If you’re crowdfunding a new product, when is the right time to launch its dedicated website?

Most successful campaigners do so weeks or months before their campaign ever begins.

The reason lies in pre-launch marketing, an increasingly important tactic for any crowdfunder. Essentially, backers, journalists, and potential retail partners are all more likely to pay attention to campaigns with strong momentum in their first few days. And the best way to create this early momentum is building a community of potential backers well in advance.

This is where your website comes in. Much of pre-launch marketing focuses on collecting contact information from potential backers, and a website is an ideal place to show off your prototype, collect emails, and run referral campaigns or other promotions. A website can also help you establish your brand, and earn the basic gut-level trust that comes from being able to find a product or business online.

That’s why we’re excited to announce that we’ve teamed up with Weebly, an entrepreneur-focused web design and e-commerce platform offered by Square, to help Indiegogo campaigners create polished, eye-catching websites quickly and easily.

We’ve been working with the Weebly team to identify the tools and resources that will help crowdfunders the most. We’re thrilled to make those tools available to Indiegogo campaigners now–including a special 50 percent discount on their first Weebly purchase.

With this discount, you can:

• Choose from hundreds of customizable website templates. If you’re new to web design, just drag and drop in your pictures, images, and copy, and you’re good to go. If you’re more experienced, you can add more advanced features to make your design really sing.
• Use digital marketing and analytics tools to attract visitors to your site and understand how they’re behaving. Email, SEO, and domain name registration tools help you establish your brand and capture interest from potential backers.
• Launch an e-commerce store when your campaign is over and your products are ready to sell online. Thanks to Weebly’s integration with Square Payments, your store can accept every form of payment quickly, painlessly, and securely.

“Indiegogo entrepreneurs leverage our platform to reach their very first consumers and ultimately launch their products,” Indiegogo CEO David Mandelbrot said of the new relationship. “We’re thrilled to now offer the fantastic benefits of Weebly’s services to provide entrepreneurs access to best-in-class resources and support both before and after their campaign ends.”

Visit our Indiegogo + Weebly page to learn more and start building your own site. Good luck with your campaign planning, and happy building!