2 Misconceptions Hubspot Spreads About WordPress

Written on Oct 22, 2012Apr 16, 2021 by Viktor Nagornyy | 4 mins | 26 comments

Hubspot is a great lead generation and marketing automation platform. They are very good at marketing and very good a selling their software. That’s why they’re the most popular and known software out there, with other platforms trailing behind it.

But today, I was a bit disappointed when I stumbled on a Hubspot FAQ page while doing research on Google.

The page is about WordPress, how Hubspot is better than WordPress and how it can be integrated with WordPress. But there are two common misconceptions many people have, including HubSpot.

WordPress Misconception #1:
“WordPress is just that, a blogging tool”

This is one of the most common misconceptions I hear. Usually, when I get a free consultation request and we talk about WordPress, I get to hear them say either “I thought WordPress was for blogs” or “I don’t want my website to look like a blog.”

Yes, WordPress is not an integrated marketing platform like Hubspot, especially in its native state without plugins. BUT, even without plugins WordPress can give you the tools necessary to create a business website that does not look like a blog at all.

Consider this, if Hubspot was truly a complete solution they would not have an App Marketplace for users to add more functionality to their Hubspot. WordPress plugins are the same thing, they add functionality that the original platform does not have.

Look at it this way.

When you start with Hubspot from scratch, it’s like being born as an 18-year-old. You have the benefits of many things that an underage child does not have, you’re ready for the world.

When you start with WordPress from scratch, it’s more like a 10-year-old. It’s not a blank slate, you have the foundation but you need to put in a bit more work and grow up to adulthood. This gives you greater control over what lead generation platform you create for yourself.

WordPress started out as a blogging platform early on, but today it is a platform limited only by the user’s imagination. If you can think of it, you can create it in WordPress – ecommerce, forums, social networks, business websites, lead generation, membership, etc.

WordPress Misconception #2:
“Unless you hire a consultant to work with you, you are on your own”

If a community of millions is considered to be “on your own,” then yes, you are on your own.

It is true that you have to do the work to get WordPress to function the way you want it. There is a learning curve, but don’t be mistaken, there’s a learning curve for Hubspot too.

“The technically savvy can cobble a few tools together to get about a third of the capability of HubSpot – but business owners and marketers should be spending time on marketing not tooling,” Hubspot writes on that page.

What’s interesting is, they don’t mention anything about the learning curve or complexity of their platform. Sure they offer everything under one roof, but it is not as easy as they make it sound. You HAVE to put in the time tooling around Hubspot to make it look and work the way you want it, you have to put in at least 5 hours a week on Hubspot to make it pay for itself. It does not generate leads on autopilot, somebody has to produce content.

They also don’t mention that Hubspot-hosted websites are very limited in design and layout, and without professional help from one of their certified partners (be prepared to give up an arm and a leg) your website will look like crap.

If you don’t want to tool around with Hubspot, you do need to hire their certified partner or another consultant/developer to get the work done so you can “be spending time on marketing not tooling.”

The beauty of WordPress is its enormous community. Since I began using WordPress over 6 years ago, I’ve never felt “on my own” – far from it.

If you want to get something done on WordPress, most likely someone has already done it and has a tutorial somewhere on the web on how to do it. Google it.

Have a question? The WordPress community forum has the answers. Plus, a ton of other WordPress forums across the web can help.

Because WordPress is so popular and commonly used, hiring help is a lot more cost-effective than paying for the proprietary platform and/or hiring their certified partners, so that money can be invested into producing content instead.

Plus, with WordPress, you have the luxury of thousands of free and premium themes designed to help you get the look you want with free support in most cases from their creators.

To Conclude

WordPress is not just a blogging tool. You are not on your own with WordPress, help is always available. You just have to know where to look for it and simply ask. That’s the truth.

If you’re considering purchasing Hubspot, it is a great platform to help you automate your lead generation and marketing but you do have to work on it to make it pay for itself.

The stage is yours.

Show Comments (26)

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Mitchell 9 years ago

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I’m a long time WP user and I was on HubSpot for about a year. We recently closed our account and ingrated our marketing suite completely inside of WordPress.

I’ve written an article on the tools I’ve used. I have not lost any functionality, in fact, I gained some, like A/B testing, which is on HubSpots Enterprise plan (I was on Professional).

Peep it here and let me know your thoughts: http://www.saucal.com/hubspot-wordpress-conversion/

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Patrick Murphy 10 years ago

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Very two important points…. And there are companies like http://Orbtr.co.uk that are taking the functions of HubSpot to wordpress!

