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4 Comments

How do you launch MVP landing pages quickly?

I often have new ideas for which I want to set up a landing page quickly.

Usually, these are just static pages with an email newsletter box and Google Analytics for validation. Ideally, this should be a 3-step process:

  • Pick a name, buy domain
  • Design landing page
  • Launch

The reality though is quite different for me. Here are all the steps I usually take:

  • Pick a name, buy domain
  • Create a new free email account for said domain (so people can contact me @newdomainname)
  • Link domain to new email account, wait for DNS changes to propagate
  • Set up SPF+DKIM for the new email
  • Create a new project with a static site generator (I use Hugo)
  • Pick a Hugo template
  • Design the page/customize the template
  • Add simple Terms of Service/Privacy Policy
  • Set up a new Mailchimp free account with the new email from above
  • Link the domain with Mailchimp, set up SPF, DKIM
  • Create and integrate the Mailchimp signup form
  • Set up a new Google Analytics account with the new email address from above
  • Integrate Google Analytics
  • Set up a new Firebase hosting project
  • Link the new domain, wait for DNS to propagate
  • Deploy the static site to Firebase

The nice thing about this is that everything is free, except for the domain. But it does take a long time and a lot of steps, usually this takes me a few days. Another problem is that I often have to wait for DNS changes to propagate, so I often get blocked. Is there a faster way?

on September 19, 2019
  1. 3

    I would look at https://carrd.co/.

    If you plan on launching a SaaS landing page :), then I would

    • Pick a name, buy domain
    • Design the page/customize the website on Versoly, takes less than 30 minutes.
    • Create a form inside Versoly that collects emails
    • Set up a new Google Analytics account with the new email address from above
    • Integrate Google Analytics
    • Link the new domain to Versoly (takes less than a minute)

    We plan on adding analytics inside Versoly so in the future you can skip Google analytics as well.

    I also have way too many email address so I wouldn't set another up until later on.

    1. 1

      Hey, seems you edited your comment, but before, you were suggesting Versoly (you're the founder according to your profile). FYI, I actually tried to sign up for an account, but I just kept getting the same error: pq: value too long for type character varying(30). Might want to look into that.

      1. 1

        Interesting, we seem to have emails limited to 30 chars :)

        Thanks for the bug report.

        Will be fixed shortly.

    2. 1

      Thanks for your suggestion!