More companies are leaning into smart platforms to connect the dots across marketing, sales, and service. And in that space, HubSpot has really carved out a name for itself. Now, if you’re looking to unlock what HubSpot can do for your website, you’ll need to get familiar with HubSpot modules.
HubSpot modules are the building blocks behind pages that work and look good. They help create pages that keep people engaged, guide them to take action, and grow alongside your business.
When you know how to use these modules properly, you’ll see the difference in how your site performs and how well it converts. That’s exactly what we’ve seen with many of our clients here at Nexalab. So in this guide, we’ll walk you through the essentials. We share what we’ve learned from building, customising, and optimising HubSpot modules for businesses across Australia.
What are HubSpot Modules?
HubSpot modules are the reusable elements that power your web pages, landing pages, and emails inside the HubSpot CMS. They let you put together website pages, landing pages, and even emails within the HubSpot Content Management System (CMS).
You might think of them as being similar to a Hubspot widget or Hubspot components you’d find elsewhere. And yes, they are conceptually similar. They’re designed to handle specific bits of content or make something happen on the page.
Typically, there are two main types of HubSpot modules:
- Default Modules: Built-in tools like rich text blocks, CTAs, images, and forms. You’ll find these under the @hubspot folder. They’re great for quick builds and simple edits.
- Custom Modules: These are tailor-made to fit specific needs, whether that’s a branded testimonial slider or a dynamic pricing table. You’ll need a Professional or Enterprise HubSpot tier to create these.
Using HubSpot modules brings some solid advantages. Using modules, especially drag-and-drop ones, means less reliance on code and more room for design creativity.
Plus, they keep your site maintainable. Update one module, and the changes reflect wherever it’s used. And it’s become a big win if you’re aiming for a streamlined HubSpot integration across your site and systems.
So, whether you’re tweaking a HubSpot modules theme, adjusting HubSpot email modules, or working within your own layout, the goal is the same. You speed up page creation while staying on-brand and consistent across your digital footprint.
Modules vs. Templates vs. Themes: Getting the Hierarchy Right
It’s easy to mix up HubSpot modules, templates, and themes. For sure, they sound similar but serve very different purposes when it comes to building and managing your website on HubSpot.
Modules are the individual, reusable building blocks or HubSpot components containing specific content or functionality you drop into a page to make it functional. Several modules examples are text areas, image carousels, forms, and buttons.
Templates lay out the overall structure of specific page types, like landing pages or blog posts. They arrange the modules into a format that suits the content. Back in the day, templates were the main way to build pages, but they could be a bit limiting, particularly if you weren’t a developer. Then themes take a step further.
A HubSpot modules theme is the full package. It wraps up templates, modules (including custom ones), global elements like headers and footers, and all your site-wide styling. Drag and drop editing becomes easier, styling stays consistent, and your custom modules stay organised in a neat, tidy structure.
Common Use Cases for HubSpot Modules
Because HubSpot modules are so versatile, you end up using them pretty much everywhere when creating content in HubSpot. Here’s how they’re most often used:
- Website and Landing Pages: Modules power everything from hero images, service blocks, and sliders to contact forms, image galleries, and interactive pricing tables. A high-converting landing page often depends on how well these modules are structured.
- Emails: Within HubSpot email modules, you can personalise newsletters, automate responses, and segment content using smart rules, which is great for contact-driven messaging.
- Blogs: Templates for blog listings and single posts rely on modules to control layout, image placement, comment areas, and CTAs.
- Advanced Applications: Beyond the basics, HubSpot modules are how you implement HubSpot’s smart features. You can apply ‘smart content’ rules within modules to show different versions of content based on who’s visiting. Also, custom modules can add interactive things like calculators or connect to HubDB (HubSpot’s database tool) to show large amounts of data dynamically, like product catalogues. Modules even echo the usability of widgets in builders like Elementor. But here, they’re natively linked with HubSpot CRM, making your content smarter and more personalised.
Best Practices to Create and Customise HubSpot Modules
If you want the HubSpot modules to be scalable, easy to maintain, simple for your team to use, and quick to load, you need to follow some solid best practices. At Nexalab, this is baked into how we work. Here’s a breakdown of practical development principles we typically follow.