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- Chris Mack 9 years ago
  
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  http://www.getspokal.com too – as far as I know we’re the only other platform that focuses on Inbound (the top of the funnel) – if you already have a ton of traffic and are looking to optimize your lead intelligence, there are plenty of solutions that will work, but if you’re looking to increase traffic through SEO, social media and referring websites (AND increase your lead intelligence) then you want a platform focussed on inbound. Hubspot is one. Spokal is another.
  
  The only 2 that I know of that were built with that focus from the start.
  
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  - Viktor Nagornyy 9 years ago
    
    Thanks for your comment Chris. Marketing automation is great at not only generating leads but also qualifying them and nurturing those leads, hence moving them down the funnel – closer to a sale.
  - Chris Mack 9 years ago
    
    Didn’t see this before, sorry. Yes! Marketing Automation is one of those catch-all terms that means too many things.
    
    I always separate them into inbound MA platforms or not. There are very few inbound MA platforms. There are TONS that aren’t – and they’re very good for qualifying leads, and some of them even for optimizing conversion rates – but neither of those are of any use if you don’t have any traffic – which is the situation for a lot of small businesses. Using one of them in that case is putting the cart before the horse.
  - Viktor Nagornyy 9 years ago
    
    It’s true. No traffic no leads. But it’s just the tip of the ice berg, and with traffic you need to make sure you can convert that traffic to leads, and ultimately sales.
    
    You don’t pay the bills with traffic or leads, you pay the bills with sales. That’s why it is so critical to manage your entire sales funnel, not just the top, or the middle, or the bottom. But all of it.
  - Chris Mack 9 years ago
    
    Could. Not. Agree. More. 🙂
  - Activ Hub- China Digital Intel 9 years ago
    
    Thx Chris, had a look and I really appreciate the caution about non WP sites. As our existing client base are not built on WP, and not likely to be, Spokal isn’t an option. Although still learning, [steep curve] it would seem you are right though, despite the plethora of solutions now out there, you and Hubspot [and maybe Kissmetrics?] are more inbound focused
    
    [sorry Viktor, I seem to be all over your bog like a rash, I do like it though :>) ]
  - Chris Mack 9 years ago
    
    Yep, definitely not going to work if your clients aren’t WordPress. The reality is – to be really effective, any inbound-oriented platform needs deep integration with your CMS.
    
    Hubspot actually provides their own – so you have to move your entire site to them, we chose WordPress. We’ve looked at making a more generic version that works across any platform – but you really do lose a lot of power that way unfortunately.
  - Activ Hub- China Digital Intel 9 years ago
    
    Thanks for your reply Chris, really appreciate it. Sadly, anything WP based is never going to be an option for us. Still looking at other non HS options..checking x2Engine and Leadsius as well, any comment?
  - Chris Mack 9 years ago
    
    Tons of options for middle and bottom of funnel. I still haven’t seen a top of funnel MA platform that is CMS agnostic.
  - Viktor Nagornyy 9 years ago
    
    One thing you have to consider, do you need CRM based solution or not. Top of the funnel platforms would most likely not have a CRM and require integration with an external CRM. They will offer basic lead management features.
    
    If top of the funnel leads what you need, you might need to look into demand generation platforms… they are usually more top of the funnel focused than most “marketing automation” platforms.
    
    To add to what Chris said about HubSpot/WordPress, I answered a question on Quora about disadvantages of using external CMS with HubSpot. Might offer some value: http://qr.ae/k9liY
  - Activ Hub- China Digital Intel 9 years ago
    
    Thanks Viktor for taking time to reply. I take your points, H/S @ present is sort of a benchmark for us.
    
    Apart from the point re their external sites, they are also US based, one of the reasons we are looking @European or anywhere else brands. Who ever we chose we may have to compromise some, not sure at this stage, as I said, this is a research period.
    
    Ultimately we may use a Brands system and develop our own APPS or what ever to get what we need. Those with either a free or more than 2 weeks trial are top of our list now as we can trial them on half a dozen sites to see how they perform and if they give us what we want. Once we have a solid understanding we can go forward.
    
    As I said, a steep learning curve for us, well me really, the team have a better understanding than I.
    Again, cheers for your time and comments.
Kameel Vohra 10 years ago

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Great article. I’ve managed several sites that use Wordpress and certainly support it as a platform. HubSpot does however have value for small-mid size businesses.

