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Website speed is crucial for both SEO and user experience, so starting with a fast platform is key to your website’s success. There's a misconception that HubSpot CMS sites are slow, but that's simply not the case. In this blog, we’ll explain why HubSpot is a high-performing platform and highlight the features that make it one of the best choices for building fast, efficient websites.
Despite some common misconceptions, HubSpot websites are not slow. As with any platform, slow performance comes from how the website is built and the elements added on top. Of course, a platform can impair performance, but it's usually, and in the case of hubspot, the other things that do.
At it's core, HubSpot CMS is incredibly fast, with many built in performance-enhancing features:
When we spoke to Gabe Wahaab, HubSpot Content Hub's Senior Product Marketing Manager, about the speed of HubSpot CMS, he emphasised the effort that HubSpot dedicate to the speed of their websites.
"We have an entire team dedicated to just speed. And especially over the last couple of years, that's been a very big focus of ours."
When considering performance, it's of course important to compare the speed of different platforms.
When comparing the speed of popular website platforms, HubSpot CMS is one of the top contenders. Pingdom ran a report comparing the speed of top content management systems, and the results speak for themselves.
Only WordPress slightly outperformed HubSpot in the load time test, by 0.1s. Despite this, for most SMEs and enterprise businesses, HubSpot's speed and infrastructure are more than sufficient to support strong SEO, deliver a great user experience, and drive website conversions.
The speed of any platform can be compromised by poor design and development, so it's essential to build wisely and follow best practices. For HubSpot websites, working with an accredited HubSpot website developer is key to ensuring your site is optimised for future success.
Since HubSpot's infrastructure is fully managed, most performance issues occur on the front-end, such as:
By understanding the factors that affect website performance you can follow best practices during development to keep load times low and website performance high.
When creating a website on HubSpot CMS, your budget will often dictate whether you choose a fully bespoke design tailored to your brand or a marketplace theme. While both options can be suitable, it's important to note that marketplace themes are usually slower due to the extensive customisation options they include, whether or not you end up using all of them.
A custom-built theme is designed specifically for your brand and can be as streamlined as needed. Since it's developed from scratch, you have control over what features and functionality to include, ensuring that the code is lean and minimal. This results in faster load times, improved user experience, and better SEO performance.
In contrast, a marketplace theme comes with a variety of pre-built features designed to be adaptable to different businesses and use cases. These themes allow for extensive customisation options, such as adjustable layouts, fonts, colors, and other design elements, without needing custom code. But because they're built to cater to a wide range of users, they include excessive features and code that may never be used on your specific site. This added bloat often leads to slower page speeds.
If you're considering using HubSpot CMS for your website but are unsure if the platform is right for you, book a demo with one of our experts.
Our CMS specialist will guide you through:
If you have any questions about the platform, we'll answer them for you, enabling you to make an informed decision.