Plan for Reusability and Flexibility
Good module development starts by thinking reusable. Instead of making a module for one tiny job on one page, think about creating flexible Hubspot components that can be used in different spots.
For instance, a ‘Card’ module could have fields for an image, title, text, and link. You could use that same module for services, team members, blog summaries, or testimonials, just by changing the content.
Use Consistent Naming Conventions
Clear naming conventions are crucial for readability and maintainability. Simply put, clear code needs clear names. Use descriptive names for files, variables, CSS classes, and fields.
As an example, naming a variable ‘testimonial_author_name’ is far clearer than ‘text_field_1.’ Structured methodologies like BEM (Block, Element, Modifier) can also help organize CSS classes logically.
Optimise for Responsiveness
Your audience browses on desktops, mobiles, and everything in between. So, making sure your HubSpot modules look good and work properly on any kind of device is important.
Use responsive CSS and test thoroughly across screen sizes to ensure a smooth UX. You absolutely have to test them on different devices or simulators. Getting this right is crucial for user experience and it’s a big tick for SEO too.
Include Smart Content Fields
Smart fields let modules change based on who’s viewing them. A returning customer in Sydney might see different CTAs than a new lead in Perth.
Include the fields needed so that content editors can easily set up rules to show different text, images, or CTAs based on visitor info stored in HubSpot. Add smart rules, and you’re personalising at scale. And no developer needed.
Use HubL Efficiently
HubL is HubSpot’s own templating language (based on Jinja) used in HubSpot modules and templates. It’s what lets modules show dynamic content from your CRM and use logic. Writing good HubL means keeping it clean, concise, and not overly complicated. Get familiar with its built-in functions.
If you’re working across platforms, like trying to integrate HubSpot with Salesforce, keeping your logic readable and efficient becomes even more important. Also, keep an eye on performance. Complex HubL, especially loops pulling lots of data in one module, can slow down your page load times. HubSpot gives you tools to help debug this.
Organise Your Module Assets
Keeping your files tidy within each module’s folder makes life much easier. Here’s HubSpot suggests a standard structure: a folder for the module (like my-custom-card.module/) containing the main files: module.html (markup), module.css (styles), module.js (scripts), fields.json (field setup), and meta.json (module info).
In some cases, maybe you need subfolders for images. Sticking to a structure like this, similar to how Hubspot modules theme assets are organised, makes things easy to find, update, and share between developers.
Test and Document the Modules
Proper testing and clear documentation often get rushed, but they’re vital for quality. So, no skipping QA. HubSpot modules need thorough testing across different web browsers (Chrome, Firefox, Safari, etc.) and devices to make sure they work everywhere.
Test different scenarios. As an example, see what happens if someone leaves a field blank. Use the preview tools and test on real staging pages. For Hubspot email modules, check them in email client preview tools.
Custom Modules for Your HubSpot
When default modules don’t cut it, HubSpot custom modules fill the gap. Whether you’re integrating calculators, animations, or something hyper-specific, here is the typical process:
- Start setting up the module structure using the Design Manager or local tools.
- Then, defining the fields that editors will use
- Writing clean code, maybe using HTML, HubL, CSS, or JavaScript
- Adding the finished module to templates or drag and drop it onto pages.
- And remember, if building from scratch isn’t practical, the Hubspot marketplace modules have loads of pre-built custom options.
How Nexalab Can Help Your Business with HubSpot Modules?
At Nexalab, it all starts with a proper chat. We take the time to understand what you’re aiming for, whether you’re launching a new site or fine-tuning your current setup. From there, we’ll work out which HubSpot modules suit your goals and where a custom build might give you the edge. Let’s book a time to talk it through—no pressure, just a solid conversation about what’s possible.
Your Next Steps
HubSpot modules are gaining relevance for building modern, scalable, and personalised websites. But building them right takes more than good intentions. It takes experience, foresight, and a local partner who understands your goals. So, if you’re ready to get serious about making HubSpot work harder for your business, the Nexalab team is ready when you are.
