Articles about WordPress

Post #7 of 7 in series | Go to series listing "WordPress got run over by my HubSpot Coming from my partner agency You could say that HubSpot's not the answer But as for me and my team, we believe." These are lyrics from the main Chorus in the song, "WordPress Got Ran Over By My HubSpot", which repeats throughout the song the declaration that HubSpot CMS is running over WordPress more and more as this ongoing debate has really heated up in the last year or two. Similar to Santa Claus, not everyone believes. But, as for me and my team... Does HubSpot Really Run Over The Competition? Well, not physically, but HubSpot CMS is making massive strides in the market, growing and improving daily, and has a huge edge on competitors with the built-in toolset of the CRM, marketing tools, sales tools, etc. If you're using a platform like WordPress, you are having to handle all of those other elements with other solutions. This results in a large tech stack and a large collection of subscriptions to manage and pay for. The ongoing challenge of keeping all of your tools in sync and working together is not a fun one, but one that many people fight with every day. Options like WordPress are still around, but gradually becoming "old hat". The extensive lead in marketshare is starting to see a decline as more modern solutions, like HubSpot, become more prominent. Plus, more and more people are realizing that there is a real potential savings in wiping out that tech stack with HubSpot's integrated toolset... savings both financially, your time, and your stress load. HubSpot Partners The song references partner agencies, of which we at New Era are an active participant. HubSpot has a fabulous solution partner program where agencies of all sizes, all over the globe, can actively work alongside of HubSpot to consult, sell, build, onboard, and everything in between. HubSpot isn't trying to be a service provider or an agency. They realize that their strengths are in the platform itself and continually working to make sure that it's the very best solution in all areas that it reaches into. Then, they connect with solution partners to put their software users into the hands of a partner team that can effectively help them to get the most out of their HubSpot subscription. Each partner tends to have their own specialized set of skills, so it's important to connect with the right one. Some focus on the CRM and marketing side, while others may focus more on the CMS side. At New Era, we can effectively help with all areas of the HubSpot platform! The solution partner program is a great asset of HubSpot and is a certainly a key component to the growing success of the platform and its community! One Solution To Rule Them All While there may be one ring that can rule them all, there will never be one CMS solution that rules them all. It is simply impossible for any one tool to work for every possible situation. Your website has specific functionality that is needed, based on your organization and your goals. Similar to the CRM side of HubSpot, there are many options that exist. You have to find the one that works best for you. That being said, HubSpot has become an absolute powerhouse all the way around, from the CRM to the CMS! Just about anything you would ever need to build in a website, you can handle with CMS Hub. So, while it may not be the answer to ALL scenarios, we believe it's as close as any one solution can get! In this Christmas season, you may find yourself as a non-believer in everything from the North Pole. You may also be a non-believer of HubSpot. I certainly hope that isn't the case, as you would most definitely end up on the naughty list! Seriously though, I've been in this business for a long time... long enough to have seen some solutions peak and then gradually fade away. What we're seeing with HubSpot is a continued trend in a big, upward direction, which will only contribute to the opposite direction for other solutions. So, like the song says, "you might say that HubSpot's not the answer. But, as for me and my team, we believe." Connect with us and give us the opportunity to make a believer out of you! Hopefully you've enjoyed this mini-series where we dove into the HubSpot CMS vs WordPress debate, done with a little fun via the parody inspiration song. Come back and revisit this content in the days ahead when you need material to debate this topic or to sell your boss on migrating your website to HubSpot! If you have any questions, or need some help with your migration process, we'd love to hear from you! You can always check out what we have to offer in the form of HubSpot themes and related CMS services.

