Moving from WordPress to HubSpot CMS can seem an insurmountable job. Change is difficult for everyone, and if you are used to working with WordPress, learning HubSpot's setup will take a bit of time. HubSpot Academy is a clearinghouse for resources to help you use their CMS and other products. If you need help, this is great place to start. Once you get started, there are a few obstacles that may get you into some hot water. Here are five things to keep in mind during your transition.
Importing Your Blog Posts
Before you make any changes to your DNS servers, start by reading up on the HubSpot tools that can help you import your existing posts. HubSpot has a tool to make this job easy. The HubSpot Blog Importer will allow you to move all of your post content to the new CMS without having to search for it in your old blog. This tool will save you loads of frustration and time in the transition process.
Once your content is moved, the next step is to check each page to make sure that everything moved over. Look for missing images, tracking codes and other coding issues that may not have reached the destination. This type of issue is typical when moving content from one system to another and may cut into your income if you don't catch it upfront. Codes to look for include ad tracking, retargeting, heat maps, Google Analytics, and affiliate links.
Tracking Before and After
The reason you are moving your site to HubSpot is to improve your traffic, conversions and sales, therefore benchmarking the before and after metrics is important. Take a "snapshot" of your site before you move, and then track it afterward for comparison.
- Import your Google Analytics data into a spreadsheet for easy comparison later on. You can mark a calendar date to recheck the analytics for future analysis.
- The Google Search Console on your Google Webmaster account can give you a picture of your indexed pages before and after. Include this data in your comparison.
- Import your list of pages crawled by Google for comparison before and after the move. Sometimes, redirects are faulty or do not get noticed by the search engine and you may need to fix this problem.
These comparisons will give you two sets of information. First, you will know how well the migration worked and find any lingering problems. Secondly, you can track how your site fared before, during and after the migration.
HubSpot SEO Tools
HubSpot's tools are valuable in assessing several aspects of your website. The On-page SEO Tool will offer you insight as to how you can improve your on-page SEO to improve your search rankings. The closest comparable WordPress tool is Yoast. Just because you moved to HubSpot doesn't mean that your pages automatically have improved SEO. You need to use the tools to make this happen.
Using the HubSpot CMS
One of the main issues in moving content to a new CMS is that each content management system is different. You will find that what you are used to on WordPress may function differently on HubSpot. Alert your staff to changes ahead of time if you can, and help them manage the changes when they come up.
HubSpot CTAs
When using HubSpot, your CTA's are integrated as part of their system for tracking conversions and other marketing functions. These CTAs have advanced features for customization and targeting. Make sure you switch your existing CTA's to HubSpot’s when transitioning to their CMS.
