The use and popularity of a headless CMS in website development has increased significantly in recent years. Given that users are consuming their content through more different platforms than ever, this upward trend is not that surprising. In addition, the demand for headless CMS systems is expected to continue to grow.
But, why is using a headless CMS increasingly popular and what exactly is the difference between a CMS and a headless CMS? Besides the advantages of a headless CMS, are there any disadvantages associated with using this system? You can read the answers to these questions here.
What is a CMS?
To understand exactly what a headless CMS entails, it is important to first know the definition of a CMS. The acronym CMS stands for Content Management System and, simply put, is the software that allows you to manage the content of a website. Anyone with access to the CMS can easily modify website content, without requiring extensive knowledge of programming languages such as HTML and PHP. This way, the content can be entered as plain text, and then the system takes care of the layout.
All the tools needed to manage a website can be found in the CMS. Examples of Content Management Systems include WordPress, Joomla, Drupal and ProcessWire.
What is a headless CMS?
Whereas a normal CMS consists of both the front-end and back-end, a headless CMS actually includes only the back-end. In a headless CMS, the “body” (content) is separated from the “head” (presentation). Using a headless CMS allows content to be placed on different platforms. This allows, for example, blogs from the back-end to be placed not only on websites but also in mobile apps.
A headless CMS makes the data available from the back-end as an API link. Simply put, this link allows data to be exchanged between software systems. This allows data to be retrieved from the headless CMS and placed on different platforms.
The difference between CMS and headless CMS
A CMS consists of a front and back end, or front-end and back-end. The front-end of a website consists of the visual part, also called the presentation. This is what the visitor actually sees when he or she visits a Web site. The back-end consists of the technical part. This is where the content is created and the website maintained.
Unlike a CMS, a headless CMS is actually just the back-end. A Headless CMS is a system that allows content to be created and managed, without specifically providing it as a front-end. The back-end and front-end are separated, so to speak, thanks to a headless CMS. Thus, thanks to this separation, it is possible to modify one of the two parts without affecting the other. This therefore makes it possible to make back-end modifications, after which this modified content will be immediately available on different platforms.
Benefits of a headless CMS
Thus, a headless CMS is very useful when you want to post content on different channels without needing extensive knowledge of programming languages. In addition to this benefit, a headless CMS has other advantages.
Easily distribute content across multiple platforms
So the major advantage of a headless CMS consists mainly of the ability to publish content across multiple platforms, from the same back-end. This is obviously very useful for making content available on different devices such as smartphones or smartwatches, for example. Indeed, in the case of a normal CMS, this is not simply possible. In fact, this requires building an additional layer on top of the CMS first, which takes a lot of time. A headless CMS solves this problem, thus saving you time and money.
Flexible building of websites
Another advantage of a headless CMS is the ability to work as a developer and content creator at the same time. As a result, projects can therefore be developed more quickly. In addition, a headless CMS is easy for content marketers to use, simply because the focus of a headless CMS is on creating content in an accessible way.
Because the back-end of a headless CMS is decoupled from the front-end, front-end developers have a lot of freedom of choice and room for their own input. Complete re-designs of websites are therefore cheaper and faster to complete.
Safety
Finally, most headless CMS have high-quality servers with highly reliable security systems. This reduces the risk of DDOS attacks, for example. In addition, access to the CMS can be hidden, so to speak, because the front-end is decoupled from the back-end, which significantly reduces the risk of anonymous attacks.
Disadvantages of a headless CMS
Of course, a headless CMS does not have only advantages. For example, a headless CMS is slightly more complex than a normal CMS. In addition, a headless CMS has some disadvantages.
The focus is on content rather than design
With a headless CMS, the focus is not on the presentation of a Web site. After all, the back-end is decoupled from the front-end (hence the name headless). This, of course, must be taken into account by content marketers. In fact, content can only be entered as pure content. For example, with a headless CMS, it is not possible to modify the templates in HTML briefly through the back-end.
Do you find it important to be able to create and arrange pages yourself with a pagebuilder? Then a headless CMS is probably less suitable.
Lack of SEO functionalities
A classic CMS often has many SEO functionalities built in. With a headless CMS, these often have to be re-added and linked themselves first. Because of this, it takes a bit more time and effort to get a website with headless CMS to the desired SEO level.
A headless CMS for you
Are you interested in a headless CMS or would you like to know a little more about this topic? Or do you have questions about other opportunities in building and managing websites or applications? If so, feel free to contact us!