Post #6 of 7 in series | Go to series listing "HubSpot CMS is better It's so easy to adopt I'm building content with such freedom 'Cause my Fusion theme is fully drag-n-drop" These are lyrics from the second half of Verse 3 in the song, "WordPress Got Ran Over By My HubSpot", which addresses the powerful and flexible content management capabilities of HubSpot CMS due to the modular theme structure. Of course, this portion of the song kicks in with the most obviously true declaration ever... that "HubSpot CMS is better"! Is WordPress Good At Managing Content? Out of the box, WordPress is very basic and limited when it comes to managing your website content. At its core, it's a simple blog tool. You have your blog content, then anything else around it is locked in and fed by whatever template you're using. Now, you CAN build out flexible content structures and have multiple editable elements to your content... BUT you'll have to dig in with those dreaded third-party plugins! Custom Content Structure With a plugin like Advanced Custom Fields, you can create fully customized content frameworks that you can then populate within your pages. This can work very well, however, it is not a user-friendly item to get setup. You'll need a developer to set it up right and in a way that you can manage moving forward. Third-Party Editors WordPress has a drag-n-drop editor called Gutenberg that was added in 2018 in response to multiple 3rd party solutions coming out to replace the built-in editor that was... pretty worthless. Gutenberg does give you the ability to drag and drop various types of content blocks onto your page, bringing some flexibility to the table without having to use an additional plugin. An improvement, but still doesn't match up to the other options. Popular plugins like Elementor and Divi are widely used within WordPress sites to give that drag-n-drop content editing framework. They bring a large list of pre-built templates and widgets, allowing you to build your website quickly. From animations to integrations with other software tools, these editors certainly upgrade your content management experience. Both of the plugins named here will cost you another subscription, although Elementor does have a scaled back free version. Is It Worth It? The biggest cost of using these plugins, however, is performance. Even if you are using them, you're still packing and loading Gutenberg, as that is built into WordPress. Then these plugins, having an extensive collection of tools, features, and templates, give you a big load of assets that your website has to carry around, whether you're using all of it or not. Many WordPress sites suffer in performance due to tools like this. HubSpot Themes So, how does HubSpot CMS handle all content management? When CMS Hub was launched in April 2020, the current theme structure was introduced. The entire way websites were built in HubSpot was revamped, and done in a manner that was really geared towards the marketer, or whoever is managing the content. There was a real focus towards enabling the marketer and removing the need for having to shoot up a flare for a developer every time they needed a simple modification. What Is A Theme? A HubSpot theme is a set of templates, modules, global content, and style settings that can be used to create a website. You can dial in the style settings that will apply globally to all of your pages that are built within the theme. This makes for a consistent look and feel, while still leaving customization abilities at the page level for when you need to override your established defaults. It also contains global elements like a header and footer that can be edited for any page, but apply globally across your site. Then, all of the modules (usually anywhere from 20-50 in a theme) are your building blocks to piece together a page however you'd like. Drag and drop the modules where you need them, and then within each module, take advantage of whatever built in styling is available per module instance. Out of the box, HubSpot includes a handful of themes that you can use. No additional plugins or customization is needed to enable this flexible, modular framework! HubSpot Template Marketplace HubSpot Marketplace has a large and growing number of themes available that you can quickly get started with to build your site within HubSpot. Many of these themes are even free! We have 4 themes in the Marketplace ourselves, developed and supported by New Era Technology: FreeHold - geared towards real estate Apex - geared towards events Fusion - geared towards technology and more design-focused Fusion Pro - the Fusion theme with some upgrades in the form of additional modules and templates Keep in mind that with any HubSpot theme, whatever the target or demo industry it comes with, you can use that theme for anything! I've seen our real estate theme used for a car dealership, and our Fusion theme used for a yarn shop! The initial target industry is essentially just an example usage of the theme. Child Themes If you want to have multiple variations of your theme, to give variation to different sections of your website, you can create child themes. This allows you to maintain the base theme, but then tweak as needed within the child framework to customize as needed. You can also use a child theme to customize a theme that you have downloaded from the Marketplace, as you can't directly edit the downloaded theme files. See For Yourself With HubSpot, you can quickly create a FREE account and give the CMS a test drive! Check out what you can do right from the start of creating an account, and grab a theme from the Marketplace to dig in a little deeper! We've helped migrate many clients from other platforms like WordPress on to HubSpot CMS, and they are always thrilled with their decision once they experience how much easier it is to manage! You can take a look at our HubSpot themes and some of our custom client projects, along with related offerings that we have available, by clicking here. If you're running a website on WordPress, or some other platform, it's time to drag yourself out of that rut and drop us a line! Get it... drag and drop?? Anyway, we'd love to help and chat with you about how we could do so!

