The most prominent thing about HubSpot CMS is that it integrates easily with essential business tools like marketing, sales, and customer support. Additionally, HubSpot website development is easy, you just need to create an account > choose a template > edit website pages, and customize the theme according to your preferences. In the end, connect the domain and publish the site. Further, there are detailed steps to guide you to build a nice HubSpot website.
Explore steps to build a HubSpot website
1. Create an Account in HubSpot
To start building a website with HubSpot, begin by signing up for a free account on HubSpot.com. Look for the orange "Create an account" button, usually found in the top right corner. Click on it and select "Get started free."
Fill in your basic contact info, and you'll be guided through a simple onboarding process. Pick your business's industry, describe what your company does, and provide details like your company name, size, and website URL.
Even if you don't have a website yet, don't worry. You can enter a temporary placeholder URL like "www.mybusinessname.com." Set up your account by creating a password and choosing where you want your data hosted (U.S. or EU).
HubSpot offers a quick demo if you're new to their platform, but it's optional. You'll find step-by-step guides in the HubSpot web content management system (CMS), so you will get all the benefits if you skip it. Plus, there are handy checklists to ensure you're on the right track.
Once your account is set up, you'll land on your HubSpot overview. You'll see a task list titled "Do these things to get started" to guide you through the website-building process. Click on the "More" tab on the right, then select "CMS Hub Free" to access the User Guide, which will walk you through creating your website step by step.
2. Select a Theme and Install it
Now, let's talk about picking a design for your HubSpot website. Think of themes as ready-made templates that speed up site creation. Instead of starting from scratch, you select a theme you like. Then, you can adjust images, content, and style details like fonts and colors to match your brand.
In the User Guide, find and click on "Browse themes." Alternatively, click the Marketplace icon at the top right, then choose "Asset Marketplace." There, you'll find a variety of free themes. You can also buy one or even create your own, but this may be a bit advanced for beginners. If you're after a custom theme, hiring a designer through Fiverr is a budget-friendly option.
Once you've settled on a theme, click to install it. This process only takes a few seconds. Once done, a pop-up will ask if you want to start building your site or tweak the theme's settings (like colors and fonts). To proceed, choose "start building my site" and follow the steps below for crafting your HubSpot website.
3. Modify Website’s Pages, Settings & Structure
As part of your website design, you have various templates for different pages. For example, we selected a homepage theme. To make a new page, click "Create a Page," name it, choose a template, click "Create Page," and start editing.
To add sections, click the blue "+" between sections and select "Layouts." Drag modules from the left menu to where you want them. To remove a section, hover over it and click the trash icon.
To edit content in a module, click it and type. The left menu allows further customization, like spacing and padding adjustments.
Update Page & SEO Settings
Once you finish editing your page, head to its settings by clicking on "Settings" at the top. Here, you can tweak things that impact your site's SEO like the page title, language, slug, meta description, and featured image. You can even add code in the Advanced options.
Then, go to "Optimize" next to "Settings." You'll find a checklist of things to optimize your page. HubSpot provides guidance and tools to make SEO easy. Strive for a green check next to each item before hitting "Publish" in the top right corner for the best chance of Google ranking.
If converting a green check gives you a nightmare, then you can simply let any marketing agency work on it. Professional SEO services from agencies will solve the hard puzzle for you.
Add pages to the menu
“Settings” is also where you can add your page to your site’s navigational menu. Just click on “Add page to a menu,” and name and create a new menu. Label your menu item, link it to a page, and—when you have more menu items—drag to order them.
Build more relevant pages
Create more website pages by clicking on the “Marketing” drop-down at the top of the page, then on “Website,” and then on “Website Pages.” Here are some of the pages commonly needed to make a small business website:
- Home page
- About
- Store
- Contact
- Products
- Services
- Pricing
- Blog
- Ad or Special Offer Landing Page
- Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
If you have thought of creating different pages on your website, like general about us pages, various landing pages, or blogs, then you can easily find them in different tabs. You just have to click on the button to create those pages. After that, you can easily modify or make changes with the HubSpot drag-and-drop editor.
