A website project looms around the corner and you need to figure out the best publishing platform for your organization. As there are a huge number of options to choose from on the market, it is worth making a comparison. The first thing to think about is what the site is aiming for and what kind of needs it should suit. WordPress is one of the most popular publishing systems in the world. With a huge number of users, plug-in functionalities and templates on the market, it can be a great tool for many organizations.
We are often asked how HubSpot and WordPress differ from each other. We encourage you to start the comparison by focusing on the higher level functional issues rather than technical details. We listed below a few key themes through which you can start your own comparison.
HubSpot’s popularity is largely due to the fact that it provides marketers technologically advanced and high-quality tools without the need for deep technical expertise to use them. The new CMS Hub continues along this same line. A good example of this approach is HubSpot’s SEO tools, which don’t focus on the technical solution, but guide the marketer’s actions by analyzing and chewing the data to guide usage. This is one of the key things that sets HubSpot apart from other popular publishing platforms on the market: the system’s mission is to enable the marketer’s visions while providing information on how operations should be changed to achieve better results. WordPress’s flexibility is based on a huge array of plug-ins developed around the world. On the flipside, using these plug-ins comes with a great deal of responsibility to make sure everything works together well.
WordPress is an open source platform. That means anyone can create new features or plug-ins suitable for WordPress. There is no single body that oversees and maintains the security and functionality of all WordPress ecosystem. In other words: you can do anything, but the responsibility on how all the puzzle pieces fit together falls on you. HubSpot, on the other hand, offers a turnkey system with several common website elements and built-in optimization tools. The HubSpot platform has in the past been considered perhaps a bit rigid for more versatile implementations, but with the revamped HubSpot CMS, called CMS Hub, and the serverless architecture launched with it, you can build as flexible and demanding websites as with WordPress.
EU’s new data privacy legislation, GDPR, is to be thanked that people are much more aware of security and data issues than before. WordPress is considered a seemingly secure option as it is widely used even in larger companies, but the user’s responsibility for actively maintaining security rarely comes up in the discussion. WordPress is built on open source themes and plug-ins, and actively updating them is the only way to prevent potential security breaches. HubSpot is much more worry-free for the marketer in terms of security: everything is taken care of automatically by the service provider.
The focus of website development is no longer on great visuals, beautiful images and excitingly moving flash animations, but on information environments that meet the needs of the end user. The goal is to provide the right information, to the right person, at the right time. HubSpot's operational logic is based on customer and contact data, allowing the content on the website to be tailored and personalized to meet the needs of the stakeholders. Often it is relevant to present customers different content than for leads considering a purchase decision. By the way, did you know that HubSpot offers a free CRM system to its users as a handshake?
HubSpot's operating logic is based on the idea that most needed data can be found within one system intuitively and easily. WordPress and other open source systems rely on the implementer to decide where what data is stored and how it is accessed. For example, user organization must use separate plug-ins for A/B testing and SEO functionalities, and make sure that these work together. Also hosting must be arranged separately. HubSpot puts everything at your fingertips without any extra work.
Many of us remember those mammoth-like website development projects where the light at the end of the tunnel faded as weeks and months flew past. Although website implementations are more complex and extensive than ever before, their development has become easier and faster.
The GDD model, or Growth Driven Design, is the new standard for designing and building customer-centric websites. GDD is a customer-centric, agile and data-driven approach that minimizes the pitfalls of traditional web design and significantly streamlines the traditional process. Check out Netprofile's customer story on how we agilely redesigned the website and their brand by using the GDD model.