Recently, I applied for a position as a Junior Web Developer for a HubSpot Agency. My experience with HubSpot was mainly forged during my time as a Web Dev Fellow at Center Centre while Shayne and I were researching replacement CRMs. We tested several CRMs (Contact Relationship Management tools), including Salesforce, Monday.com, and HubSpot. Of those, my favorite by a large margin, was HubSpot. (You can read more about “The Search for the Perfect CRM” in a previous blog.)
According to ChatGPT, HubSpot is a leading inbound marketing and sales platform founded in 2006. It offers a comprehensive suite of tools for content creation, social media promotion, email marketing, and CRM. HubSpot’s integrated approach enables businesses to attract, engage, and delight customers in a user-friendly platform. Emphasizing the inbound methodology, it transforms how businesses approach digital marketing, focusing on valuable content to drive growth and build lasting connections with their audience.
Unfortunately, HubSpot’s pricing was out of range of our target price and Center Centre chose to use a different CRM that met their needs at a lower cost. That didn’t mean my time with HubSpot came to an end.
A Look Into HubSpot’s CMS
After my Web Dev Fellowship ended at Center Centre a few weeks ago, I began applying for jobs that align with my skills. I’ve had a few interviews, including an interview for a HubSpot agency. In the job listing, the company stated their interest in a future employee obtaining a HubSpot’s CMS for Developers certification. I was immediately intrigued.
During our research, we tested the CMS, or Content Management Systems, of every viable CRM that met most of Center Centre’s needs. For HubSpot, that meant building a quick sales landing page for a product. This was the extent of my experience using the CMS, but it was intuitive and similar to other website builders I’ve used.
Most CMS tools these days use blocks for creating and editing pages, which makes them accessible to even the most non-technical individuals. Users can create a page by selecting the block, or module, that they want on their page and using the editor to adapt it to their needs. As a WordPress developer, this is not a new concept to me and I’ve even had the opportunity to work on custom WordPress blocks for a small project during my fellowship.
HubSpot’s CMS for Developers certification is a professional accreditation provided by HubSpot geared toward even the most junior web developers. This certification was designed to validate a user’s proficiency in creating and developing custom websites in HubSpot’s CMS Hub by delving into the CMS, HubL (HubSpot’s Markup Language), HubDB (HubSpot’s database), and the various resources available to HubSpot developers.
I began my certification prior to my first interview as I was curious to learn more about the CMS. I read that it was similar to WordPress as they both use themes, templates, plugins/extensions, SEO tools, responsive design, user permission and roles, community support, and blogging capabilities. It also has abundant documentation, which is extremely important when working with a new tool or platform.
I’m currently working my way through the certification and found the course to be very informative. The short video clips and resources provided throughout the course are perfect for short bursts of learning between applying for jobs, interviewing, and working on various projects. As I’m learning more about HubL, HubSpot’s Markup Language, I find it to be a convenient way interact with the CMS and embed dynamic content using variables, conditions, and loops.
For a coding challenge, I had the opportunity to create my first module which was surprisingly easy within the HubSpot sandbox environment. Once again, the documentation for this platform is extensive, making developing within this environment quite enjoyable. The sandbox challenge will no doubt be a great boost to my learning during the certification process.
Even if I don’t move to the next round of the interviews, I’m grateful to this company for providing me with the inspiration to learn this platform and it’s CMS. Its not surprising that HubSpot is a contender for the best Contact Relationship Management tool in use today and I’m looking forward to learning more about the platform in the future.
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