When developing a local website, what is the best way to build a large userbase prior to launch?

Do a press release and send it to all the local media. Tease a little bit about what the site entails. make the start date and time a focal point.

Create a Facebook account. If your budget allows, you could offer something for early sign-ups. (Perhaps a coupon for a local restaurant or merchant.)

Set up a Twitter account and do tweets leading up to the launch.

Create a “coming soon” page then Facebook it and Twitter it. Also, on the page make a sign-up form for people to be informed via email when the site goes live.

There are a few personalities that enjoy being one of the first to sign up for groups and clubs. These are the types you should initially design your site to appeal for. A preview signup form would help, and you may even consider opening a private beta to the first few users in order to seed the site with content.

How do you plan on doing UAT? Do you have a pilot group set up?

Press releases, social media, celebrity guests, fliers distributed in target neighborhoods. Invite people to preregister for User Acceptance Testing of Beta modules. Make it clear there is much more to come, and keep that as the secret teaser. In actual fact, you can probably test all modules by assigning each new registrant to a selected beta team, and having only certain modules tested by each team.

Ask us if we will take a look after you open it. I would love to see what you came up with.