Let's say you want to write a blog post. First, you have to create your blog section. With the free plan, you can have one blog with up to a hundred posts. But if you upgrade to the Starter plan (which costs either $23 per month with yearly payments or $25 if you pay month by month), you can publish up to 10,000 blog posts. That's more than enough for most small businesses.
4. Customize Your Layout, Header & Footer
To keep your theme on-brand, customize your HubSpot website design to reflect your brand’s colors and fonts by editing the theme. To do so, enter your page editor (by clicking on any page), and then click on “Theme” at the left, then click on “Edit Theme Settings.” The settings you enter here control how your pages are displayed throughout your website.
For example, setting global colors instantly applies your choices to all of the headlines and text content, colored section backgrounds, and elements like buttons. However, you’ll also be able to further customize these options with other settings, such as choosing a font for headings and specifying the colors you want to be applied to your site’s navigational menus.
Customize Your Site’s Header
To make sure your website looks just the way you want it, you can tweak the design elements in your HubSpot theme. Open the page editor by selecting any page, then click on "Theme" on the left, and go to "Edit Theme Settings." These settings control how your pages appear across your website.
For instance, if you set global colors, they'll automatically apply to headlines, text, section backgrounds, and buttons. You can also fine-tune these options. Choose fonts for headings and specify colors for your site’s menus. This way, your site maintains a consistent and appealing look.
Customize Your Footer
Your website’s footer is the section at the bottom of every page of your HubSpot website. To customize it, click on the “Contents” tab on the menu to the left. Then, click on “Page Header” and open the global content editor. Edit each section by typing in your content, and then clicking “Apply Changes.”
Some things often included in small business website footers are:
A navigation menu to your site’s main pages
- Social media links
- Contact information
- Email subscription form
- Office hours and location
- Copyright information
- A link to the FAQs
- Links to common questions such as shipping and refund information
Once you’ve finished setting up your site’s footer, click on the orange “Publish” button at the top right. This is necessary to see the changes reflected on your HubSpot website.
5. Connect Your Domain
You can build a site for free on the HubSpot CMS and publish it without a custom domain on a HubSpot.com subdomain—but this isn’t recommended for businesses. It detracts from the credibility of your brand and isn’t great for search engine optimization (SEO), as HubSpot essentially benefits from any rankings your site receives instead of your own domain.
Custom domains can be purchased for as little as $10 to $12 per year with the best domain registrars, so there’s no reason to skip this step. If you don’t already have a domain, buy one to use with your HubSpot website.
To connect your domain, enter its name, specify where it will be used (e.g., web pages, blog, and landing pages), and the primary language of your website, and then click “Next.” Click “Next” again to verify, and then follow the instructions for locating and updating your DNS records with your chosen domain registrar.
HubSpot makes this easy with cut-and-paste data and detailed instructions. In addition, your chosen registrar likely has detailed instructions on updating these settings in your account.
If learning how to build a HubSpot website is your first foray into websites and domains, you can also get help with this. Hire an experienced web tech on Fiverr for as little as $5 to complete this or any other technical aspects of site building you don’t feel comfortable doing yourself.
6. Publish Your Website
The most exciting part of learning how to build a HubSpot website might be the simple click of a button that makes your website live on the internet. To publish your site, click on “Publish” in the top right corner, then click “Publish page now” in the pop-up to confirm your selection.
Next Steps: Add HubSpot Integrations
Now that you have learned how to make a website on HubSpot, add more functionalities by integrating some of the platform’s industry-leading tools for lead generation, nurturing, marketing, and customer care. HubSpot’s tools are robust, and since you can integrate them into your site easily, you can build a highly functional website, even on the free plan.
Adding integrations is easy. Just exit the website editor and scroll to the drop-downs at the very top of the page (e.g., “Conversations,” “Sales,” etc.). Select the apps you want to integrate to begin the onboarding process. Note that some apps may not be unavailable, depending on your plan.
One of the big advantages of using the HubSpot CMS to build your website is the easy integration with HubSpot’s other freemium apps. Learn more about this by reading our expert HubSpot CMS review.
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