As business owners, the realisation that you need a new CMS doesn’t happen overnight. Businesses make the switch because - one, they are either already using the deadly combination of Wordpress and HubSpot, and realise that they are missing out on massive opportunities, or two, they are struggling with the headache of keeping their website ad and spam free all the time.
This is a very common scenario where the marketing teams are using HubSpot for CRM and campaigns while the website runs on WordPress. The reason - “Well that’s how it has always been”. The result? Development bottlenecks, missed opportunities, a website full of fishy ads, disconnected tools, and more.
If you are perfectly okay with your website becoming a launchpad for spammy ads for weight loss pills or some fishy marital ad, then this blog is not for you. But if you would rather prefer to keep your site squeaky clean and far from sketchy affiliate links, then put on your seat belts as this article is about to get real.
Over the last few years, expectations of both the customers and subsequently that of the business owners have evolved. Where once a website’s job was to publish content and collect leads, business owners now expect it to:
Deliver personalized content to its users, based on their preferences. Provide accurate and real-time contact and behavioral data. Offer consistent omnichannel experiences to the users. Be fast, secure, and compliant without the need for constant updates. Keep developer bottlenecks to a minimum.
While the expectations of business owners and users keep on evolving, the features offered by WordPress setups often failed to stand up to these expectations. HubSpot CMS on the other hand is a modern platform that was designed keeping in mind the rising expectations. Where WordPress relies on a patchwork of plugins, third-party integrations, and custom glue code, HubSpot offers everything inhouse.
Unless you are a die hard fan of using WordPress, and don’t want to leave the familiarity of WordPress behind, you would be glad to know that HubSpot CMS offers a streamlined, integrated solution that’s built with marketing and growth in mind. Both the platforms approach website building and management from very different angles, giving users a plethora of features to choose from.
Here are some of the key differences that are influencing businesses to make the switch to HubSpot CMS:
WordPress is one of the most popular CMS around, and its popularity also makes it a target for hackers. This CMS relies heavily on third-party plugins and themes which make its overall structure vulnerable to attacks. While the platform does provide regular updates to enhance security, it requires regular monitoring, and maintenance becomes a chore rather than a once in a while activity.
HubSpot CMS on the other hand is a hosted platform where security patches, server hardening, and CDN protection are all taken care of by HubSpot. This translates to fewer emergencies and reduced maintenance costs, making it perfect for teams with limited dev-ops resources.
WordPress was initially a blogging platform and it acts like one at its heart. If you want to do more than blogging, like lead scoring, email campaign, dynamic content, etc, then you would have to install the required plugins. The problem is, each new plugin you install causes the system to be more cumbersome, complicated, and difficult to maintain.
HubSpot CMS, however, has been marketing-oriented since its inception. You have in-built SEO, lead, email marketing, CRM, A/B testing, analytics, and personalization tools all under the same roof.
With HubSpot, everything fits together perfectly. There is no need to compare tools or export CSV files to sync leads. You get a site that is integrated into a fully functioning growth engine, rather than a set of stagnant pages.
Let's face it. WordPress may rapidly turn into a playground for developers. A small design tweak can also require a developer who understands his/her way around PHP or bespoke themes.
HubSpot CMS, on the contrary, was designed to give marketers as much power as developers. The drag and drop editor, customizable themes, and reusable modules ensure that marketing teams do not need to wait on a code development queue to update pages, forms and CTAs.
This does not mean that developers should be excluded. As a matter of fact, the developer tools of HubSpot are very strong - they provide HubL, React, APIs, and custom modules. The distinction is that developers do not have to work on routine maintenance or bug fixing because they are able to work on strategic tasks.
Web site speed directly affects the conversion rates, user experience and SEO. The way WordPress performs is greatly dependent on your hosting provider, caching configuration and the amount of plugins you deal with. An un-optimized web site is likely to slow-down fast, particularly when you use shared hosting.
HubSpot CMS performs automatically. All sites use HubSpot CDN spread worldwide with integrated caching, image optimization and a secure socket layer. The pages are also faster to load, regardless of the location of your visitors.
You can feel the pain once you have attempted to connect WordPress to analytics and CRM tools. Google analytics, Hotjar, HubSpot plug-in, Tag Manager, etc., and yet you are left with piece meal information.
HubSpot CMS does away with that issue. It is already integrated with the HubSpot CRM. Each time a page is visited, form is filled out or a CTA is clicked, it will automatically be added to your contacts. The entire customer journey can be viewed on a single dashboard - starting with the initial visit, up to the final interaction.
Large organizations grow so large that they outgrow their WordPress platforms. One more page, one more (or several) plugin, one more (or more) integration, and then, the system, which appeared to be working so well previously, starts cracking.
HubSpot CMS is scalable. You can do all of this in one platform whether it is to add new products, open new locations or even to have different brands. HubSpot allows scaling without any hassle because it provides the support of multiple languages, adaptive testing, and smart content.
Moreover, it does not affect performance as you augment your traffic. It features a cloud infrastructure, which can be scaled to enterprise-like loads without being configured manually.
WordPress support is a community based one. It is perfect for the open-source lovers, but when your website goes dead right when you are about to roll out a campaign, you can not rely on a message board posting to help you.
HubSpot on the other hand offers 24/7 support for documentation and onboarding. So you can literally get human help, not a list of possible solutions on Reddit, be it a technical problem or just help configuring a workflow.
This support system is adequate to justify the transition for businesses in which uptime and reliability count.
The large collection of themes is one of the reasons why many businesses are reluctant to abandon WordPress. Still, with that flexibility there is usually cost in speed and security. The themes may be vulnerable to free or cheap, and the development time is needed to customize premium ones.
This is not the case with the HubSpot CMS design ecosystem. You receive a library of high-performing and user-friendly professional themes and templates. Everything is also modular, which allows you to be able to customize the design without destroying it. Certainly, marketers can drag, drop, and publish pages without doubts that all the changes will be consistent with the design system of the brand. No fractured designs, no CSS nightmares, no inconsistent user experience.
At the core of it, the largest distinction between HubSpot CMS and WordPress is not only in functionality but also in philosophy.
WordPress is created on the basis of content management. HubSpot CMS is constructed on growth.
HubSpot transforms your site into the heart of marketing where all interactions are captured as data to your CRM and used to personalize, automate, and scale. The site will not only be a marketing tool but will be an extension of your sales funnel.
Through HubSpot CMS, combined with HubSpot CRM, Marketing Hub, and Operations Hub, you have an ecosystem that is able to manage everything, including the performance of your website, the lifecycle of customers, and does not require any external tools to connect it all together.
Migration may be a scary term but HubSpot has simplified the process to a remarkably easy one. Certified HubSpot Certified HubSpot CMS developer is able to migrate your WordPress site, re-create templates, import content, and create redirects with the least downtime.
What you end up with is a more integrated, faster, and cleaner site that works to the benefit of your marketing team, as opposed to working against it.
According to most businesses that do the move, they characterize it as a one-time initiative of long-term peace of mind. After using HubSpot CMS, it is impossible to go back.
WordPress was the king of the CMS world, and deserved to be so. It is adaptable, comfortable and free to begin with. However, the digital world has gotten altered and so have business expectations.
The current websites are not merely publications of blogs. They are regarding the customization of experiences, smart lead capture, and the unification of all with the help of marketing and sales.
HubSpot CMS is a future-proofed option - one that makes it easier to manage your websites and maximize your marketing performance and maintain your entire digital ecosystem in a single roof.
However, businesses are not abandoning WordPress at the end of the day since it is bad. They are shifting since HubSpot CMS just has a better sense in the world where marketing, data, and growth are more interlinked.