Page to reach the SeedProd dashboard.

Step 2: Create an Under Construction Page

On the SeedProd dashboard, you’ll see 4 modes at the top:

• Coming Soon Mode: Adds a coming soon page to your website.
• Maintenance Mode: Puts your website into maintenance mode.
• 404 Page: Displays a 404 landing page on your website.
• Login: Creates a custom WordPress login page.

These modes mean you won’t need a separate under construction plugin or maintenance mode plugin.

Coming soon mode is the right pick for a site that isn’t live yet, since it serves an indexable HTTP 200 page. Maintenance mode is for an established site that’s temporarily offline.

So, to create an under construction page, click the Set up a Coming Soon Page button. Then choose a coming soon page template.

Select any template you like, or pick the blank template to start from scratch. SeedProd then opens its visual drag-and-drop builder.

Step 3: Add Content to Your Under Construction Page

Now you can add content with the drag-and-drop builder. On the left are the content blocks; on the right is a live preview of your page.

The blocks come in two groups. Standard blocks cover the basics:

• Headline, Text, and List
• Button, Image, and Video
• Divider, Spacer, and Column

Advanced blocks are more focused on lead generation, including the Giveaway block, opt-in forms, contact forms, countdown timers, social media icons, and testimonials.

The countdown timer is the one I’d add first. A visible launch date builds anticipation and gives visitors a reason to come back, so drag the countdown timer block onto the page.

Each block has style options. Click the block, open the Templates tab on the left, and pick a style with the outline, gradient, or colors you want.

You can also edit the text, size, and alignment, and the Advanced tab controls color, typography, and spacing.

The Sections tab adds pre-made layouts, like a Header, Hero, Call to Action, or FAQ section.

Click any section to add it. In the example below, I added an FAQ section, which is a handy way to answer questions visitors may have about your business.

Click the green Save button in the top-right corner to save your progress. Once the content is in place, you can style everything to fit your brand.

Step 4: Customize Your Under Construction Page

To match your brand, click the gear icon in the bottom-left corner to open Global Settings. From here you can set the global font, colors, background image, and custom CSS.

To change the background, click Background to set the image, style, position, and color. You can even use a video background.

Under Background Image, click the circular photo icon to choose an image from your media library or upload a new one.

To adjust colors, click the Colors tab. You can change the headers, text, buttons, links, and backgrounds individually.

Or use one of SeedProd’s 20 pre-made color palettes to give the page a professional look instantly.

Hit Save as you go. Once you’re happy with the design, move on to the next step.

Step 5: Integrate Your Email Marketing Service

This is the step that turns pre-launch curiosity into something you keep. Connecting an email service means every visitor who signs up becomes part of a list you own, ready for launch day.

SeedProd integrates with the popular email marketing services and autoresponders, including:

• Drip and Constant Contact
• Mailchimp, AWeber, and ConvertKit
• GetResponse, Mad Mimi, and more

First, go to the Connect tab at the top of the screen.

Find your service in the list and click Connect New Account.

Then follow the prompts to connect and verify your account. For provider-specific steps, see the SeedProd integration documentation.

You can also connect Zapier, Google Analytics, and reCAPTCHA on the Connect page.

Step 6: Configure Your Page Settings

Next, click the Page Settings tab at the top of the screen. Here you set the general settings like page title and URL.

You can also edit your SEO and analytics settings and your user roles. This is where access control comes in: whitelist a role like Administrator, and logged-in admins see the live site while every other visitor sees the under construction page.

When your settings are done, click the save changes button.

Step 7: Publish Your Under Construction Page

Now it’s time to make your page live. Before you do, preview how it looks on both mobile and desktop so it works on every device.

Click the Preview icon at the bottom of the screen to see the mobile view.

Click the icon again to switch back to desktop, or use the eye icon to open a full live preview in a new tab.

When you’re happy, click the arrow under the Save button and click Publish. You’ll see a success message confirming the page is live.

Click See Live Page to view your finished under construction page.

That’s it. You now have a user-friendly WordPress under construction page that hides your site, collects leads, and builds excitement, all without code.

WordPress Under Construction Page FAQ

How do I put my WordPress site under construction without a plugin?

You can drop a .maintenance file into your site’s root directory, or add a custom snippet to your theme’s functions.php file that hooks into wp_loaded to show a message. Both approaches require editing core files over FTP or in a code editor.

For most people a plugin is the easier route. It gives you a designed page, an email opt-in form, and access controls without touching any code, and it’s harder to break.

Is an under construction page bad for SEO?

No, not when it’s set up correctly. A coming soon or under construction page serves a normal HTTP 200 response, so search engines can index a real placeholder while your site is built.

For brief, planned downtime, Google recommends a temporary HTTP 503 with a Retry-After header so crawlers know to come back. A plugin like SeedProd handles the correct response for you.

What’s the difference between coming soon, maintenance mode, and under construction?

Coming soon and under construction pages are for a site that isn’t live yet, and they serve an indexable HTTP 200 page. Maintenance mode is for an established site that’s temporarily offline for short work.

In practice “under construction” is just a friendlier label for a coming soon page. The functional difference that matters is coming soon versus maintenance mode, because of the HTTP status each one serves.

Can I show the under construction page to visitors but still see the live site myself?

Yes. SeedProd’s access controls let you whitelist user roles, so logged-in admins see the full live site while everyone else sees the under construction page.

That lets you keep building and testing against the real site without exposing the work in progress to visitors.

How do I hide my WordPress site from the public?

Follow this step-by-step guide on how to hide your WordPress site until it’s ready. It walks through limiting access so only the people you choose can see the site.

Can I use an under construction page to collect email leads?

Yes. With a tool like SeedProd, you can add email opt-in forms to your under construction page to grow your list before launch.

That keeps you connected with early visitors and builds momentum for launch day.

Build Your Under Construction Page Today

That redesign you’re hiding doesn’t have to mean a dead site in the meantime. You can put up a custom under construction page right now, capture leads while you build, and launch to people who are already waiting.

Get started with SeedProd today, or read up on how to market your website before launch.

Thanks for reading! We’d love to hear your thoughts, so please feel free to join the conversation on YouTube, X and Facebook for more helpful advice and content to grow your business.