That single phrase could really sum up the driving force behind HubSpot’s new COS and what to expect from the new system as it rolls out this Fall. It’s even captured in the acronym, which is not a CMS (Content Management System), but a COS (Content Optimization System).
So what the heck am I talking about? It’s pretty simple: Think Smart CTA’s—but for website content. Instead of changing CTA’s based on a contact’s lifecycle stage or behavior, we can now change whole sections of a website. And if you’re already using Hubspot 3, which was launched last year at Inbound (2012), you’re at an advantage; the new Layout Builder for “Site Pages” looks identical to the Landing Page Builder, save for some new modules and features.
Global Modules – Do you have a section of your website that will remain the same on all pages (i.e. sidebar layout, header, footer, etc.)? No problem, just make it a global module and you can add it, content and all, to any template with one click.
Google Search – Add a Google search module that will search your site to your page.
Out-Of-The-Box Responsiveness – Responsive websites are all the rage right now, and HubSpot is no stranger to them. Every module you use in the Layout Builder is already responsive and ready for mobile, from the navigation to your text boxes.
Responsive Sliding Banner – HubSpot now provides a rotating, responsive image slider you can add anywhere on your site.
Drag-and-Drop Layout Builder – No longer restricted by HubSpot’s old template system, you can lay out your web pages any way that you want. In the past, changing a homepage layout could require hours of development, but with the new, easy-to-use interface, what would have been a complicated change could take mere minutes.
The templates you build in the Layout Builder also apply to your blog. You can now have different blog layouts or use the Layout Builder to create custom case study pages. These case study pages can also be used as smart content, so the right case study shows up for the right prospect.
I could go on and on about the new CSS live preview editor, the option to now have password protected pages, the rock-solid Python/Django (the D is silent) Infrastructure it’s built on or the eventual open-platform third party network HubSpot is hoping to foster à la Wordpress Plugins. But as cool as those things are, it’s not the reason to really get excited about Hubspot’s latest release.
For far too long, websites have been left behind from a personalization aspect. Everything else around us is being more tailored and responsive to the individual’s tastes, preferences and whims, but websites have remained as static, one-size-fits-all experiences for the most part. But the HubSpot COS is one of the first software systems to actually target and address this issue.
It’s easy to overlook HubSpot software as “too simple” from a development standpoint, but to do so would be missing the point. What Hubspot is doing is far more forward thinking than any of its other perceived CMS competitors (i.e. Wordpress, Joomla, Drupal, etc.) because, while HubSpot still gives you cool stuff to design with, it's more focused on changing the way we think about building websites and being one of the first all-in-one platforms to actually give you to the tools to do it. So the question isn’t, “How excited are you about this?” It’s, “How can you not be excited about this?!” With HubSpot COS websites, we are seeing the future. Welcome to the future of websites.
Photo Credit: Caveon
