Create a website with HubSpot CMS and Content Hub

The HubSpot Content Hub combines the CMS (Content Management System) and the CRM (Customer Relationship Management) in one system or platform. And that's what makes it so interesting for innovative companies.

With the intuitive HubSpot CMS, you can create your web pages and landing pages relatively quickly, without any knowledge of code. And managing your web pages is so easy, as you're fully equipped with a number of search and filter functions. You can even create and save your own views, and much more. The integrated SEO tool supports you in optimizing your web pages, and the optional personalization for your content leave nothing to be desired.

What more could you want?

Before I take you to the individual steps on how creating a website, I would like to list the tools that you will find in the user navigation on the left-hand side under Content.

All these tools are in the Content Hub

In the user navigation you will find the following items under Content, where you will need to go to later to in order to create a website:

• Website Pages
• Landing Pages
• Blog
• Podcasts
• Case Studies
• Embeds
• Knowledge Base
• Customer Portal
• HubDB, with it you can create really great, dynamic websites, read now
• Remix
• SEO
• Memberships
• Design Manager

Depending on which Content Hub license you are using, not all functions are available to you.

When you create a website, you will of course also use a few images, videos or documents. The file manager is assigned to the library (navigation). It's best to create a few folders to make it easier to organize. There is also a great search function in the file manager, so please always use meaningful file names.

I have written an article about the individual features and advantages of the HubSpot CMS, which you are welcome to read here.

On the contact and landing pages, you will certainly want to use a form in order to generate leads, that you can create under Marketing ⇒ Forms.

So, here we go.

How do I create a website in HubSpot?

I assume that you have an HubSpot account, if you don't you will have to register first. There is also a free version available, in case you would like to test the process of a website creation in HubSpot first.

If you want to take directly a professional approach, you will need to link your domain to HubSpot. Then go to Settings ⇒ Tools / Content ⇒ Domains & URLs. To link the domain, you will need admin access to your DNS settings. Many hosters support the registration and direct linking of the domain or subdomain with HubSpot, in which case you only need to log in to your provider during the process. Otherwise, you will need to create the records manually.

Select a theme (design template)

To try it out, you can start with a free theme from HubSpot. You have two further flexible drag and drop options as well: You can use a theme from the HubSpot Marketplace, or have a custom theme coded. A theme from the Marketplace can also be easily adapted to your wishes, this only requires a child theme.

Once you have made your mind, you can start with the design settings, such as fonts, colors and so on, as follows, you can also do it later. When you are in the page editor, click on Edit ⇒ Design at the top. Or you can go to Settings ⇒ Tools / Content ⇒ Design & Modules.

If you are using a free design template from HubSpot, you must first create a child theme in order to have access to the design settings via Settings ⇒ Tools / Content ⇒ Design & Modules.

My tip is to always create a child theme, there are always some customization requests for the style or functionality of the existing theme modules.

To create a child theme, go to Content ⇒ Design Manager. Under @hubspot you will find the free themes from HubSpot, under @marketplace you will find the design templates that you have downloaded. You can create a child theme under @hubspot by hovering over its name with the mouse and clicking the right button, then ⇒ Create child theme appears in the third place.

For @marketplace, you must first open the theme folder and then follow the procedure described above.

And please refrain to combine a theme with many other modules from several different providers. It won't work well in the long run. The theme updates, the future changes made to the modules from the other providers - a lot of different codes comes together. This can interfere with each other, especially by future updates.

Create the website

To do this, go to Content ⇒ Website pages. At the top right is a button ⇒ Create, click on it. A window appears with two fields for the domain and the name or title of the web page. Then select one or the corresponding design template.

In Themes, the header and footer are global modules that display the same content on all web pages. HubSpot automatically pulls the logo from your branding settings, which you can find or edit under Settings ⇒ Account management / Account settings.

For your website, you will need a navigation in your ;header, which you can create under Settings ⇒ Tools / Content ⇒ Navigation menus. For the footer, there are two different variants of the menus, depending on the theme you are using: Either you have to proceed as described above for the header and create a new menu, or you can do it directly in the footer.

Now you can start and enter your content, you can move all the modules, delete them and add new ones. Finally, or beforehand as you wish, you need to make a few entries in the page editor under Settings. The URL is automatically pulled from the title the first time you get there, but you can edit it as you like.

The meta description lenght should not exceed 155 characters, as these are not displayed and half a sentence is one of those things... Then there is the option of setting the feature image and the page language. For the feature image, a size of 1200px by 675px is recommended, please remember always to add an alt text for the images.

Once you have done all this, you can go live by clicking on Publish in the top right-hand corner.

Congratulations!

If you would like to know how we can support you, go to our CMS service.

If you would like a direct consultation, book an online meeting with François.

Image source: AdobeStock © Stock 4 You 883189005