Post #5 of 7 in series | Go to series listing "They said build your site on WordPress It's the best known CMS But just 'cause that's what you're used to Doesn't mean you've got to live in such a mess" These are lyrics from the first half of Verse 3 in the song, "WordPress Got Ran Over By My HubSpot", which addresses the fact that WordPress IS the most used CMS across the internet, but that in itself is not a good reason to use it. Is WordPress Really The Most Popular? Yes, as difficult as it is to admit, WordPress IS the most popular CMS... and has been for many years. The current stats would show that WordPress powers about 43% of all websites, which is a LOT. This does seem to be slowing down in the vast margin that WP has held for so long above other platforms, so I'm sure the day will come where the "most popular" label will be removed. Now, while our inspiration song and I are certainly fans of HubSpot CMS, it must also be said that no one solution is the solution for everything. There will be scenarios, although few, where HubSpot very well may not be the best route. (You have no idea how hard it was to even type that last sentence). Currently, the one scenario where WordPress definitely has a leg up on a HubSpot CMS solution is if you need a full shopping cart experience. Generally, I would combine HubSpot for the website and then something like Shopify to handle the store. But, if you want everything all in one place, then you can roll with WordPress and WooCommerce, and you've got the whole thing packaged up together. In years past, there were more scenarios where WordPress still could hold its own over HubSpot. At this point, in my opinion, the previous example is the only such remaining scenario. If Your Friends Jumped Off A Cliff, Would You? Many of us have heard this well-known argument from our parents after saying things like "Well, Jimmy is going there! Well, Jimmy has one! Well, Jimmy's parents let him do it!" As kids, we certainly fight with that feeling of wanting to have and do everything that our friends have and get to do. Unfortunately, that slips into adulthood for some of us. Now, before we get into a counseling session, this "would you also jump off the cliff" question is brought up simply to make a point. And what is that point? As the song reminds us all, just because it's the most popular... or what you're accustomed to... or what your previous company used... doesn't mean that you have to keep using it. Just like everything else in life, change is difficult. However, we often find that something is better on the other side of the change and we then get to experience a better scenario than we ever would have if we had bypassed the change. In the midst of this valuable life lesson, let's stay focused on your website. You may have used WordPress for a long time. Or maybe you're just starting, and thought you'd use WordPress because it's the only CMS you were familiar with. Either way, you don't have to live there. Rescue Units Are Standing By You can be rescued! You can migrate your website from WordPress to HubSpot CMS and say goodbye to all of the mess that is referenced in this song and experienced daily by anyone running a WP website! Is there a simple one-click solution and your website magically moves to HubSpot? No. BUT, it's not as difficult as you might think. HubSpot Template Marketplace HubSpot Marketplace has a large and growing number of themes available that you can quickly get started with to build your site within HubSpot. Many of these themes are even free! We have 4 themes in the Marketplace ourselves, developed and supported by New Era Technology: FreeHold - geared towards real estate Apex - geared towards events Fusion - geared towards technology and more design-focused Fusion Pro - the Fusion theme with some upgrades in the form of additional modules and templates Keep in mind that with any HubSpot theme, whatever the target or demo industry it comes with, you can use that theme for anything! I've seen our real estate theme used for a car dealership, and our Fusion theme used for a yarn shop! The initial target industry is essentially just an example usage of the theme. Work With A Solution Partner New Era Technology is one of many HubSpot Solution Partners. It is always recommended to connect with a partner that can help ensure that you have the appropriate HubSpot setup for your needs and can also assist with getting that existing website migrated! We are very experienced with migrating sites to HubSpot and would love to chat with you about how we can help! I have personally migrated a great number of clients off of WordPress and onto HubSpot's CMS Hub... and the client is always thrilled with their decision! CLICK HERE to learn more about our capabilities and work with CMS Hub! If you're running a website on WordPress, or some other platform, it's time to stop following the old trends and start moving your website to greener pastures! We'd love to help, but even if it's not us, please just get help. You, and anyone else managing your website, will be glad you did!

