Still using a traditional CMS? Here’s why 'Headless' is taking over

Going Headless - The web development hack you didn’t know you needed

Headless websites are relatively new. It is a trend that has been driven by the mobile revolution and momentum is growing. A headless website is where the front-end stack is separated from the back-end stack, allowing greater flexibility in how content is delivered and displayed. Headless offers some great benefits in terms of performance, scalability, future-proofing and omnichannel delivery.

In a headless system, the back-end focuses on managing and storing the content in a CMS and then serving that content in the form of an API. The front-end will request the content from the back-end via the API to dynamically display the content. Building in this way means any technology can be used to build the user interface. This can be anything from React, Angler, Vue or Flutter. When you go headless, the world is your oyster!

Headless is an omnichannel experience. You can seamlessly push content to multiple platforms and devices from the same source. This means that you can display the same content on your website, mobile app, smart watch, IoT devices or even deliver it to voice assistants and AI.

Why go headless?

Oniminchanel experience - A headless CMS can distribute content across multiple platforms, whether that’s a website, app, IoT devices, smart watch, voice assistant or AI. This makes it a central location for all the data, to ensure a unified experience across devices.

Performance - The front-end code is the only thing being loaded in, optimising data fetching. This increases page speed and provides a faster experience, which is crucial for user engagement.

Security - The data in the back-end is separated from the front-end, and storing it in different locations creates the opportunity to make it much more secure. The API can be secured with encryption or token-based authentication to prevent unauthorised access too. This technique can help protect from hacking attempts.

Scalability - Headless scales efficiently across different devices, handles traffic spikes, and performs well on a global scale. The front-end and back-end will scale independently based on demand.

Faster development - Front-end and back-end can be worked on independently and in parallel, speeding up the development process. New features can be implemented in the front-end without affecting the back-end and vice versa.

Future proofing - Headless adapts easily to new platforms and technologies without major rework and upgrades can be done seamlessly without disrupting the entire system.

Better SEO - With faster loading times headless websites can see improvements in SEO performance, as search engines reward speed and responsiveness.

What to do now?

If you want to manage content more efficiently, ensure fast load times, and future-proof your web experiences to ensure you’re ready for spatial computing, voice assistants and AI, go headless!

Get in touch and we’ll help you take the first steps today!