You’re looking for a content management system (CMS) for your website. You’ve considered your options, done your research, and decided that HubSpot’s the right choice.
Congratulations!
Now you’ve got another big decision to make: what’s the best route onto the platform?
The 3 routes to the HubSpot CMS
There are three main routes to the HubSpot CMS:
Finding the right approach for your business depends on a range of factors. So, let’s take a closer look at the pros and cons of each option.
Option 1: Use a template/theme from the HubSpot marketplace
Pros
The most cost-effective route is to choose a template or theme from the HubSpot Marketplace. HubSpot offers dozens of affordable, high-quality designs that look good and perform well.
HubSpot templates follow a modular design, so you can quickly and intuitively update every facet of your site. This includes:
- Text
- Images
- Smart components
A templated design also gives you access to the fast, reliable, and secure infrastructure that underpins the HubSpot CMS. This reduces the amount of day-to-day maintenance and management required to run your site.
Cons
While using a template might seem like the quickest route to HubSpot, it can be complex and time-consuming to get right.
From positioning, sizing, and cropping to styling, it takes time to adapt a stock theme to meet your needs and get the design to look exactly the way you want.
Templates also lack the individuality of a custom build. No matter how much you tweak the design, it’ll always retain some of the original aesthetic. And you can’t tailor the customer journey to your ideal buyers – which is why it’s so easy to spot template sites.
You can’t guarantee performance on a templated site. Although HubSpot templates are always well-coded, they aren’t designed with your business and content in mind. So, there’ll be some redundant code.
Choose this route if…
You’re an emerging brand or you’re building a website from scratch.
Option 2: Migrate your current website
Pros
Migration offers a quick, low-cost route to the HubSpot CMS. Depending on the complexity of your website design, it can take as little as two-six weeks to migrate your site.
HubSpot’s migration service faithfully recreates the design of your current website. It’s the ideal solution if you want to preserve the navigation and user experience of your current site and gain access to a platform that’s optimised for B2B demand generation. And, because the infrastructure’s already in place, there’s no extra maintenance or management to worry about.
Cons
It’s difficult to predict performance on migrated websites. Although the website looks and functions the same, it won’t necessarily perform as well as – let alone better than – the original. That said, migrated websites rarely suffer significant dips in performance.
The migration process can also make editing content less intuitive and accessible than a template or custom build.
Choose this route if…
You’re happy with your current website and it’s compatible with HubSpot’s semi-automated migration service.
Option 3: Commission a custom HubSpot website design and build
Pros
A custom build allows you to fine-tune every facet of your website. It gives you creative freedom, so you can tailor the customer experience to your ideal buyer and optimise performance. For example, eliminating redundant code to improve page load speeds and achieve the best core web vitals scores possible.
You’ll also benefit from HubSpot’s intuitive tools and underlying infrastructure.
Unless you have an in-house design and development team, you’ll need to work with an agency to build your site. Working with an agency gives you access to subject matter experts that know B2B demand generation inside and out. And this helps you elevate your user experience to turn as many visitors as possible into qualified leads and opportunities.
Cons
Naturally, a custom website build is the costliest and most time-consuming route to the HubSpot CMS. Prices vary wildly and timescales can measure in the months, not weeks from project start to finish.
Choose this route if…
You have the budget and growth opportunities to justify the time, effort, and energy required to build a website from scratch.
HubSpot CMS
No matter which route you take to the HubSpot CMS, you’ll be able to take advantage of several key benefits.
The platform’s robust and secure infrastructure keeps maintenance to a minimum. While HubSpot’s intuitive suite of tools lets you create stylish, high-performing websites that delight your customers and turn visitors into leads.
