A Beginner‘s Guide to the HubSpot CMS: Everything You Need to Know to Get Started in 2023
If you‘re new to the HubSpot CMS (content management system), you might be feeling a little overwhelmed and wondering where to begin. Don‘t worry – by the end of this guide, you‘ll have a solid foundation in how the CMS works and be ready to start building your own website!
We‘ll cover what makes the HubSpot CMS unique, break down all the essential tools and features, and share some tips for hitting the ground running. No prior experience necessary – let‘s dive in!
What is a CMS and why use HubSpot‘s?
First, let‘s quickly review what a CMS actually is. A content management system is software that allows you to create, manage, and modify the content on a website without needing to code everything from scratch. It provides user-friendly tools to build webpages and make updates.
So why choose HubSpot‘s CMS in particular? There are a few key advantages that make it stand out from the dozens of other options out there:
- All-in-one platform
The HubSpot CMS is part of the larger HubSpot platform which includes tools for marketing, sales, service, and operations. This means you can manage your entire website and customer experience in one place.
Having your website tightly integrated with your CRM and marketing tools makes it easier to create a seamless, personalized customer journey. For example, you can use CRM data to dynamically alter content on your website based on who is viewing it.
- Ease of use
The HubSpot CMS is designed with the end user in mind. Even if you have no coding skills whatsoever, you can use the drag-and-drop page editor and pre-made templates to create professional-looking web pages.
Here‘s an example of editing a webpage in HubSpot:
[Insert screenshot of drag-and-drop HubSpot page editor interface]
The interface is intuitive and visual, so you can easily add, rearrange, and customize the elements on the page. More advanced users can access the code for even further customization.
- Fast, secure, and reliable
With the HubSpot CMS, you don‘t need to worry about the technical details of maintaining your website. HubSpot handles all the infrastructure in the background to deliver fast load times and ensure your site is secure and stays online. This includes:
- Fast page load speeds optimized with browser caching, a content delivery network (CDN), image compression and lazy loading
- Servers monitored 24/7 to ensure 99.99% uptime
- SSL certificate for secure data transfer
- Built-in web application firewall to protect against attacks
- Automatic software and security updates
This saves you time, headaches, and potentially a lot of money compared to trying to set all this up yourself.
- Access to pre-made templates and integrations
The HubSpot Marketplace contains hundreds of pre-made templates you can use to quickly get a new website up and running without having to start completely from scratch. These templates are flexible and customizable to match your unique branding.
There are also hundreds of third-party integrations you can use to extend the functionality of your website. Connect your favorite tools for ecommerce, event management, video hosting, and more.
Now that you understand some of the benefits of using the HubSpot CMS, let‘s take a closer look at the actual tools and features you‘ll use to build your site.
The Essential HubSpot CMS Tools
When you first log into the HubSpot CMS, you‘ll see a variety of different tools available in the navigation menu. Here are the ones you‘ll likely use most as you‘re getting started:
Website Pages: This is where you‘ll create and edit the actual pages of your website. You can start from scratch or with a pre-made template.
Landing Pages: Landing pages are webpages designed for a specific conversion goal, like getting visitors to fill out a form. These have a streamlined design without navigation to focus attention on a single action.
Blog: Create and publish blog posts to drive organic traffic to your website. You can organize posts by topics, assign authors, and schedule them in advance.
Website Themes: Themes allow you to control the look and feel of your entire website. You can customize your theme‘s templates, modules, color palette, and branding.
File Manager: This is where you‘ll store and organize all the assets for your website, such as images, videos, and PDFs.
HubSpot Marketplace: Access hundreds of pre-made website themes and templates that you can download and use as a starting point.
Advanced users can also access an array of developer tools to build web apps and custom themes using the HubSpot CLI and local development tools. But if you‘re just getting started, you likely won‘t need to worry about those right away.
Now let‘s look a little more closely at some of the core building blocks you‘ll use to create webpages: templates and modules.
Templates, Modules, and Themes – Oh My!
If you open up the Website Pages tool and click to create a new page, one of the first things you‘ll need to do is select a template:
[Insert screenshot of template selection interface]
Templates provide the structure and layout for a webpage. They aren‘t the content itself, but rather a way to organize and style that content.
Most websites will have a few key templates, such as the homepage, a general informational page, a listing page, a contact page, etc. You can reuse templates over and over again to create new webpages.
Now if you open up one of those templates in the page editor, you‘ll see that it is made up of various elements called modules:
[Insert screenshot of page editor with modules highlighted]
Modules are the actual building blocks of content – things like text, images, forms, and calls-to-action. To edit a module, you simply click on it in the visual editor to bring up fields you can customize:
[Insert screenshot of editing a text module]
HubSpot comes with a variety of built-in modules that cover most of the common types of content you‘d put on a webpage. If you can‘t find what you‘re looking for, you can also make your own custom modules.
You can think of modules, templates, and pages like a set of nesting dolls:
[Insert graphic showing modules nested in templates nested in pages]
Modules make up templates, and templates make up pages. This modular design makes it easy to reuse common elements and maintain consistency across your whole site.
