Headless Content Management System (CMS)

What is a Headless Content Management System (CMS)?

If a traditional CMS was a body, the “head” would be the front-end components like the front-end framework and templating system. If you chop that head off, and you’re left with a headless CMS.

A headless platform has no default front-end system to determine how the content is presented to the end user. Instead, it’s front-end agnostic, meaning that your content is raw and can be published anywhere, through any framework.

By getting rid of the front-end delivery layer, your CMS is suddenly a content-only data source. It produces content and then sits there. Waiting.

what is a decoupled CMS?

With a decoupled CMS – also known as a hybrid headless CMS – your content is managed separately and is front-end agnostic, just like a headless CMS. Yet, it has front-end delivery tools in the box, like templates, if you want to use them.

What’s the difference between Headless CMS and decoupled CMS?

With a headless CMS, you have modeling and editorial tools to create and edit content. It assumes that you and your nerdy front-end development team can handle the rest with whichever frameworks and tools you prefer.

A decoupled CMS, on the other hand, doesn’t assume anything. It does everything a headless CMS does, but it doesn’t stop there. It also says, “Hey, we’ve got some templating tools here so you aren’t working from scratch.”

For marketers, this subtle difference can be a significant one. While the decoupled CMS uses the templates,  many of those tools are not available in a headless CMS architecture. However, purely headless systems allow more control over how the content appears on each type of device.

Advantages of a headless CMS

1. Front-end agnostic

A headless or decoupled CMS is front-end framework agnostic. That means you can publish content on any device or channel via API calls. Plus, front-end developers are free to use their favorite frameworks and tools.

2. APIs

Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) enable two technologies to speak to each other. Both headless or decouples environments use APIs to connect and communicate with other softwares and channels, allowing for content delivery. But that’s not all. APIs can also be used to send data (like end-user activity and preferences) from those channels, devices, and touchpoints back to the CMS for processing, analysis, and re-distribution.

3. Future-proof

APIs are prepared to speak to any new device or channel that emerges in 2019 and beyond. Thus, your content will remain future-proof, no matter what innovative device next hits the market.

Disadvantages of a headless CMS

1. No fun for marketers

Robbed of WYSIWYG editing, blogging functionalities and other user-friendly features, marketers, in particular, are left out in the cold until their development team sees to their needs.

2. A fragmented tech stack

With a headless CMS, removing the ‘head’ simply means having to hunt for further technologies to replace it. This can entail building front-end solutions in-house, or deploying existing third-party tools to plug the gap. Either way, it could get costly both monetarily and through time spent—not to mention difficult to manage. This problem can be partially alleviated with a decoupled CMS, which will bring those marketer-friendly features right back.

3. No content previews

If you do manage to get your marketers back on track be drafting in third-party tools, they still won’t be able to efficiently use a headless CMS, as they won’t be able to easily preview content before it goes live.

Advantages of a decoupled CMS

1. All the benefits of a headless CMS
2. Optional front-end templates

Decoupled CMS will likely provide you with templates to help launch websites and pages quickly, and to give your developers a head start on any other front-end presentation layer they wish to build.

3. All the tools marketers love

A decoupled CMS doesn’t just give marketers their templates back, it also provides WYSIWYG editing, content previews, and additional content publishing tools.

How headless CMS help with omnichannel marketing?

Omnichannel marketing enables brands to deliver a seamless, integrated and continuous experience across all touchpoints and devices, preventing a disjointed customer journey if and when the customer switches from one device to another. Headless content management can help brands launch and manage omnichannel marketing campaigns.

1. Faster to market

With a headless CMS, developers can simply deliver content via API calls to the device or touchpoint in question, allowing them to focus solely on the UI and the end-user experience. Naturally, this greatly decreases the time to market when a brand wants to adopt a new touchpoint into its omnichannel experience.

2. A flexible technology stack

With a headless CMS, APIs are used to integrate with any third-party tool, allowing marketers and developers to switch between tools and adopt new technologies thus ensuring that they’re always using cutting-edge technology in all areas of the business.