Post #3 of 7 in series | Go to series listing "I tried to keep up with the updates But there's so much third party Plus my hosting adds more issues 'Cause it's not running the latest PHP" These are lyrics from the first half of Verse 2 in the song, "WordPress Got Ran Over By My HubSpot", which highlights the ongoing struggles you have to deal with between updates to WordPress itself, third party plugins and server level updates like PHP. Constant Updates & Maintenance The issue of having to deal with a long list of third party plugins in a WordPress website was addressed earlier in this series, although it was more a reference to the ongoing cost involved, both of money and time. Beyond that, there is the constant maintenance that you have to stay on top of. Core WordPress As an open source solution, WordPress is a large package of files that you install when you setup the CMS. That process also creates the database tables. On a regular basis, there are updates to the core platform, which include bug fixes and security patches, usually more on the side of security patches. Security holes in WordPress are usually very well known, so if you do not patch those holes, you are just begging for your site to be hacked. Then, less often, you have larger updates like moving from version 4 to 5. Those are always more significant and require more attention. Why? Because is what all of the plugins build off of, and when major changes are made, there are always plugins that have not been updated accordingly. That becomes a wall that forces you to update all of the plugins at the same time... and that is IF all of your plugins even have an appropriate update available. Third Party Plugins Speaking of plugins... all of your plugins are third party, so you will have an irregular flow of updates... and there's always something that needs attention. These updates could be bug fixes, security fixes, or new features. Some developers will notify you of updates with details on what is included and how to best address it. Some will not. You'll see updates in your WP admin and some you'll be able to apply with one click. Some will require manual updates. Either way, you better prepare yourself before clicking any of those buttons. Does the update work with the version of WordPress you have installed? Does it include any changes that might introduce new conflicts with other plugins? You may not know the answer to those questions until you close your eyes, pull the trigger, then slowly open your eyes again as you anxiously look to see if your site is still standing. Oh, and did you customize that plugin? That one-click update will wipe your customization and you'll have to re-apply it. That sounds fun. Server Resources Alongside of keeping your core WordPress and collection of plugins updated and playing nicely with each other, you have your hosting account to keep tabs on. The main item that plays a role here is PHP, which is the foundation of everything. There are many elements of your LAMP stack environment that have to be configured correctly for your site to work, but PHP will have occasional updates. While your web host can generally handle that for you, it is a common situation to update PHP just to find that something in the WP package no longer works. Maybe the entire site goes down, then you have to reverse the server changes. Moral of the Story So, putting all of the above together, you can see that a WordPress site is a sensitive balancing act as you juggle all of your plugins while also keeping core WordPress and PHP current and still working. There are so many moving parts in this scenario and it only takes ONE bad apple to ruin the whole bushel. One plugin, one file, one database update... and the whole thing can come crashing down. Can you just leave it as-is when it's working and ignore the updates?? Sure... if you like getting hacked. What about HubSpot CMS? As we're looking at the HubSpot CMS in comparison to WordPress, how does HubSpot stack up against all of the above? I'm glad you asked. HubSpot has all hosting, security and firewalls built in. There is no need to purchase and manage a separate hosting account. No worries about what version of PHP you're running or any other server level element. HubSpot has it all covered. HubSpot doesn't have (or need) a library of 3rd party plugins. Almost everything you could ever need comes with HubSpot by default. A full user-friendly drag-n-drop content editing system, powerful forms, custom emails, SEO, CTAs, reporting, smart content, integrated CRM, content personalization, privacy content controls, and so much more... ready to go. No plugins needed, so no third party updates to juggle. I have personally migrated a great number of clients off of WordPress and onto HubSpot's CMS Hub... and the client is always thrilled with their decision! If you're running a website on WordPress, it's time to stop wasting so much time applying band-aids to your website and fighting just to keep it standing. We can help. Let's chat.

