Headless CMS is a type of content management system used for developing a website. The traditional CMS has a coupled content body with a presentation head. Whereas in headless CMS, the content repository body is separated or decoupled from the presentation head. By using a headless CMS, you can choose the presentation layer, and this makes it reusable across different platforms and channels. The headless CMS can fully manage the contents of the application, but not its presentation. Examples of headless CMS are Contentful, Kentico Cloud, and more.
A headless CMS can increase the flexibility of your website design during the development. The front-end developers can present the retrieved data in any way they want by using headless CMS. The headless CMS can be used by companies with dedicated front-end developers to design large-scale and unique websites.
In the case of traditional CMS, a website designer should use specific frameworks and language to design a website. Whereas in headless CMS tools, the development of a website can be done using any framework or language in which the developer is comfortable. If you wish to change the website design in the future, then it is quite an easy task with a decoupled or headless CMS. The headless CMS does not have the default front-end system, and it makes your CMS a content-only data source.
Headless WordPress
WordPress is one of the best content management systems in today’s market. WordPress has many free and premium plugins to make the website look unique, but this has some restrictions. To overcome these restrictions, the modified CMS known as Headless WordPress, came into existence.
Headless WordPress is an example of an API-first CMS. Generally, WordPress contains PHP codes, database files, and more. If you want to display the content on a single platform, then you can use traditional WordPress. But if you wish to display your website content for mobile apps, smart TV, or company intranet, then you can go for headless WordPress. The REST API manages the essential features in headless WordPress. By using the REST API, you can make any WordPress sites and themes as headless.
Why Use Headless WordPress?
The multi-channel content publishing is one of the main reasons why to choose headless WordPress over the traditional one. This feature gives you the ability to publish or post your website contents on more than one platform at the same time. This platform can include your business calendar, social media platforms, and the Internet of Things (IoT).
As the front-end is not available in headless WordPress, it can get integrated into many different ‘stacks’. A stack is a set of software that provides the infrastructure of an app or digital product. If your business has many channels to maintain, then you can use the go for headless WordPress. By the multi-channel content publishing feature, a headless WordPress can be used to publish the contents in different platforms without the need of reformatting the contents for each platform separately.
The large companies having dozens of target platforms to keep track of these use headless WordPress. Instead of reformatting your every post, you can set up headless WordPress to automatically share new content or post on all the channels or platforms.
One of the advantages of headless WordPress is that it can improve your website’s speed. A recent study states that about 40% of people leave the website if it takes over three seconds to load. So, website speed is one of the criteria for user experience. The headless WordPress can speed up your website by simplifying the process of content load on the user’s end. So headless WordPress is an invaluable tool for large and complex sites.
Headless WordPress for your Business
If your business only has one or two websites to manage, then you can go for the traditional WordPress. By default, WordPress is responsive and adaptive across all devices and browsers, but it can sometimes make your website slower. So if you want to manage multiple websites on different platforms, then you can use headless WordPress. This headless WordPress can improve your website performance, Search Engine Optimization (SEO), user experience, and more. The headless WordPress is mainly used by the eCommerce industry to speed up their Magento websites.
If you want to access your website contents through a VR headset, or smart TV, then you can go for headless WordPress. But if you are using headless WordPress, then the website developer should have in-depth knowledge of how REST APIs work. If you don’t have coding knowledge, then you can go for Vanilla WordPress. You can use this tool to manage one website by using free or premium themes and plugins.
When Not to Use Headless WordPress
If your website developer is unfamiliar with coding basis and there is a daily maintenance performance in your site, then it is not recommended to have headless WordPress. You can use the traditional WordPress if you are unfamiliar with REST API and coding. The team that maintains the website should be trained in JavaScript as the headless WordPress does not have the front-end system.
If you have a smaller business with one or two sites, then you can go for the traditional CMS. Because in that case, if you don’t have a web development team, then implementing headless CMS can cost you high. In those cases, you can use some plugins or themes along with the traditional WordPress to create your website.
Final Word!
A headless WordPress is used to create content that is not specific to any platform. This tool is a way to decouple the traditional front-end and back-end interfaces. Some of the advantages of headless WordPress are flexible stack integration, faster page loading, and more. So, if you want to manage your website on different platforms and you have knowledge about REST API and JavaScript, then you go for headless WordPress.
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