So I applied for a small business loan and the loan officer just emailed asking for a link to my website. Problem is, the site is half done. I have a landing page and a contact form, but most product pages are just lorem ipsum and the 'About' page still has placeholder text from the template. What do I send them? I don't want to look like a total amateur, but I also don't want to look like I have something to hide by not sending anything.
Banking
A bank wants to see my website, but it's still under construction
Send it. Banks aren't expecting a finished ecommerce masterpiece. They want to see you exist online and that there's a real business behind the application. A half-built site is fine as long as it looks intentional, not broken.
Eh, I'd be careful. I once sent a 'coming soon' page to a lender and got a bunch of follow-up questions about timelines. It ended up delaying the whole thing by two weeks because they wanted proof the site would be live by disbursement.
Just password-protect the unfinished pages and give them the password. Then it looks like you're managing it, not just sloppy.
Honestly the password thing is overkill for a simple loan review. Most small business loan officers barely click past the homepage. They jpust need to check a box that says 'website verified'.
Yeah, I'm lenaing toward just sending the link with a short note that says the full catalog launches next month. Feels less sketchy than hiding it.
I work at a credit union (not a loan officer, just IT) and I can tell you that our lending team literally just wants to see that the domqin resolves and isn't a GoDaddy parking page. Half the applications we get have links to Facebook pages or nothing at all. You're already ahad.
Send them a PDF mockup of what the finished site will look like. That's what I did. Took screenshots of my Wix draft, put them in a one-pager, and the banker actually said it was smart. Made me look organized.
PDF mockup is a good idea but don't overthink. Bankers are not web designers. They won't know lorem ipsum from Spanish.
Until they hit the contact form and it's broken, theen you look like a scam. At least test the form before you send the link.
This. Just make sure the landing page loads fast, there's a real phone number or email, and nothing says 'under construction' with a little animated hard hat guy. That's the only thing that screams amateur.
Actually the animated hard hat guy is a nice touc. Shows character. But I'm weird.
Thanks all. Going to send the link with a note that it's a soft launch and ignore the 'under construction' banner entirely. Appreciate the sanity check.
Good luck! Post an update if they approve you, always curious how strict these banks actually Are.