Content management systems have been around since early web development. They’ve made it easier and quicker to create content on the internet. WordPress and Drupal are a couple of content management systems being offered in recent years. While these traditional systems have been helpful, utilizing a headless CMS may be more efficient for your company if you want to scale your message.
Understanding the Components of a Headless CMS
As stated by Contentful, “A headless CMS is any type of content management system where the content repository “body” is separated or decoupled from the presentation layer head.” The benefit of utilizing a headless CMS is its ability to provide a way to distribute content to several different channels, like your mobile app or website. It uses a content API, which makes it faster to send information to each digital asset. There’s no front end layer requiring HTML markup or other files since content gets distributed via another method.
Headless Versus a Traditional CMS
A traditional CMS manages content by adding all of the data into one area, which includes HTML, CSS, images and text. Taking this approach doesn’t allow you to reuse any of the content because it’s all mingled together. A headless CMS has a backend where content is managed. When content needs to go to your mobile app or website, an API is utilized to send the data to the appropriate digital asset. Your content stays static until it needs to be delivered.
Pros and Cons
Understanding more about the pros and cons of using a headless system should help your business determine if it’s the right choice for you. Some of the advantages include the following:
– Content and presentation are separated, which allows you to send information to any front end tech you’d like.
– Provides you with the ability to display your content in different ways that can create a unique user experience.
– It makes it more efficient to display your content on other mediums, such as mobile or VR.
There are also a few cons you need to consider when thinking about using this type of content management system:
– Requires you to set up and manage a presentation component for each display you are sending information to, whether that’s your app or website
– While you can swap content in and out of a website or mobile app container, you can’t customize presentation or placement.
– It may cost more to implement, depending on the infrastructure required to operate your app, site, etc.
Determining If a Headless CMS is Right for Your Business
Evaluating the benefits associated with a headless system reveals several reasons why your business may want to utilize this type of system. If you’ve got content that you’d like to send to several different channels on the internet where you’re making a presence, this option allows you to respond faster and helps create a better workflow. If you’re constantly needing to send instant updates, this type of system should help you work faster.
Making the change to a different management system takes evaluating your current needs and matching them up with the right type of technology. If you’re looking to scale your content even more in the future, using a headless option might be the best choice for your business.
