Set up a waitlist landing page

What to do

1. Pick a tool you can ship with today. Do not build a custom site. Common choices:
   • Carrd for a simple one-page site, Framer or Webflow if you want more design control.
   • Tally or a form from your email tool for the signup form.
   • Loops, Buttondown, Kit (ConvertKit), MailerLite or Beehiiv to store emails and send updates. Any combination works. What matters is that signups land in a tool you can email from.
2. Write a headline that names the user and the problem. “Invoicing for freelance translators” beats “The future of billing”. Use the words people used in your interviews and the phrases from your search research. A good test: a stranger should know in five seconds whether it is for them.
3. Add three short lines and one visual. One line on the pain, one on what the product will do, one on what makes it different. Add a screenshot, a Figma mockup, or a short screen recording. A rough real screen beats a stock illustration.
4. Ask only for an email address. Every extra field lowers signups. Put the form above the fold and again at the bottom. The button should say what happens: “Get early access”, not “Submit”.
5. Ask one question right after signup. Show it on the thank-you page or in a Tally follow-up, and make it optional. Good ones:
   • “What do you use for this today?”
   • “What is the most annoying part of [task]?”
   • “What is your role?” The answers tell you who signed up and which people to talk to first.
6. Send a confirmation email from your real address that asks for a reply. Sign it with your name. End with one question such as “What made you sign up?” Replies to this email are often the start of your first user conversations, and they help your later emails reach the inbox instead of spam. Never use a no-reply address.
7. Add basic tracking. A privacy-friendly analytics tool (Plausible, Fathom, Umami, or your builder’s built-in stats) is enough. Tag the links you share with ?ref=reddit, ?ref=x and so on, so you know which places bring signups.
8. Put the link everywhere you already are. Your X and LinkedIn bio, pinned post, email signature, GitHub profile, and every post or comment where the project comes up naturally. Submit it to pre-launch directories.
9. Email the list every two to four weeks with real progress. A screenshot, what you learned, what is next, and one question. Short, plain-text emails from you work better than designed newsletters.

Confirmation email template

Subject: You’re on the list for [product]

Hi, I’m [name], and I’m building [product] because [one-line reason].

I’ll email you every few weeks with progress, and you’ll get access before the public launch, around [month].

Quick question: what made you sign up? Just hit reply. I read every answer.

[name]

Why it works

The page turns interest from posts and conversations into a list you own. The signup question tells you who the people are, and replies to a personal confirmation email start real conversations with people who already raised their hand. When you are ready to launch, you have people to email instead of starting from zero.

How it gets users

The page brings almost no traffic on its own. Signups come from wherever you share it. A page shared in a few relevant communities and posts commonly collects tens of signups in the first weeks, sometimes a few hundred, rarely thousands. Expect a small share of the list to reply to the confirmation email. Part of the list will have lost interest by launch; regular updates reduce that. Of those still engaged, many will try the product in the first week of access.

Common mistakes

• Describing features instead of the problem.
• Asking for name, company and role on the first form.
• Spending a week on design instead of shipping the page in a day.
• Collecting emails and not writing to anyone until launch.
• Sending from a no-reply address, so people cannot answer.
• Not tracking where signups come from, so you do not know where to post more.