WordPress Website vs HubSpot - a tough CMS choice?

HubSpot has put a lot of time and effort into developing its content management system and is now a formidable competitor to WordPress. In this article, we compare WordPress and HubSpot. We also discuss the features you need as a sales organization to boost your ROI.

The natural origins of WordPress

WordPress has traditionally been the world's most popular content management system. It was originally developed for blogs; that hasn't changed much over time. And because WordPress has been around for so long, any self-respecting web developer is familiar with its use.

WordPress:

• Is an open source platform that requires installation and hosting.
  
• Needs plug-ins and licenses to extend functionality.
• Is not intuitive.
• Provides a blank page for developers to write custom code.

WordPress now has numerous competitors. They mainly focus on improving drag-and-drop features to make Web site design less technical. Yet most have very little functionality and integration options.

Design developed by HubSpot

HubSpot has a native CMS built to complement the entire HubSpot Marketing, Sales and Service suite. With that, it is also integrated. HubSpot has quickly become a serious competitor to WordPress. Because it is seamlessly integrated into the HubSpot platform, you can use it to connect your entire content strategy and customer journey, from blog to landing page to call-to-action to email. And all with an intuitive user interface.
HubSpot:

• Is SaaS, hosted in the cloud, with full 24/7 support.
• Is developed from the ground up and can be fully integrated with HubSpot CRM.
• Is a user-friendly extension of HubSpot Marketing user interface.
  
  

Comparison of (hidden) costs

WordPress sites are expensive to maintain. You have to buy, test and maintain plug-ins. Managing the site, hosting, installing updates and updating content requires a skilled development team.

With WordPress, almost everything requires a plug-in, from creating forms to sitemaps, SEO and A/B testing. Each plug-in must be purchased separately and renewed regularly, which quickly leaves you with unexpected costs. With HubSpot, all these features are native and their cost is included in your HubSpot license.

The advantages of HubSpot (SaaS) over WordPress are:

• Less maintenance, no unexpected downtime.
• No hosting agreements to sign.
• Less reliance on developers to maintain integrations.
• No technical updates or patches to install.
• Transparent, predictable costs.

SaaS is sexy

You sometimes hear that HubSpot CMS has design limitations, no authorization settings and security features, and that its Web pages load slowly. And maybe that was a bit true a few years ago. But definitely not anymore!

HubSpot features:

• A first-class team focused entirely on security, reliability and speed.
• A Global Content Delivery Network for fast page loading regardless of user location.
• Outstanding file management and technical support.
• Detailed authorization settings and content partitioning.
• User-friendly content features in multiple languages.
• Free SEO tools that can be integrated with Marketing Platform.

Marketing at the helm

Thanks to the user-friendly interface, marketing teams quickly learn how to create, test and deploy web pages. As a result, Marketing is no longer dependent on Project Management and IT to schedule, tune, develop and test new Web content. That gives Marketing more time to work closely with Sales to gain new insights and quickly create and replicate valuable content.

With HubSpot, you can:

• Create and deploy Web pages quickly, thanks to an intuitive user interface.
• Control your branding and design with templates and CSS styling.
• Put the customer experience at the center of the website, with custom content optimized for every touch point and context.
• Give your sales team complete visibility into each lead's website activity and insight into which content is responsible for conversion.
• Leverage over 800 built-in integrations, such as WooCommerce, Xero, SurveyMonkey and VidYard.
  
  

Build your dream team

Seeing your website as a flexible and dynamic platform is a radical shift. A platform where, led by the Sales & Marketing team, you can engage with your customer. A platform created specifically to drive sales. And not a rigid, branded, digital "shop window" under strict supervision of IT and web design. We will quite have to get used to that.

Perhaps changes in the set-up of the organization are needed. Sales and Marketing need to start seeing themselves as two sides of the same coin and work very closely together. IT and Design no longer determine what happens, but become supportive. And you may find that you need more copywriting talent. Most importantly, however, the organization needs to put the customer at the center of every decision - which is exactly where the customer belongs.