For example, you can have one tool that provides marketing automation, another tool that will help you deliver experiences to smartwatches and a subsequent tool for taking payments from voice-activated applications. All of these tools can be integrated and accessed via the headless CMS. Plus, if you begin to face problems with a tool, you can simply swap it out for a different one.

3. Deliver more personalized experiences

Headless CMS , it does open the door to headless commerce, enabling brands to deliver personalized shopping experiences to IoT devices and smart displays. Plus, thanks again to the APIs at play, the headless CMS can collect data which can, in turn, be used to fuel a personalization campaign across channels. perspective, your omnichannel strategy needs to be put personalized content right at the heart of the customer experience.

Headless CMS come with engagement tracking and analytics that can monitor a customer’s journey through different touchpoints. With this information, you can deliver personalized content at different stages in the customer journey, thereby improving the likelihood of conversion.

Open-source headless CMS platforms

Software released under an open-source license allows developers to directly modify the source code. This control over the platform lets developers customize a CMS to meet their team’s needs.

Let’s take a look at three leading open-source CMS vendors:

1. Strapi

Strapi is an open-source CMS platform that’s built on Node.js and works with the database and self-hosting solutions of your choice.

The primary goal of Strapi is to build a solid API, while offering an intuitive admin panel.

Strapi is ideal for small companies that need a flexible API for their front-end.

Top Strapi features:

• Built-in support RESTful and GraphQL APIs.
• 100% JavaScript for front-end and CMS.
• Intuitive admin console for content editors.
• Highly extensible with a built-in plugin system.
• Simple for developers to use.

2. Cockpit

Cockpit is a free, open-source, lightweight CMS that’s built to work with NoSQL databases like MongoDB and SQLite. It’s headless and API-first, meaning the CMS focuses only on backend APIs to manage meta-data and data entries.

There’s no presentation layer, so developers have total freedom to choose and manage the frontend. Cockpit works well for clients who want a simple installation and require an adaptable content structure. Cockpit is also well-suited to support content on multiple devices, such as Internet of Things (IoT) devices.

Cockpit is ideal for small digitally-forward businesses.

Top Cockpit features:

• Simple installation and self-hosted.
• API-first CMS with JSON content.
• Language and database agnostic.
• Flexible content models and no predefined models.
• Modern and clean UI

3. Directus

Directus is an open-source software platform suitable for projects that use customized database structures, as it comes with a wrapper to serve content from SQL databases via an API.

Directus also allows non-IT users to manage content through the Admin App. The platform has a strong version control system, allowing for rollbacks and retrieval of previous versions. While it does allow for uploading files, Directus occasionally encounters problems with long-form videos.

Directus is ideal for small to mid-size businesses that use traditional SQL databases.

Top Directus features:

• Every aspect of the CMS is extensible and customizable, with no limitations.
• Multilingual content management, with 10+ languages supported out of the box.
• Built-in authentication and support for other SSO services.
• Intuitive and secure admin app for content creators.
• Unopinionated, so there are no best practices or specific languages required.

SaaS headless CMS platforms

With SaaS headless CMS platforms, developers are not allowed to modify the source code. Users need a specific license key to implement these systems, either on-site or through the cloud, and rely on the vendors for further customization or extensions of the software.

SaaS headless CMS platforms ease the burden for IT teams, as the vendor is responsible for updates, maintenance, and technical support.

1. Core dna

Core dna is not just a CMS, but a digital experience platform (DXP) that supports eCommerce, intranets, extranets, customer portals, and digital workplace solutions.

The platform has features for customizable templates, WYSIWYG content creation, image editing, search engine optimization (SEO) management, and more. With its APIs, Core dna can be integrated with third-party tools that support eCommerce, social media promotion, digital marketing, customer relationship management, and more.

Core dna targets the mid-size and enterprise-level markets with high-traffic and complex requirements, boasting clients such as Tivoli Audio, Stanley-PMI and SEEK.

Top Core dna features:

• All-in-one DXP for websites, eCommerce, intranets, and more.
• Personalization features that make dynamic websites quick to launch.
• Webhooks make integration with other systems straightforward.
• Pre-built solutions for a variety of industries.
• Over 1500 new features added every year.

2. Contentful

Contentful comes with a wide range of features and prices, from the free trial and developer plan, all the way to custom quotes for enterprise systems. The variety of options makes the CMS a strong contender across numerous market segments.

