SEO for HubSpot websites

8 April 2024

Reading time: 10 minutes

Senior SEO-specialist

SEO for HubSpot websites requires a unique approach that leverages the power of the platform to maximize organic traffic. HubSpot, known for its inbound marketing and sales software, offers a suite of integrated tools and features designed specifically to support and enhance SEO efforts. By aligning the basics of SEO with HubSpot’s specific capabilities, users can significantly improve their search engine visibility.

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Basic principles of SEO and their relevance to HubSpot

SEO, or search engine optimization, is the process of improving a Web site to increase its visibility for relevant searches in search engines. The core of SEO revolves around three main elements: on-page SEO, off-page SEO, and technical SEO. For HubSpot users, these principles are particularly relevant because the platform provides tools to effectively manage each of these aspects.

On-page SEO: Includes the optimization of content and HTML source code of pages, such as keywords, meta-descriptions, headers, and image alt-texts. HubSpot’s content management system (CMS) makes it easy to edit and optimize these elements directly.
Off-page SEO: Focuses on external factors such as backlinks. While HubSpot has less direct control over this, it does provide insights and tools to support link-building strategy.
Technical SEO: Refers to the optimization of website structure and technology, such as speed, mobile usability, and sitemap. HubSpot’s CMS is optimized for these technical elements, allowing users to focus on content and strategy.

How HubSpot’s tools and features support SEO

HubSpot’s CMS is designed with SEO in mind, giving users access to a range of tools to help optimize their website:

SEO recommendations: HubSpot provides personalized SEO recommendations for web pages, allowing users to identify and act on SEO opportunities.
Integrated analytics: Insights into page performance, visitor behavior, and conversion rates help refine SEO strategies.
Mobile optimization: Automatic mobile optimization ensures that websites perform well on all devices, a crucial aspect of technical SEO.

HubSpot SEO tools and features

Overview of SEO tools available on HubSpot

HubSpot offers several tools specifically designed to support SEO efforts:

Content strategy tool: Helps identify topics and keywords relevant to the target audience, and builds a content plan optimized for search engines.
Page performance tool: Provides detailed analytics on how individual pages perform in terms of loading speed, visitors, and bounce rates, all important factors for SEO.
SEO recommendations tool: Delivers customized suggestions for improving the SEO of specific pages based on best practices.

How to use these tools for effective SEO strategies

Using HubSpot’s SEO tools effectively starts with a strategic plan:

Use the content strategy tool to start with a solid foundation of topics and keywords that resonate with your target audience. This tool helps you organize your content around “topic clusters,” which can improve the findability of your content.
Implement recommendations from the SEO recommendations tool to refine your on-page SEO. This includes optimizing title tags, meta-descriptions, and using relevant keywords naturally in your content.

On-page SEO optimization on HubSpot

Best practices for optimizing pages and content

Within the HubSpot platform, on-page SEO is crucial to improving the visibility and findability of your website. The focus here is on optimizing individual web pages to rank higher and attract more relevant traffic in search engines. Here are specific best practices for on-page SEO within HubSpot:

Using the Page Performance Tool: HubSpot’s Page Performance tool provides insight into how individual pages are performing from an SEO perspective. It identifies opportunities for improvement, such as optimizing page titles, meta descriptions, and using relevant keywords in your content.
SEO recommendations tool: Another essential HubSpot feature is the SEO Recommendations tool, which makes personalized recommendations for improving your pages. This includes suggestions for technical SEO, such as improving site structure and internal link building, as well as content-specific recommendations.
Optimize for search intent: Understand the search intent behind the keywords you are optimizing for. Use HubSpot’s Content Strategy tool to identify topics that resonate with your audience, and create content that directly answers your audience’s questions and needs.

Using HubSpot to optimize meta tags, headers, and images

Meta Tags: HubSpot makes it easy to customize title tags and meta descriptions directly in the content editor. Make sure each of these elements contains relevant keywords and clearly summarizes the content of the page.

Headers: Use HubSpot’s editor to structure headers (H1, H2, H3, and so on) that not only organize your content, but also include keyword-rich headings. This not only improves readability for users, but also helps search engines understand the hierarchy and relevance of your content.

Images: HubSpot’s platform allows you to add “alt tags” to any image, which is essential for SEO. These descriptions help search engines understand the context of images and can improve your visibility in image search results.

Content creation and SEO

The importance of quality content for SEO

Quality content is the backbone of any successful SEO strategy on HubSpot. Search engines, such as Google, value content that is valuable, informative and relevant to users. On HubSpot, this means creating content that is not only keyword-optimized, but also provides in-depth insights and solutions to your target audience’s questions and problems.

