Admittedly, the HubSpot software can seem so complicated that it's like being in a shopping mall where do you don't know where you are, and you can't find the exit, let alone how to find the carpark where you parked your car.
However, while trying different doors (looking for the car park or the loo) I keep coming across HubSpot features I never knew were there. What's even better is that they actually work (this will come as a surprise if you've used other similar systems).
WYSIWYG Editor
WYSIWYG is "What You See Is What You Get". For years developing sites for clients, I was always shocked that nobody was doing a WYSIWYG Editor in Content Management Systems.
In other words why couldn't you write your content, in a browser, looking at the text in the actual font, at the actual size, in the actual layout?
When Adobe releases their solution we jumped on it (after we paid them, repeatedly) and it was a nightmare - clients were completely lost even though it was the best solution available. In the end we had to rip it out of several sites because it was so buggy.
HubSpot's COS Content Optimization System (their term for a CMS) works, it's that easy.
Redirects
As soon as you do any serious SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) work on your website you realise you've got stuff in the wrong place, pages in the wrong place or sometimes it's all a complete mess.
To clean up a mess it's essential to create Redirects. A redirect is as simple as it sounds, you create a hypothetical link from where the page was to where it is now. Also, you categorise the Redirect as a temporary (302) or permanent (301) redirect so the Search Engines can update accordingly. There's actually several types of redirects but I won't bore you with geeky stuff.
The redirects make the entire user experience better by showing you the content in the new location rather than the browser shrugging and saying "I don't know" (a 404 Error). Without Redirects we'd be constantly clicking on broken links, which would get very tedious very quickly.
With WordPress you can do Redirects with code, in the .htaccess file (geeks only option), or you can install a plug in.
With HubSpot it's baked right in making it easy to optimise on the fly.
You can edit the HTML
The templating system is powerful and yet it still uses HTML. This means you can actually dig down and make things exactly how you want them. Usually, when there's a modular drag and drop system they lock off the code so you can't break the code (fair enough).
With HubSpot I was able to dig down and style templates as if I'd coded them myself.
With great [editing] power comes great responsibility [to proofread] -Voltaire or Spiderman & Mike EastwoodReal Support that's actually Supportive
While rummaging through the depths of the code I had an idea to link a logo click to an email campaign... after rummaging through the documentation (which was thorough) I couldn't find the exact template variable I wanted so I emailed support.
First I was shocked by the speed of the rapid reply, then at the exceptional quality of the reply.
They explained clearly what I wanted, the available options, use case examples and an alternate strategy to do exactly what I wanted (actually it was a better way) and an offer to help. Stunning.
HubSpot Integrations
HubSpot can connect with hundreds of applications by installing a HubSpot Integration available from the HubSpot Integrations Market Place. There you can find integrations with apps and web services you use every day.
And, if you can't find what you want we can code a Custom HubSpot Integration to connect you business application to HubSpot.