Post #2 of 7 in series | Go to series listing "I was fooled in the beginning 'Cause I thought WordPress was free But besides all those paid plugins What's it worth to keep my sanity?" These are lyrics from the second half of Verse 1 in the song, "WordPress Got Ran Over By My HubSpot", which highlights one of the biggest myths on the internet... that WordPress is free. Yes, it is open-source and you can freely download the core WordPress CMS, but that is the only part of the process that is actually free! Cost of Environment The first thing you will have to put in place for WordPress is a hosting solution. There are many options and routes to go here, but they will all come with a price tag. You have to have the hosting account, which provides the server setup that will house your WordPress site. A cheaper hosting account could be around $20/month, but many run in the hundreds of dollars each month. And as with anything else in life, you do get what you pay for. Beyond the hosting account, you also have to setup and pay for a SSL certificate, and a firewall/CDN solution (like Cloudflare). Of course, the firewall is optional, but as security is a major issue with WordPress, not having a firewall would be like jumping out of a plane without a parachute. Cost of Plugins As the song mentions "those paid plugins", this is a regular part of the financial cost to your WordPress site. There are thousands of plugins available, most of which you wouldn't want to touch with a 10-foot pole, but you will have to utilize some third party plugins to make your site capable of anything beyond a blog. Some of those plugins are free, but the ones that you would need to have the best WordPress setup possible will cost you. Some are one-time costs, but many are setup as a subscription, so the cost continues. Also, most paid plugins will be licensed to only one website, so if you have multiple sites, you'll have to purchase the plugin per website or buy a more expensive developer or commercial license. For example, one of the plugins that I see as a requirement for a WordPress site is Advanced Custom Fields. This will cost you (based on currently posted pricing) $49/year for a personal website, $149/year for a "freelancer" 10-site license, or $249/year for an agency license covering unlimited websites. That is one plugin and you'll be hard-pressed to get away with less than 20 plugins on a WordPress site. Cost of Your Sanity You often hear the phrase "cost of ownership", and you have to look beyond the cost of that plugin, the monthly cost of the hosting account, etc. You have to look at the cost of your TIME involvement. Your hosting might only cost $60/month, but how much time is spent with tech support to address issues, to update PHP, to resolve conflicts that arise with server changes? That plugin might only be $99/year and can be installed in one click, but how much time is spent updating the plugin over and over, testing to make sure the updates play nicely with the rest of your setup, troubleshooting when the update breaks something else on your site, or re-applying your customizations that get lost every time you run an update? People managing websites like WordPress or other open source solutions spend an enormous amount of time on an ongoing basis just fighting to keep the lights on. The reality is, between all of the updates and maintenance that comes with a website like this, those updates simply do NOT always go smoothly. There WILL be moments when everything comes crashing down and you spend the next 3 days trying to dig that needle out of the haystack. In the end, time is money. Simple and true. That initial download was free, but how much are you now spending with your therapist? :) What about HubSpot CMS? As we're looking at the HubSpot CMS in comparison to WordPress, how does HubSpot stack up against all of the above? I'm glad you asked. HubSpot has all hosting, security and firewalls built in. There is no need to purchase and manage a separate hosting account. No need to purchase a SSL certificate and hope you don't forget to renew it. No need to purchase a firewall / CDN solution. All of that comes with HubSpot and you don't have to touch any of it. Your monthly payment for HubSpot covers everything. HubSpot doesn't have (or need) a library of 3rd party plugins. Almost everything you could ever need comes with HubSpot by default. A full user-friendly drag-n-drop content editing system, powerful forms, custom emails, SEO, CTAs, reporting, smart content, integrated CRM, content personalization, privacy content controls, and so much more... ready to go. No plugins needed, so no additional third party licenses to pay for. HubSpot actually can be free! We have addressed the myth about the existence of a free WordPress... and now while a more involved HubSpot site will likely utilize a paid level of the platform, you actually CAN setup HubSpot for free! Every hub of the platform has a free version. Limited of course, but you can get quite a bit done and can even launch a base level site on the free CMS. Then upgrade once you need additional features! HubSpot reduces your tech stack. Beyond the website itself, HubSpot also brings to the table a powerful CRM, email marketing, reporting, social media tools, sales tools, and tons more! In most cases, people greatly reduce their tech stack when they move to HubSpot and find that they no longer need multiple other tools that they currently subscribe to. At the end of the day, most people end up saving a lot of money when moving to HubSpot! HubSpot brings peace of mind. There is nothing wrong with seeing a therapist and I certainly see the value in those services. However, your website shouldn't drive you into therapy! Those fatal error white screens, hacked websites, script conflicts, server updates and everything else in between is enough to push anyone over the edge. After you migrate to HubSpot, you will no doubt replace all of that with a peace of mind that will quickly have you kicking yourself in the butt for not migrating sooner! I have personally migrated a great number of clients off of WordPress and onto HubSpot's CMS Hub... and the client is always thrilled with their decision! If you're running a website on WordPress, it's time to let go of the mess and the stress. We can help. Let's chat.

