BLOG

Choosing Between Embedding Your Hub and onBrand Implementation

Jamie Shanks
Jamie Shanks

 

Embed vs. onBrand

One thing we hear sometimes from potential Uberflip customers is “all Hubs look the same”. It’s true. If you sign up with Uberflip, by default your company’s Hub will look exactly the same as Hubs for other companies that signed similar contracts with us. 

Out of the box, your Hub is built to give users a great content experience, no code or design required

But at some point, while you’re working to launch you’ll have to figure out if you want to embed it onto your site or style your Hub so that it looks and behaves like your current site. There are a few factors to consider with each option. 

What’s the Difference?

Hubs don’t come with features you may have on your site, like a shopping cart or login button where users can make changes to an account. There are two ways to get the elements and features “on” your Hub: Hub Embeds and onBrand Implementation.

Embedding a Hub is like copying your Hub and pasting it somewhere else (in this case, on your site). This option is free and requires you or someone on your team to change the code of your site to get your Hub to show up on site page(s). This way, the features that are already in a site’s header will be on top of where Hub content is displayed.

The other option, known as a ‘reverse embed’, is coded so that your Hub looks and behaves like your site. Your internal developers can help out with the implementation or you can get the help of Uberflip’s onBrand team to make sure everything looks and feels the way you want.

How DIY Embedding Works 

Embedding your Hub is done using the code found in the ‘<> Embed’ section of a Hub.  

embed hub

There are a few options that can be configured that will change the embed code. Some of the options include: hiding a Hub’s Hero image, Banner, Footer, and navigation menus (primary or secondary). 

If you choose to hide your Hub’s Banner, for example, the embed code will be updated so that the top banner (usually has a logo and the primary navigation for your Hub) does not show up. This means that when your Hub shows up on your site, it will not have the top banner that it usually does if you’re viewing it away from your site (meaning, without the changed code).

Once you have the code needed to embed your Hub onto your site, you can then copy and paste it in place. 

Regardless of what CMS platform you use to build your site, the Hub embed code creates a section on the page it’s placed (called an iframe) that will display your Hub.

Whenever an update is made to your Hub or Stream you used for the embed code, the page on your site will display those changes.

How onBrand Works

With onBrand, no one on your team has to look at or configure code, ever (unless you really want to). 

Our team works with you to figure out what you need for your Hub. After the final design is approved, our onBrand Specialists code your design in the ‘Custom Code’ section of your Hub.

All onBrand implementations come with Hub maintenance, premium technical support and design consultations. Creating and managing content is all up to you.

Why Embed?

You’re probably reading this and wondering why anyone would want to embed their Hub. The simple answer is it’s relatively easy. If you know some HTML and CSS, all that is required is a simple copy and paste. 

Before moving forward with embedding your Hub, you’ll need to consider how much time it will take to get to the finished product.

Why onBrand?

Most of the time, if you don’t have a dedicated developer on your team, embedding your Hub onto your site could turn out to be more trouble than it’s worth. Aside from troubleshooting, you’ll have to consider other factors such as site or Hub design changes. 

Nick Romer, Success Developer at Uberflip says: “The biggest thing with a onBrand implementation is styling your Hub so that when a user lands on it, they feel like they’re on your site — it’s about creating a seamless experience for the user.”

The Alternatives

If you’re not ready for a full onBrand, we recommend styling your Hub so that it looks like a part of your site. When it comes to embedding, stick to Streams and Items (i.e., try to avoid embedding your entire Hub on a site or page)

embedded tiles

There are a couple of ways to drive traffic back to your Hub via embedding or embed-like functionality. Using Shout to place Tiles inside an email that’s going out to a subscriber list, or embedding Tiles on a landing page are two examples.

“Out of the box, every Hub really should be onBrand/Reverse Embed,” says Sam Brennand, VP of Customer Success for Uberflip. “Embedding elements of the Hub across pages of a website or within email nurtures is a fantastic idea, but the end destination should be a kick ass standalone resource Hub”

Want to learn more about how a Hub can work for your brand? Book a quick demo with a content strategist! 

 

Follow Us

Subscribe to our Newsletter

Get our latest blogs direct to your inbox

Subscribe

Subscribe to receive more sales insights, analysis, and perspectives from Sales For Life.

The Ultimate Guide to Social Selling