Another important concept to understand is the difference between global and page-specific content. Global content is stuff that you want to appear the same on multiple pages, like your website header or footer. You can make modules and groups of modules global so that any edits will automatically update everywhere.
Finally, your website theme is the collection of all your templates along with some global settings like colors, fonts, and spacing. You can edit your theme to change the look and feel of your entire site all at once:
[Insert screenshot of theme editing interface]
Now that you understand the basics of how all these pieces fit together, let‘s look at how you actually get started building your own site.
Tips for Getting Started
When you‘re staring at a blank website Canvas for the first time, it can certainly feel overwhelming. Here are a few tips to make getting started easier:
- Start with a goal and plan
Before you start building anything, it‘s important to take a step back and think about the goal of your website. What do you want visitors to do? What kind of information do they need? Sketch out a basic sitemap of the key pages and how they will link together.
- Choose a theme and customize it
Rather than starting completely from scratch, find a pre-made theme that fits the general look and feel you‘re going for. You can then customize that theme to match your exact branding and layout.
HubSpot has a variety of themes available right in your account, or you can find more options in the Marketplace. Here‘s how to select and install a theme:
[Insert screenshot of selecting a theme]
Once your theme is installed, take some time to play around and create a few test pages to get a feel for how everything works. Customize your theme settings, like colors and fonts, to start making it your own.
- Get comfortable with the editor
As you‘ll be spending a lot of time using the drag-and-drop page editor, it pays to learn your way around it. Watch HubSpot‘s Page Editor tutorial video and try recreating some simple web page layouts yourself.
Experiment with adding, moving, and editing different modules to understand how they work. Remember – you can‘t break anything and can always revert back if needed! The more you use the editor, the faster and more intuitive it will become.
- Make use of HubSpot‘s pre-built assets
You don‘t have to create every little thing yourself. Aside from the themes we mentioned earlier, the Asset Marketplace also contains templates for commonly used pages (like team pages, contact pages, resource centers, etc) and individual modules.
For example, if you need a snazzy-looking pricing table, there‘s a good chance you can find a pre-built module for that which you can just plug right into your page. Using pre-built assets can dramatically speed up the development process.
- Learn and follow HubSpot‘s design best practices
To ensure your site looks professional and is easy for visitors to use and navigate, it‘s important to follow some design fundamentals. Luckily, HubSpot has a variety of resources available to help you learn web design best practices, including:
- Website Optimization Course & Exam
- 27 Website Design Tips & Best Practices
- CMS for Marketers Certification
These cover things like how to optimize your site for conversions, accessibility considerations, and technical best practices for developers. Following HubSpot‘s recommendations will put you on the right path towards an effective, user-friendly site.
What‘s New in the HubSpot CMS for 2023
The HubSpot CMS is constantly being updated with new features and improvements based on user feedback. Here are a few of the most exciting recent additions you should know about:
Collaboration tools: Comment and tag teammates directly on page drafts and set permission levels to control who can access and edit various parts of your site.
SEO recommendations: Get AI-powered suggestions for how to optimize your webpages to rank better in search engines, right in the page editor. HubSpot will analyze your content and provide recommendations for length, keywords, links, and more.
Advanced image editing: Crop, resize, and adjust images without having to leave HubSpot or use another tool. This streamlines the process of creating rich, visual pages.
Memberships & Gated content: Create members-only content experiences on your site where visitors have to sign up to gain access. Great for private knowledge bases, courses, and online communities.
Custom Objects: Developers can now create completely custom data objects that go beyond HubSpot‘s standard CRM objects for more advanced and unique web apps.
These are just a few of the many updates being released regularly. To stay on top of what‘s new, check the "What‘s New in HubSpot?" section of your account frequently and subscribe to the product updates blog.
Get Help When You Need It
Finally, remember that you don‘t have to learn everything all on your own! HubSpot has a variety of ways to get help, including:
- HubSpot Community – Ask questions and get answers from other HubSpot users and experts
- HubSpot Support – Contact the customer support team via chat or email for technical issues
- HubSpot Academy – Take free online courses and lessons to improve your skills
- HubSpot Blogs – Read articles and tutorials on various marketing, design, and web development topics
- HubSpot User Groups – Meet up with other HubSpot users in your local area to share tips and learn
You can find links to all these resources right in your HubSpot account under the Help menu.
A whole world of resources is out there to help you succeed in creating a great website with the HubSpot CMS.
Wrapping Up
Congratulations – you now have a solid foundation in how the HubSpot CMS works and the tools at your disposal! Let‘s quickly recap what we covered:
- The benefits of using the HubSpot CMS over other options
- The key tools you‘ll use to build your site
- What templates, modules, and themes are and how they fit together
- Tips for planning your site and using the page editor
- The latest new features you should check out
- Where to go to get help when you need it
Whew, that was a lot! If you‘re feeling overwhelmed, don‘t worry. The best way to truly learn is to jump in and start playing around with creating a few test pages. Pretty soon you‘ll be clicking around the CMS like a pro.
And remember, your website doesn‘t have to be perfect from day one. It‘s a constantly evolving project you can improve and refine over time. The most important thing is to just get started!
Happy HubSpotting!
