Blogging has played a key role in successful business strategies. strategies, whether it is online-based or not. Depending on the goals you have for the blog, you will want to choose the right content management system (CMS). There are many blogging platforms to choose from, but the most popular in the industry would be WordPress and HubSpot. When it comes to blogging, both platforms have their strengths and weaknesses, but which one is better for boosting your company’s Search Engine Optimization (SEO)? Let’s take a look at the differences between HubSpot vs WordPress.
Why Does SEO Matter So Much?
If you are planning to use your blog to attract new visitors, then Search Engine Optimization should be one of your top priorities. SEO is how search engines such as Google or Bing decide which websites they show first in search results. The goal of SEO is to improve your digital content and improve your digital content so that your website shows up on the first page of those search results, enabling potential readers to see you first before the competition. There is a lot that goes into mastering SEO, especially for blogging, but having the right CMS will make a huge difference.
The Blogging Platform Showdown: HubSpot vs WordPress
Initially started in 2003, WordPress was the first of its kind in many ways. Founded as a blogging platform, it is regarded as one of the best systems for ranking in Google. The full version of WordPress was released to the public in January 2004. In 2006, HubSpot came in as a strong competitor due to the fact that all blogging factors of the platform were designed to work flawlessly with HubSpot’s marketing, analytics, and SEO services.
To make it easier for you to choose which content management system will meet your needs best, we are going to break down the most important factors of a CMS such as the blogging platform, hosting, analytics, and SEO tools.
HubSpot
One of HubSpot’s best blogging features is the “What You See Is What You Get (WYSIWYG)” platform design, you can easily write and edit your post in the editor and see exactly how it will be displayed to your audience. One downfall of HubSpot however is the lack of custom development for those who need more features.
WordPress
Meanwhile, WordPress allows you to do all the same things mentioned above but is also loaded with more features. With the wide selection of WordPress plug-ins to choose from, there is a greater ability to customize the look and feel of the blog post.
Blogging Platform Winner
If you are a beginner in the world of blogging or know you will not need any fancy features, then HubSpot will get the job done just fine. On the other hand, since the goal is to eventually grow the blog, the customizations and freedom you get from WordPress are hard to beat.
Why Does Hosting Matter?
Every blog has to be hosted on a server in order to work properly. For SEO purposes, having your blog listed as its own domain instead of on a subdomain is always the smart choice.
HubSpot
Once your blog is set up through HubSpot’s CSM, it will be hosted on a subdomain, which can be nice for aesthetic reasons, but Google and other search engines prefer all content under the main domain. Having the blog on a separate subdomain means it’s never totally seamless, impacting the user journey and providing a negative user experience.
WordPress
On the contrary, WordPress keeps the blog on the main domain, meaning it is on the same domain as everything else and makes for more configurable URL structures; another important factor of SEO.
Hosting Winner
Being that Google wants blogs on the same domain as all the other content WordPress is clearly the winner here.
The Importance of Analytics
In order to know how your blog is performing, you are going to want access to as many analytics as possible.
HubSpot
As we mentioned earlier, HubSpot has built the analytics into the CMS, meaning you can track how visitors are using your website all from one place. As an added bonus, their analytics software is very easy to use and shows metrics such as conversion rate, site traffic, and SEO rankings.
WordPress
Unlike their competition, they do not include analytics within the platform as a default. However, with the help of plug-ins, bloggers can quickly connect their blogs to analytic tools like Google Analytics.
Analytics Winner
We will give this one to HubSpot simply for the fact that everything analytics is built within the platform, making it almost too easy to see how your blog is performing.
Using SEO Tools for Your Blog
As you already know, SEO is very important to your blog’s success. With many SEO tools readily available to you, for the short and long term, you will be able to see the results of your efforts seamlessly. You can then use the results to take your next steps towards success.
HubSpot
Just like their analytics software, the SEO tools within HubSpot are built right into the platform. Their SEO services include keyword research and SEO tips to help you further boost your rank. On the other hand, HubSpot does not like custom and rich structured metadata, something that Google uses heavily as a ranking factor.
WordPress
If you haven’t figured it out yet, one of the greatest perks of WordPress is the amount of plug-ins you can utilize. When it comes to SEO, theYoast SEO plug-in is one of the best on the market. You can also choose from additional SEO tools such as SEMRush and XML sitemap generators to enhance your search rankings even more.
SEO Winner
Coming in strong again is WordPress with its access to outstanding SEO plug-ins such as Yoast. Even the free version of Yoast SEO allows you to accomplish more than you can use the SEO tools provided with HubSpot.
And The Champion Is WordPress
When you look back at the results, WordPress seems to be the clear winner here. That is definitely true if your goal for choosing a CMS is to manage and grow your blog for the long term. However, if you are a beginner or a blogger who likes to keep things simple, HubSpot is where you will want to start. If you outgrow the platform, it is easy and affordable to move your blog over to WordPress at a later time.
At the end of the day, both platforms will get you the results you want, but as we said at the start, be sure your goals match what the platform can provide for you and your blog. If you need assistance or have any questions, get in touch with the VSSL crew and we’ll get you started.