Launch while developing or when completely done?

[tkroll]

Is it better to launch a barebones site with minimal design as soon as it is ready or wait until full functionality and design is done?

Thanks

[2by4]

launch asap, link to it from an existing site asap, that will shorten the time it sits in the sandbox for google if it's a new domain.

[tkroll]

That is the way I'm thinking. Any downsides to this?

[Angelis]

Im waiting with my new site will its completly done, I have about 150 pages written already but there are large sections with nothing there.

Im going to wait till its done before launching, you can get an entire website spidered on the first day of it being live if you get some links in relevant places, perhaps you should get some links and continue to work on the site non live so you can get some interest before it goes up.

No sense rushing into anything if its not ready.

[meg8]

Would this be the best of both worlds?

Launch some completely finished pages and a page which details coming soon...

[tkroll]

That's a good one, actually. Put up the work-in-progress pages and an obvious disclaimer of 'COMING SOON'. Shoo away the humans; welcome mat for the rest.

I like it!

[meg8]

Or better yet, get the humans to bookmark you. Or better still have an online form or email link so that you can inform the humans when there is something nice to look at. If it was something I was really interested in, I'd go for it.

[mcgee]

Best to build as many pages as possible before submitting your site.

[BarryStCyr]

How do you know when a site is "Finished?"

[mcgee]

I agree, it's never finished! I just think that the site will offer more value if it's got plenty of relevant content when released.

[Harry]

Launching a new site with 150 pages in its first day and several links will automatically alert the search engines.

Better to build a complete Web site a few pages at at time. This is more natural and will not alert any robot if you get links by the time you reach 150 pages.

Plus longevity is a valued quality for a Web site.

[skizm]

Recently google submitted articles for the patent process on their algorithms. In these articles the clearly define that both your internal linking (all your pages on your site) and you external inbound linking (sites that link to you) should grow gradually, and not just all of a sudden pop up with a ton of stuff, this activity will be interpreted as methods of spamming and count against you for many months.

In short, build the foundation, and let them watch as you build your kingdom... ;)