Whether you have just started using HubSpot, have the free version of the tool - (including the incredibly useful and efficient CRM), or you are full marketing, sales and service customer, you might still be pondering the usability of one other huge feature - the HubSpot CMS.
If you’ve ever considered building your website within the HubSpot CMS, you've probably read or watched some content about the features and tools included. However, one thing that isn't always abundantly clear when it comes to the CMS is exactly how much it costs.
This blog will aim to clearly explain the factors behind how much it costs to host your whole website in the HubSpot CMS. The first factor behind the cost of the CMS is based on the following:
Are you...
1. Adding the CMS to your existing HubSpot package
2. Purchasing the CMS alone
Let’s go through each one.
1) Adding the CMS to your existing HubSpot package
If you already use HubSpot for features other than its CMS, then you have the option to add the CMS to your package. For example, if you already use HubSpot for marketing and sales, there are many benefits to upgrading and hosting your website on HubSpot as well. This would enable you to combine all your website, marketing and sales data - ultimately connecting everything and thus making sure your team spend more time generating new leads and converting them into customers, as opposed to spending time moving data between different platforms.
The CMS as an add-on to your existing HubSpot tier costs an additional £245 a month.
2) Purchasing the CMS alone
Up until September 2018, you could only enjoy the benefits of the CMS if you paid for the HubSpot marketing platform. This option is still very much available - as outlined in option one above. But what many customers wished they had the option to do but didn’t previously - was to get the CMS on its own. Now, while we encourage and recommend the paid for marketing and sales HubSpot tools, you have the option to explore and get all the advantages of just the web hosting tool without purchasing any other HubSpot tool. That said, many companies are currently using the CMS alongside HubSpot's free marketing and sales tools and getting the benefits of all the fantastic features.
The option to have the HubSpot CMS on its own has only been available since September of 2018 and was introduced at last year’s Inbound conference.
You can acquire the HubSpot CMS without any prior subscription for £300 a month.
Who is HubSpot's main competitor when it comes to the CMS?
Traditionally, HubSpot's products have been aimed at the SMB marketplace. It's only been in the last 12 months or so that HubSpot has really developed the tool so that companies at an Enterprise level can use the tool to grow, without the need to move to a different platform.
This means that a lot of HubSpot's customers using the marketing and sales tools are likely to be using content management systems like WordPress, Squarespace and Wix. These are the first batch of competitors that HubSpot faces. However, the amount, quality and variety of tools available in the HubSpot CMS far outweigh the tools available in the companies mentioned above - the main difference is that HubSpot is more expensive.
The second batch of competitors that HubSpot CMS faces is the Enterprise size content management systems. Tools like Adobe Experience Manager and Sitecore are much more expensive than the HubSpot CMS and offer similar tools.
If you are a small to medium-sized business, HubSpot's CMS gives you an enterprise-scale CMS platform that costs a couple of hundred pounds more a month than an entry-level CMS.
If you are an enterprise-sized business, HubSpot's CMS gives you an enterprise-scale CMS platform that costs a fraction of the price in comparison to other enterprise content management systems but includes the same features.
Is the HubSpot CMS worth the cost?
We believe so, yes.
1. The design editor is straightforward and doesn't require large knowledge of coding/CSS.
Being a web developer has never been an easy job. But HubSpot has endeavoured to make it less arduous by making the design editor convenient to work with even without a huge web development experience. A drag and drop editor means you no longer have to do any extra unnecessary coding to get pages up and running, and it can be used by any marketing employee.
2. The smart content tools provide great personalisation options.
Wouldn't it be cool if you could show different things on web pages based on the information you have on your website visitors? E.g. show a different piece of content based on someone being a lead, compared to an active opportunity?
The smart content functionalities you get from HubSpot means you can create personalised, targeted content that you would not be able to do with a static website that displays the same to all visitors. It doesn’t mean that every aspect of every webpage needs to be tailored to your various type of visitors - but it does mean you get an opportunity to appeal to your prospects with the type of content they are most likely to be interested in. Check out here how to build great HubSpot CTAs - and this is just one example!
3. Search Engine Optimisation made easy
If you’re already a HubSpot marketing user, you get a ton of advantages if you add the CMS - everything is in one place and because it is connected, you get to conveniently manage and optimise it all. You can also track the performance of your activities so that you know what works well, what doesn’t - and you make all the edits necessary all on the same platform, giving you the best chance to succeed at optimising all your pages.
4. Automatic mobile responsiveness
A huge perk you get by using the CSM is the automatically mobile responsive website pages you can download from the marketplace. That’s right! At no extra effort, you can create and customise your webpage on your laptop, for example, publish it and it will automatically display well on all mobile devices.
5. Free SSL certificate
With your HubSpot CMS, you receive a free standard SSL certificate! Additionally, you can add a custom SSL to your subscription for £100 monthly.
The HubSpot CMS is a product independent of any others now due to its amazing functionalities that earned its place on the CMS market as opposed to just being viewed as an “add-on” - it's now a sophisticated system built with the idea of connecting all of your marketing and sales tools and conveniently managing them all in one place.
Looking for more information and options available in getting your website built in the HubSpot CMS? Simply click here and book some time to speak to one of our consultants today.
