The Flexibility of HubSpot themes

HubSpot themes are collections of assets designed to enable flexible content editing. Introduced in June 2020 on the HubSpot CMS Hub, HubSpot themes quickly because popular with developers and content creators alike. Covered in this article:

Why use HubSpot themes?

The purpose of themes is to improve the experience for both marketers and developers.

For developers, themes are beneficial because they are packages that include elements like modules, images, templates, JavaScript, and CSS. Developers can take those customizable packages of website assets, and reuse them in any HubSpot CMS portal.

For content creators, themes provide a simple way to manage their websites via the theme editor. In the editor, they can modify parts of the theme, build landing pages with drag-and-drop modules, and update theme templates. Creators can also review and publish their updates. They can accomplish all this without relying on a web developer’s assistance.

HubSpot CMS is a hybrid platform that combines the best of both worlds — it’s as easy to use as a low-code/no-code system, simultaneously allowing developers precise control to customize the platform as they and their clients see fit.

HubSpot themes is a collection of templates, modules, style settings, and global content. Themes are more labor-intensive to build, but the extra effort yields substantial benefits: You get a website that is more flexible and easier to manage.

HubSpot drag-and-drop templates are built in the HubSpot design manager using the drag-and-drop website builder. They are easier to put together but are not as flexible as HubSpot themes.

Themes allow you to rearrange content vertically and horizontally as well as add and rearrange elements, alignment, and spacing. You can also edit modules, and the sections around the modules. You can apply all the changes you make to the theme settings to all pages using that theme.

Although other platforms, such as Webflow and WordPress, allow marketers to build websites without coding — based on over a decade of front-end development expertise — our team believes HubSpot CMS reigns supreme.

If you need more information on no-code/low-code CMS platforms, review the guide on migrating from WordPress to HubSpot. Also, here’s a quick comparison of features to get an idea of which CMS may work better for you. You can also read this comparison of the pros and cons of Webflow vs. HubSpot.

The flexibility of HubSpot themes allows marketers and content creators to customize all their websites in one centralized location. No coding knowledge is required.

The right and the wrong way to build a HubSpot theme

Frequently, new clients come to us with requests to update their HubSpot themes. Though they may have an entire website inventory completed, we ask them to provide us access to their HubSpot CMS Hub before we deliver a statement of work (SOW).

After signing an NDA, we dive in and look under the hood. We do this because it’s not enough to just look at the quantity of clients’ existing pages, design preferences, and project specifications. A theme built using tools and components of the HubSpot themes framework (i.e., the best practices) is much easier to edit and scale than themes built using ad-hoc approaches.

During our code review process, we sometimes discover that clients’ themes do not follow HubSpot’s best practices. Themes are often pieced together using outdated modules and code that may look fine on the front-end but is in reality labor-intensive and challenging to maintain and scale.

For example, you can build a car with BMW body parts, tires from a Prius, and a Honda engine. Will you be able to take a short ride in it? Possibly. Will it be able to accommodate a long smooth ride, work efficiently, and allow you to travel long distances? Probably not.

Sometimes, we have to go back to our clients and advise them to rebuild their entire theme or at least parts of it from scratch for a more cost-effective and scalable solution. It can become difficult to salvage their existing builds.

Scalable HubSpot themes are built by knowledgeable partners

Ideally, you shouldn’t have to worry about your HubSpot theme being built using the latest and greatest that HubSpot has to offer. This responsibility falls on your HubSpot development partner. At HubBase, for example, we have a dedicated team member in charge of HubSpot best practices and emerging technologies. We built dozens of scalable custom HubSpot themes. If you’re looking to partner with an experienced HubSpot theme developer, connect with and check out this guide on how to hire a HubSpot developer.

If you’d like to learn more about HubSpot themes, check out our Everything you need to know about HubSpot themes guide.