Though you have to put effort into using HubSpot, you’d have to put the same, if not more, effort into using Wordpress. Whilst the WordPress community is there to assist, it’s not easiest or fastest way to get answers.

HubSpot makes it easier to promote yourself and capture leads – and their consultants can help (albeit at a charge).

I would really see this as a question of how much you’re prepared to spend on your website lead gen process. If you don’t have any real technical/internet marketing skill available in-house, want an easier mechanism of lead management from your website, and can afford it then such a service can be a real boon.

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- Viktor Nagornyy 10 years ago
  
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  You’re absolutely right Kameel. All business owners that hire me to switch them from Hubspot to Wordpress are doing it because 1. they are not putting enough efforts into it to make it pay (so no ROI) and/or 2. they don’t have the money. That’s where Wordpress is a great way to give them a good website to generate leads, minus all the tools that Hubspot provides (and the price) since most rarely use any of them but CMS.
  
  I don’t know if its Hubspot sales reps that do not communicate how much time and resources are necessary to make Hubspot pay for itself or businesses fail to invest it once they purchase it.
  
  If a business cannot invest 5-10hrs per week minimum on Hubspot, than it will be a waste of money. Pretty simple.
  
  Reply
Kameel Vohra 10 years ago

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Great article. I’ve managed several sites that use Wordpress and certainly support it as a platform. HubSpot does however have value for small-mid size businesses.

Though you have to put effort into using HubSpot, you’d have to put the same, if not more, effort into using Wordpress. Whilst the WordPress community is there to assist, it’s not easiest or fastest way to get answers.

HubSpot makes it easier to promote yourself and capture leads – and their consultants can help (albeit at a charge).

I would really see this as a question of how much you’re prepared to spend on your website lead gen process. If you don’t have any real technical/internet marketing skill available in-house, want an easier mechanism of lead management from your website, and can afford it then such a service can be a real boon.

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- Viktor Nagornyy 10 years ago
  
  Reply
  
  You’re absolutely right Kameel. All business owners that hire me to switch them from Hubspot to Wordpress are doing it because 1. they are not putting enough efforts into it to make it pay (so no ROI) and/or 2. they don’t have the money. That’s where Wordpress is a great way to give them a good website to generate leads, minus all the tools that Hubspot provides (and the price) since most rarely use any of them but CMS.
  
  I don’t know if its Hubspot sales reps that do not communicate how much time and resources are necessary to make Hubspot pay for itself or businesses fail to invest it once they purchase it.
  
  If a business cannot invest 5-10hrs per week minimum on Hubspot, than it will be a waste of money. Pretty simple.
  
  Reply
Rob Rohena 10 years ago

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Excellent post Victor, however, @Hubspot has one major point … tracking of metrics that really impact revenue …. of course someone could always develop a plugin that does this.

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- Viktor Nagornyy 10 years ago
  
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  I agree Rob, that’s one great benefit that’s not currently available in Wordpress. But many small businesses don’t use it, even when they ave it with Hubspot. Thanks for commenting.
  
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- Mark 10 years ago
  
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  Done!
  
  Bizible (no connection) has a wordpress plugin that tracks revenue.
  
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- Mitchell 9 years ago
  
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  See http://www.inboundnow.com/ – they’re quickly replicating all of the useful tools HubSpot had – for free.
  
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Charlie 10 years ago

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I really like your articles, even though i dont understand anything. But since im going to make a web site, now i know i have to check wordpress out.

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- Viktor Nagornyy 10 years ago
  
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  Thanks Charlie, don’t hesitate to message me if you need help.
  
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Alan Lewinger 10 years ago

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Great Article Victor. We are building complex and robust sites using WP for our clients. We have developed some very advanced e-commerce sites using the Woocommerce Plugin. To get what we need we have highly customized the themes and plugins. But the important point is – you can!

We just put up an 8 part article on Understanding Website Marketing Analytics that might be helpful to your readers. They can find the first article at: http://bit.ly/VHzKVi All 8 are there for the reading!

Keep the info flowing. I really enjoy your posts!

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- Viktor Nagornyy 10 years ago
  
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  Thanks Alan for the comment. Great article. Tweeted.
  
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WordPress Misconception #1: “WordPress is just that, a blogging tool”

WordPress Misconception #2: “Unless you hire a consultant to work with you, you are on your own”

To Conclude

WordPress Misconception #1:
“WordPress is just that, a blogging tool”

WordPress Misconception #2:
“Unless you hire a consultant to work with you, you are on your own”