The digital world that we exist in today offers multiple content management systems (CMS) that can help you keep your organization’s website up to date and attractive. However, many brands struggle to find the right headless CMS for their needs. This article explores everything you need to know about headless CMS, its benefits and what you must consider while choosing one for yourself.

What is a headless CMS?

A headless CMS is software that enables content management without a user interface. To simplify it further, it is software that allows you to manage content for your modern websites or web applications but without a front-end or display layer. A headless CMS allows users to distribute content anywhere they wish, from their website and mobile application to an email marketing system or a Customer relationship management system, using a simple API.

When using a headless CMS, users interact with the software through an interface that replicates a website on a computer or mobile device. Such a content management system is particularly useful for businesses with a large number of employees who operate from remote locations. In this case, you don’t need a user interface to access the system. A remote team can use the system by logging into a central dashboard that holds the company’s data.

Why you need a headless CMS

With a headless CMS, you can:

1) Create a single source of content and streamline content management for all your online applications like websites and mobile apps.

2) Build a single brand experience across your online applications. When there is a single source for all the web content that your business uses, the tone and tenor of all the content are likely to be in line with your brand’s voice.

3) Having a headless CMS also allows you to limit IT-related work. If you have a head-enabled CMS with a frontend for all your web applications, you will need more IT hands to manage these systems. Thus, with a headless CMS, you will need just one IT infrastructure and team for all applications.

4) With all your data present on one CMS, securing it becomes easier and cost effective. It also simplifies the process of data analysis.

5) Single content publishing environment provides an all-in-one publishing environment that saves time and simplifies content delivery. It makes it easier to create consistent content that’s searchable, structured, and mobile-friendly.

What’s the difference between a headless and a legacy or head-enabled CMS?

A headless CMS is a relatively new technology. Legacy CMS were a good option for the times when there was a single channel for digital delivery — websites. Businesses could have a CMS with a frontend with just a website to manage. With multiple digital channels emerging now, from modern websites to mobile applications, the need for a headless system was felt by businesses as these channels have different frontends and using different content management systems for each channel would be terribly inefficient and unwise.

Which headless CMS should you choose for your business?

There are a few things to keep in mind when choosing a headless CMS. First, make sure the system has all the features you need. