HubShots Episode 312: Should You Build Your Website on HubSpot?

Welcome to HubShots Episode 312: Should You Build Your Website on HubSpot?

This edition we dive into:

• Scenarios for HubSpot as a website (Good fit and Bad fit)
• Pricing
• Usability
• Functionality
• SEO & Performance
• Reporting
• Security & Hosting
• Integrations & Plugins
• Support 
• Migrating to HubSpot
• Scalability
• Final thoughts

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• Full show notes for all episodes are available on our website

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Recommended Resources:

• Have you downloaded the latest version of the HubShots Framework yet? (It’s your 5-Stage plan for getting the most out of HubSpot).
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• Have you joined our HubShots Community (concentrated courses covering real world HubSpot scenarios)?

Recorded: Friday 14 March 2025 | Published: Friday 21 March 2025

🌱 Shot 1: Growth Thought of the Week

Question: Should You Build Your Website on HubSpot?

Answer: It depends…

Scenarios

We’ve both built hundreds of WordPress websites over the past 10-15 years.

But approx five years ago we switched to exclusively building websites on HubSpot.

For us, there are lots of key reasons for the switch, including:

• no more hosting and caching hassles
• no more plugin updates and page builder issues (or costs)
• no more security issues
• fully integrated with the CRM
• forms, cookie management, redirects, staging, smart content, A/B testing, CTAs, SEO functionality all built in
• speed to build with great themes
• easy to train clients how to use

But whether you should switch from other platforms to HubSpot for your website depends on a number of considerations:

• Overall requirements: scenarios and technical requirements
• Internal knowledge and available resources
• Current pain points (money, time, status)

Some common scenarios where HubSpot is an ideal fit:

• Marketing sites (plus lead gen, landing pages, microsites, conference sites) - HubSpot
• Sales sites - HubSpot

But then, for other scenarios it might not be the best fit: 

• Ecommerce - instead use Shopify, WooCommerce
• LMS - Teachable, Kajabi
• Community - Circle, Skool
• UGC (User Generated Content) sites
• Legacy WordPress sites with lots of comments (this is one of my pain points!)
• News + Media sites
• Portals
• Intranets
• Huge sites (eg > 1000 page)s

For this show, we’ll discuss HubSpot versus WordPress, because that’s the typical conversation we have with businesses. But it could equally apply to Squarespace or Webflow or other CMS tools..  

Reminder: we prepared a comprehensive overview of Content Hub last year (or watch it here). Also feel free to reach out to us if you’d like to discuss your specific situation.

💰 Shot 2: Cost & Pricing

Starting costs

• WordPress: Is free to use, but you will have to pay for hosting, themes, plugins, and development. Costs vary widely ($50–$500/month depending on needs).  Remember good hosting is like being in a great neighbourhood with great services and security.  So don’t go cheap on this as your website may potentially be slow and be vulnerable to hacking.
• HubSpot: HubSpot Content Hub starts at USD $15/month for Starter and scales up to USD $1500+/month for Enterprise. Hosting, security and support are included.

Additional costs

• WordPress: Premium themes ($50–$200), plugins ($10–$200/year), and developer costs if you need customisations.
• HubSpot: Themes cost $200-$1500 and some modules may cost you to use. However, if a theme is built and managed well it is rare that you need to add modules.  Another thing is you may want to have your own custom theme developed and this will cost you time and money plus ongoing maintenance if you want to keep upgrading your functionality.

Price comparison

• WordPress may be cheaper upfront but may require ongoing development, security, and maintenance costs.
• HubSpot may have a higher recurring cost but includes hosting, security, and built-in tools.  Depends on where you start and how you grow.

🚀 Shot 3: Usability & Management

What is it like to use?

HubSpot is more user-friendly with an intuitive page builder.  If you use HubSpot it is consistent across the platform.  

We generally find that HubSpot is easier for non-technical users in the business from Marketing Managers to content teams that manage the website.

WordPress may have a steeper learning curve depending on what page builder you end up using, like WPBakery, Elementor, or custom code.

Management

With HubSpot updates and security are handled by HubSpot. 

When you host a WordPress site you either need a WordPress managed host or simple website hosting.  This will vastly depend on who you choose and what they offer in terms of security and reliability.

✨ Shot 4: Functionality & Customisation

Customisation comparison:

• WordPress can be highly customisable with themes, plugins, and custom coding and can often be extended into a shop using WooCommerce. 
• HubSpot on the other hand could seem restrictive depending on the theme you're using.  
• Well built themes like CLEAN and POWER are well thought through and organised, giving you a lot of flexibility to do what you need.  The drag-and-drop builder works well if you have well-built flexible modules.

Control over design & functionality:

• WordPress, you have full control, but complex changes will require a developer that understands what you are using and how it is built.
• HubSpot, previously seemed limited, but now you can do a lot of things and it is easier to use for non-technical users.  
• Many marketing managers we work with have sped up their workflow 10x when creating and launching pages & landing pages. 
• The other benefit is your ability to A/B test pages, CTAs and personalise content (all built in).

🌐 Shot 5: SEO & Performance

SEO comparison:

• HubSpot has built-in SEO tools, structured data, and content recommendations.
• WordPress requires plugins like Yoast SEO or RankMath for advanced SEO.

Speed & mobile optimisation:

• HubSpot has optimised enterprise website hosting with built-in Content Delivery Network (CDN) and caching.
• WordPress speed depends on the hosting you purchase, themes, and plugins (e.g., WP Rocket for caching).
• Aside: often, site performance is hindered by scripts being inserted (eg via Google Tag Manager)

Here’s an example of the impact of Google Tag Manager inserts.

First screenshot is the Home page of one of our clients (site is built in HubSpot, and has GTM inserted)

And here’s the exact same page, built in HubSpot, cloned to Staging, so that we could remove GTM from being inserted:

Key takeaway: check what scripts you are inserting into your site via Google Tag Manager

📈 Shot 6: Reporting

How do they compare:

• HubSpot has analytics included (website traffic, conversion tracking, marketing performance).  We also like that you can integrate your Google, Meta and LinkedIn ads and track it all in one place.  
• Big thing here is you know what is converting on which traffic sources. 
• Also, HubSpot’s high level analytics don’t require a cookie, so they track sessions even if visitors block cookies
• WordPress, however, requires plugins (e.g., Google Analytics, MonsterInsights) as there is no built-in reporting. It does require more effort to set up.

🔥 Shot 7: Security & Hosting

Security comparison:

• HubSpot has fully managed security, protected by 24/7 security and threat detection, SSL (security certificate), and web application firewall (WAF), as well as a dedicated security team.
• WordPress: You must manage security via plugins (Wordfence, iThemes), updates, and hosting.  There are premium hosts that offer automatic plugin updates which work 80% of the time and the 20% that updates fail you will need to engage a developer / technical specialist to sort it out.

Hosting comparison:

• HubSpot: Fully managed enterprise hosting included.
• WordPress: Requires separate hosting (e.g., WP Engine, Kinsta or others like SiteGround).

Downtime risks:

• HubSpot: Uptime is very reliable (99.99%).
• WordPress: Depends on hosting provider and maintenance.

🏈 Shot 8: Integrations & Plugins

Third-party integrations:

• HubSpot: Integrates well or shall we say is one with HubSpot CRM, Salesforce, and many marketing tools.
• WordPress: Can integrate with nearly anything via plugins.

Missing integrations?

• HubSpot has fewer integrations than WordPress but covers most business needs and tools. Note that it keeps getting larger by the day. Instagram is an example of module missing in HubSpot though - so you need to organise separately (here’s how)
•  WordPress is more flexible if you need custom integrations.

CRM, payments, and marketing tools?

• HubSpot: Best if using HubSpot CRM (native integration). Works with Stripe and HubSpot payments.
• WordPress: Works well with Stripe, WooCommerce, HubSpot, Mailchimp, etc.

🏪 Shot 9: Support

Customer support comparison:

• HubSpot includes email and in-app chat support on the starter plan. They add phone support for Professional & Enterprise. This has been a lifeline when we needed it.
• WordPress has no official support, but plenty of community help. If you have premium hosting, they will provide some level of support for technical hosting issues..

🤯 Shot 10: Migration

To HubSpot

Moving from WordPress to HubSpot requires a manual migration for content, design, and SEO elements.

If you have blog content, it can be imported, but templates and themes must be rebuilt.

Also, note that you cannot migrate comments in the blog. This may prevent you from moving your blog to HubSpot.  

✍️ Shot 11: Scalability & Future Growth

Scaling with business:

HubSpot is ideal for businesses using HubSpot CRM at the core that want personalisation and speed to market.

WordPress is more scalable if you need custom functionality.

Limitations:

HubSpot may feel restrictive if you want advanced customization.  WordPress on the other hand allows unlimited flexibility.  This is where you will need to choose what is important and best for your business needs.

Migrating websites:

Migrating your website from HubSpot can seem hard, but it would be the same with most website platforms.  Exporting content is easy, but designs and templates can’t be moved.

WordPress allows portability from one host to another.  But the experience would be similar if you moved from WordPress to Squarespace or Webflow.

Often, a website refresh project includes reviewing all content, a new design, and a new site architecture - so moving to another platform isn’t the biggest challenge of the project.

📚 Shot 12: Final Thoughts

If your scenario is a fit for HubSpot as an option, then:

Choose HubSpot if:

• You prioritise ease of use, built-in tools, security, and CRM integration
• You want an all-in-one solution for marketing/sales/operations and website management
• You don’t want to manage hosting, updates, or security manually.

Choose WordPress if:

• You need maximum flexibility and customisation
• You want full control over SEO, plugins, and integrations
• You are comfortable managing hosting, security, and updates (or have a team/developer)
• You want to add a shop and use WooCommerce.

📚 Shot 13: Listener quote of the Week 

“You cover the topics beyond surface level and the documents you also provide are great for reflection.”

• Skyler

💡Shot 14: Quote of the Week

"Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently"

 - Henry Ford

🎓 Shot 15: Training of the Week

SEO Training in the HubShots Community 

Our new SEO in HubSpot course is launching later this month.

If you haven’t joined the HubShots Community, find out more here. 

💪 Shot 16: Have You Signed Up for the HubShots Daily Tip?

A quick HubSpot tip or reminder every day in your Inbox

Would a quick HubSpot related tip in your inbox every day be useful? If so, sign up here.

🏋️ Shot 17: Content Hub Overview Guide (80+ page PDF)

Download the complete guide (80+ pages) to Content Hub covering all the details in today’s podcast, plus more.

It’s a free download (no signup required), and there’s an optional form if you’d like to be notified of updates:

🧲 Shot 18: Follow Us on the Socials

Connect with HubShots here: 

• HubShots YouTube channel 
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• HubShots Facebook group 
• HubShots Twitter 
• HubShots Twitter Show Notes
• HubShots Instagram 
• HubShots LinkedIn 
• HubShots Threads

Connect with Ian Jacob on LinkedIn and Craig Bailey on Threads 

HubShots, the podcast for marketing managers and sales professionals who use HubSpot, hosted by Ian Jacob from Search & Be Found and Craig Bailey from XEN and XEN Create. 

HubShots is produced by Christopher Mottram from Podcastily.

We record using Riverside.fm (<= affiliate link)

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