Headless CMS Explained

The rise of many digital platforms has dispersed the average consumer across platforms, forcing businesses to adopt new developments to reach their target audiences. While traditional CMS was formerly the standard, the need for more innovative solutions to content publication has risen. Thus, the headless CMS has been a growing trend in digital content management. Traditional CMS limitations are becoming apparent as new technologies like Headless CMS are born.

Headless CMS gives users the power to choose which device to publish content without formatting or adjusting the existing content. Meanwhile, traditional CMS users have to duplicate content from a website to an app, then to a digital display, which costs more resources. On the other hand, Headless CMS is seen as the next evolutionary step providing a better way to manage content.

What Is A Headless CMS?

Headless CMS is like traditional CMS to allow the users to author and store their data. But with an extra advantage to let the user decide the final presentable output. For instance, if you want your content to fit Mobile phones, Kiosks, Applications, Webpage or any digital platform, Headless CMS allows you to do that without needing to adjust your content format.

When you unpack the term Headless CMS, you will get two terms. CMS is a Content Management System that allows users to write, edit, publish, and store their content (the data), then show the outcome to visitors via the web page. Some popular CMS are WordPress, Wix, and Squarespace. Traditional CMS is also known as a monolithic system.

It’s called “headless” because the presenting device, referred to as the head, is separated from the body that contains the content and database. And it can support unlimited devices. Also, Headless CMS offers flexibility that traditional CMS lacks by enabling its users with options, and unlike traditional CMS, it only focuses on storing and delivering your content.

Benefits of Headless CMS

Headless CMS has many advantages such as faster editing experience, developer flexibility, easier scaling and much more.

Flexibility in offering solutions to developers: The content is delivered via APIs, so developers can choose their tools. For instance, if you prefer to work with JavaScript instead of PHP, you can do that.

Unlimited options on displaying devices: Headless CMS is not tied to a single presentable output like a webpage. You can reach your audience across many channels and devices.

Cloud-based data storage (better security): Headless CMS offers better protection than traditional CMS because the output (presenting platform) is separated from where your data is stored (database). Headless CMS uses a cloud-based system to store the data, which reduces the risks of security problems.

Consistency: Headless CMS does not handle rendering the content, which makes editing easy. You can edit a copy or image in one place, and changes apply everywhere where the content is displayed, keeping your brand message consistent across all channels.

Traditional WordPress CMS vs. Headless CMS

Traditional CMS has dominated the market for a very long time because it’s familiar and easy to use. However, it limited users’ output and tied it to a single webpage. For instance, WordPress uses Graphical User Interface (GUIs) to create and publish content on pre-built templates. Traditional CMS offers you ease of use and comfort. You do not need technical experience to run your content. You work with templates, plugins, and themes that are built-in.

The downside of traditional CMS is that your website can get slower over time as you add more content and possible security risks. With these limitations, the ROI of Traditional CMS comes into question compared to Headless CMS.

With Headless CMS, it separates the front-end work from the back-end. The emphases are on the content (creating and storage) with little control over the displaying channel of the content. Headless CMS becomes more appealing for organizations working across many channels worldwide.

Headless CMS is the preferred system in fast-paced industries like eCommerce, as businesses can decide how to present their content according to their customer’s needs. Plus, it is API-driven, cloud-based, and SaaS, where you pay a fee instead of doing an install.

Also, Headless CMS does not limit developers strictly to a specific technology, whether PHP or MySQL. Your developers have the freedom to build projects with their preferred tools. Unlike traditional CMS, you can experience better ROI and move to a more scalable approach with Headless CMS.

How Does Headless CMS Work?

You can opt for Headless CMS as a SaaS service; this is how most companies start with Headless CMS, meaning you will have a web application to manage your content and use APIs hosted in a cloud-based back-end. You have the option to host your server and database in Headless CM, but you will have to manage your scaling and operation.

A typical Headless CMS setup will look like below:

• Like traditional CMS, you write and edit your content on schemas
• APIs are deployed to connect the data to the final presenting output
• You select the desired display device for your content, website, app, kiosk device, or preferred device.
• You render the data via APIs to fit the desired display device.

The significant advantage of Headless CMS is its focus on the content and not the content format. After developers and editors decide on the displaying output device, it is delivered via APIs.

Do I Need a Headless CMS?

You might wonder if Headless CMS is suitable for you? Or when to leap?

If your business focuses on delivering omni-channel experience to your users, you should make that leap. Any organization that manages duplicate content on websites, apps, and integrations would appreciate Headless CMS’s efficiency.

For instance, if you update the description of a product on your website. Should you copy that text to 20 different systems? You can implement changes faster in the Headless CMS ecosystem because the data is centralized. Any changes in the centralized hub will carry the changes to all channels, helping you save time and cost.

Some industries might benefit from Headless CMS more than others, like companies that connect with their customers at scale. Some of these industries include:

Sports teams: Headless CMS allows sports teams to connect to their fans globally and provide an omni-channel engagement experience.

Airlines: Airline companies deal with complex content requirements: real-time communication, global content translations, and localization and provide an omni-channel experience to all their customers through different touch-points.

Online retailers: Headless CMS allows online retailers to connect with their customers by linking marketing, product content, and purchase history to create a personalized shopping experience for all customers.

Headless CMS may not be necessary. You might not need it if:

• Your content does not need to be updated often.
• Your team doesn’t have enough resources to manage a Headless CMS system.
• Scalability and speed are not a priority for your projects.

In conclusion, Headless CMS is similar to traditional CMS in certain aspects but with improved features that give users more options. Headless CMS solves the limitations in traditional CMS, like adjusting content format to fit desired devices, and gives you the flexibility to create, edit, and publish content from a centralized data hub. Then display it on many platforms as your business needs via APIs without spending more resources.