Strategies for creating SEO-friendly content on hubSpot

Using the blog tool: HubSpot’s Blog tool is designed to help you create, publish and analyze your content. It allows you to optimize your blog posts with the right keyword focus, and offers SEO recommendations to improve visibility.
Topic clusters: Use HubSpot’s Topic Clusters tool to organize content around specific topics or themes. This helps build a logical site architecture that helps search engines understand how different pages are connected, which can strengthen your authority in certain topics.
Content analytics: Analyze the performance of your content regularly with HubSpot’s analytics tools. Look at page visits, bounce rates, and conversion rates to determine which content is performing best and where improvements are needed.

By leveraging these specific strategies and tools HubSpot offers, companies can effectively optimize their on-page SEO and create high-quality content that appeals to both search engines and their target audience.

What are the best extensions for SEO for HubSpot?

For HubSpot users looking to maximize their SEO efforts, the platform offers a range of built-in tools and extensions. These tools are specifically designed to integrate seamlessly with HubSpot’s CMS and CRM features, giving them an advantage over external extensions. Some of the top SEO extensions and features within HubSpot are:

HubSpot’s SEO tool: Integrated directly into the CMS, this tool provides personalized recommendations to improve your SEO strategy. It helps identify opportunities for both on-page and technical SEO, from optimizing meta tags to improving site architecture.
Website grader: While not technically an extension, Website Grader is a free tool from HubSpot that provides comprehensive analysis of your website, including performance, mobile responsiveness, SEO, and security.
Content strategy tool: This tool helps identify and organize content around topics your target audience searches for, improving the structure of your site and helping you build authority in specific domains.

What are the best extensions for technical SEO for HubSpot?

Within the HubSpot platform, the focus is primarily on providing an all-inclusive experience, with many technical SEO aspects managed automatically. However, for users who want to go further, here are some tools and features aimed specifically at technical SEO:

Custom Code: For advanced users, HubSpot allows you to add custom HTML, CSS, and JavaScript to your web pages, which can be essential for fine-tuning technical SEO elements such as load times, interactive elements, and more.
Integrations with Google Tools: HubSpot enables easy integration with Google Search Console and Google Analytics, giving you in-depth insights into your site’s technical performance and how to improve it.

What are the biggest pitfalls within SEO for HubSpot compared to WordPress?

Although HubSpot is a powerful platform for inbound marketing and SEO, there are some pitfalls compared to WordPress, mainly because of the different flexibility and access to plugins:

Limited access to plugins and extensions: Unlike WordPress, where thousands of SEO plugins are available, HubSpot offers a more closed system. This can place limitations on users who are used to deeply customizing their SEO strategy with specific plugins.
Cost: HubSpot’s platform and its SEO functionalities often come at a higher cost than WordPress, especially when considering external plugins and tools that are available for free or at low cost to WordPress users.

What are the biggest features within HubSpot that are trickier within WordPress?

Despite some pitfalls, HubSpot offers unique opportunities for SEO that are harder to achieve with WordPress:

Integrated tools and data: HubSpot’s strength lies in the integration of SEO tools with the broader CRM and content management system. This provides a holistic approach to SEO, where every action is aligned with the overall marketing strategy and customer data.
Usability and support: HubSpot is designed to be user-friendly, even for non-technical users. This, combined with excellent customer support, makes it easier for teams to implement SEO best practices without in-depth technical knowledge.
Content optimization: HubSpot excels at supporting content creation and optimization, with tools that help strategically plan, create and analyze content in line with SEO goals. This is especially valuable for companies focusing on inbound marketing.

Although HubSpot and WordPress each have their own strengths and weaknesses when it comes to SEO, HubSpot offers an integrated and user-friendly approach that is particularly well suited for companies looking to streamline and optimize their inbound marketing.

Is a HubSpot CMS fast?

In general, HubSpot CMS pages load faster than those on WordPress. This is due to lightweight programming, HubSpot’s infrastructure, and the use of a content delivery network (CDN). WordPress’ loading speed depends on several factors, such as the hosting provider, theme, and plugins used, which can sometimes lead to slower loading speeds.

By default, HubSpot generates several CSS and JS files that are required for web pages to function within their CMS. These files are optimized for speed and efficiency, in line with modern web standards. WordPress, on the other hand, can vary significantly in the amount and type of files generated depending on the themes and plugins used, sometimes resulting in unoptimized code that can affect loading speed .

Summary

HubSpot offers a unique set of SEO tools and features integrated with its all-in-one marketing platform, making it a powerful choice for companies focused on inbound marketing. Although it has some limitations compared to WordPress, such as less access to external plugins and potentially higher costs, it offers significant advantages through its usability, integrated data analytics, and excellent content optimization tools. For companies looking for a streamlined approach to improve their SEO and overall digital marketing efforts, HubSpot offers strong capabilities and a solid platform.