Contentful is hosted on a cloud-based infrastructure with AWS, which makes it more reliable. The platform also includes a simple markdown language to make writing content that’s well-formatted quick and easy.

Contentful is ideal for many enterprise businesses that need a solution with a faster time to market.

Top Contentful features:

• Rich editor interface and intuitive content modeling.
• Advanced caching techniques and integration with CDNs.
• Cloud platform monitored by engineers and support teams full-time.
• Flexible APIs and SDKs that developers can work with.
• Centralized content hub for maximum scalability.

3. Kentico Cloud

Kentico Cloud allows users to develop digital experiences for their customers, without the need for specialized coding skills. At USD$299 per month, Kentico Cloud lets content collaboratively manage content, while easing the maintenance requirements for IT teams.

Kentico is ideal for mid to large-sized businesses looking for a best-of-breed solution.

Top Kentico Cloud features:

• Integrate with existing technologies and microservice applications using a variety of languages, tools, and pre-built modules.
• Enterprise compliance with workflows, single sign-on, and multi-factor authentication.
• Collaboration features like custom roles, commenting capabilities, and notifications.
• Back end from security to scalability handled by Kentico.

Can a traditional CMS be used with headless CMS?

Traditional CMS such as WordPress comes with HTML templates, CSS style sheets, and JavaScript libraries to handle the frontend, along with a SQL database to store the data in the backend.

By contrast, a headless CMS decouples the frontend and backend, and each component communicates through API calls. This architecture allows for headless CMS users to send content to nearly any type of internet-enabled device that can consume APIs.

Developers can use a headless CMS with its traditional counterpart if suitable APIs are available. For firms looking to test out a headless CMS, but who still have resources dedicated to their traditional architecture, using API calls with their existing CMS may be better than a costly migration to a new CMS.

Is a headless CMS secure?

Another concern that brands face when migrating their CMS platform is security. Therefore, it’s essential that IT teams only shortlist and select headless CMSs with strong track records as well as security technologies and protocols that protect against cyber attack.

IT teams should implement other best practices for server security like requiring HTTPS for network communication, whitelisting of IP addresses, and ensuring secure connections to other third-party software integrations like eCommerce, email marketing, and more.

In the end, a headless CMS can be secure if its APIs follow industry standards and IT teams ensure the infrastructure uses security best practices.

Examples of companies using a headless or decoupled CMS

Countless brands are using headless architectures to distribute content to new channels, integrate third-party tools, and collect data at scale. Here are three examples:

• Princess Cruises
• The Economist
• V-Zug

Real-world headless CMS use cases

When it comes to omnichannel digital marketing, a headless CMS is ideal for almost any touchpoint.

Headless CMSs leverage APIs to communicate with any internet-enabled device.

This enables marketers to deliver relevant and personalized content to whichever devices their customers demand. A headless CMS, therefore, can futureproof a brand’s customer experience.

Here are a few of the most interesting real-world scenarios:

1. Downtown D.C. improves tourist experience with digital signage

Instead of using traditional signage, the organization chose to deploy thirty interactive kiosks to provide news and alerts in over a dozen languages.

Using a headless CMS as kiosk software, digital signage like this can be updated with new content in real-time for more relevant and timely tourist information.

2. Burger King rolls out digital menu boards to 6,500+ stores

Using a headless technology, the fast-food giant can update menu items and pricing based on inventory in real-time and advertise new deals and promotions on-the-fly. These dynamic menu boards capture attention more easily while offering a more engaging dining experience.

3. IKEA launches an augmented reality catalog mobile app

Using IKEAs innovative AR app, customers can use their smartphone’s camera to capture an image of a room in their home and select items from the furniture company’s catalog to see how they’ll look. IKEA’s app and other similar AR apps let customers test-drive products before they buy in real-time.

The future Headless

The future of CMS is quickly moving away from traditional, database-driven systems and toward API-driven headless or decoupled systems.

Consumers are making use of more devices and channels than ever before, and brands simply have to meet them there in order to provide quality omnichannel customer experiences. Going headless is the simplest way to achieve that.