Post #1 of 7 in series | Go to series listing "We had way too many plugins I said some have got to go There’s just way too much to update And it’s made website much more vulnerable" These are lyrics from Verse 1 in the song, "WordPress Got Ran Over By My HubSpot", which highlights one of the most common struggles with WordPress... plugins. Some will sell WordPress as being a good solution because of the vast plugin library that exists. While it IS true that there are thousands of plugins that you can use, there are many problems that come with this scenario. First, you can't really use WordPress without tapping into plugins as core WordPress is basically a blog platform. If you want to do anything remotely custom or functional with your site, you will have no choice but to grab a pretty extensive list of plugins. You'll need plugins to handle forms and SEO, at a minimum, and then if you want any type of user-friendly content editor solution, you have to install very heavy plugin solutions. While they can make content editing more flexible and give you many built-in options, you not only pay the license fee for the plugin, but you pay the price in site performance as it carries all of that extra weight. The main problem with plugins is that they are 3rd party solutions that in most cases do not even work. There is no validation from WordPress that the plugins are a quality solution, are secure, or work correctly. With every plugin that you install, you're taking a chance. Will it really work with your version of WordPress, or your version of PHP, or alongside of your other plugins?? There's only one way to find out! I hope you made a backup before you tried to install that plugin! Then, once you have your set of 20-30 plugins (some sites have many more), you now have the ongoing task of updating them. Some you can update with one click. Some you can not. And if you happen to customize the plugin, updating then becomes are real chore as you update manually to keep your customizations in play.... while praying that they still work when you're done. Dealing with conflicts As stated a moment ago, your new plugin is going to have to play nice with WordPress, with your server, and with all of your other plugins. If it doesn't, a very common scenario is a fatal error where your site suddenly displays nothing but an empty white screen... unless you have error reporting on, and then you get your errors displayed on that pretty white screen. Now, this will not tell you where the conflict actually is. So you begin an internal investigation to determine where the conflict exists and what is causing it. Once you discover the problem, you then have to sort out how to fix it. You will likely end up in a tech support scenario with a plugin developer, your hosting provider, or digging through the interwebs trying to find a solution. All of the time you spend updating plugins, updating WordPress, dealing with server changes, logging support tickets... none of this is advancing your business. You're not usually even adding anything new to your website. You're just keeping your website afloat. Keeping the lights on. Living to see another day. Much more vulnerable As the song says, all of these plugins make your website that much more vulnerable to security threats. Every plugin is a new vulnerability... a new doorway into your site or server. You already have to keep your server and core WordPress updated with a continuous stream of patches and updates. Now, you have to do the same with all of your plugins... assuming that all of those developers actually stay on top of things and provide updates for their plugins. Some developers will, but most will not. One of the biggest issues with a WordPress website is security. You don't have to dig very far to find tons of posts and articles about security problems, hacked websites, etc. I always say it's not IF your WordPress site gets hacked, it's WHEN it gets hacked. What about HubSpot CMS? As we're looking at the HubSpot CMS in comparison to WordPress, how does HubSpot handle all of these plugin and security issues? I'm glad you asked. HubSpot doesn't have (or need) a library of 3rd party plugins. Almost everything you could ever need comes with HubSpot by default. A full user-friendly drag-n-drop content editing system, powerful forms, custom emails, SEO, CTAs, reporting, smart content, integrated CRM, content personalization, privacy content controls, and so much more... ready to go. No plugins needed. HubSpot does have both an App marketplace and a Template/Module marketplace. These give you access to 3rd party integrations or prebuilt themes to build your site with. However, not just anything can be loaded into the marketplace. There is automatic validation on HubSpot's side to ensure everything that is expected and required on the code side is correct and in place. Plus, there is a manual approval process to ensure that a quality product is being added. HubSpot has built-in hosting so you do not need to pay for or manage any other hosting solution. The hosting, SSL certificate and Cloudflare CDN and firewall is all part of the package! With WordPress, each of those items are an additional expense to your "free" CMS solution. Everything on this side of your website is handled by HubSpot, leaving nothing for you to worry about. And their stated 99.9% uptime is actually true. I have personally migrated a great number of clients off of WordPress and onto HubSpot's CMS Hub... and I can honestly say that I have NEVER had a scenario where a client regretted that decision. Usually, they just end up mad at themselves for not pulling that trigger sooner. If you're running a website on WordPress, it's time to correct that. We can help. Let's chat.