What is HubSpot CMS Starter?
Building a website can be daunting. There is so much to consider: choosing the right platform, deciding on the design and content, and finally operating the digital business. This blog post discusses whether or not HubSpot’s most cost-effective website solution, HubSpot CMS Hub Starter, is suitable for building an effective business website.
What is HubSpot CMS Hub Starter? In a nutshell, it’s the HubSpot CMS at its most basic level. The least expensive website option available from HubSpot, you have access to all of HubSpot’s apps and integrations without having to create custom code or make changes directly in your site’s HTML/CSS.
What is the cost?
At the time of writing this, HubSpot CMS Hub Starter costs 23€ per month or 248€ per year.
Does it come with support?
Yes, this entry-level product comes with email and community support and access to HubSpot University training resources.
Who should use HubSpot CMS Hub Starter?
If you are a small business and can’t afford to pay additional fees for design, development, and more robust technical optimizations, we recommend using HubSpot CMS Hub Starter. The content management system already includes many of the core features you will need.
HubSpot CMS Hub Starter is an excellent option for startups that want to build a business website quickly to get their foot in the door of marketing automation and start generating leads.
There are some features you may need access to in a more advanced package. For example, HubSpot CMS Hub Starter doesn’t include all of the features of smart forms or any of the smart content functionality.
What are some alternatives?
If you’re looking for a content management system but still don’t want to pay development fees when building your business website, consider using another platform like WordPress or WebFlow. These platforms offer similar features with an intuitive user interface and are easy to use without having access to code knowledge.
For businesses that need access to the full suite of HubSpot’s features, you can take your website further by using one of their more advanced products, like HubSpot CMS Hub Professional. Alpha Alias is an official HubSpot Solutions Provider and can help you from initial onboarding through the design and development process and even run your digital business for you.
Truly Designed For Scale
HubSpot is an attractive choice for many businesses because of its robust, dynamic suite of features.
While HubSpot CMS Hub Starter contains only a fraction of those features, setting up your website on their entry-level offering repairs your business website for scale.
Creating a website that allows you to scale is a wise business decision.
HubSpot takes things a step further by helping you to scale in several ways.
First, they offer many free tools. This list highlights only a few:
- Forms
- Email marketing
- Ad management
- Landing pages
- Shared inbox
- Live chat
- Basic bots
- Team emails
- Quotes
- Calling
- Ticketing
- Email scheduling
- Data sync
- Historical sync
- Default field mappings
- App Marketplace integrations
- Contact management
- Contact website activity
- Companies
- Deals
- Tasks & activities
- Gmail/Outlook integration
Next, HubSpot allows you to scale in areas you are ready for without charging you for features you don’t need yet.
They do this by separating Marketing, Sales, Customer Service, CMS, and Operations into standalone product verticals. Each vertical contains three plans equivalent to Starter, Professional, and Enterprise.
As your business grows, businesses can selectively upgrade specific features as needed, leaving the others for when the time is right.
HubSpot has also recently added bundles that include all products in a bundle for Starter, Professional, or Enterprise. And if that weren’t enough, they also allow you to build a bundle tailored directly to your needs and provide an additional discount.
HubSpot’s ability to scale individual areas as you need them provides flexibility other systems can only wish they offered.
The technical side of a non-technical solution
While you can use templated designs, it’s good to have at least a basic knowledge of HTML and CSS if you want to get the full value out of HubSpot CMS Hub Starter.
HubSpot’s documentation is thorough and covers many topics like integrations with third-party apps such as Salesforce or MailChimp for easy data transfer. (many apps are unavailable in the Starter package) However, often, specific needs are not covered, so you will have to figure out how to solve them on your own.
Remember that even though you don’t need much technical knowledge to build a website with HubSpot, you will need to learn how to use their interface. It can be intimidating at first, but you will find it’s worth the effort if you stick with it.
Verdict
HubSpot is an attractive choice for many businesses because of its robust, dynamic suite of features. While HubSpot CMS Hub Starter contains only a fraction of those features, setting up your website on their entry-level offering prepares your business website for scale.
As an official HubSpot Solutions Provider, Alpha Alias specializes in end-to-end onboarding, strategy, design, development, and operations of HubSpot technology. We help our clients see the big picture as they plan for growth with a platform that integrates all aspects of their business.
If you’d like to talk shop, feel free to book some time, and we’ll see how Alpha Alias can help.
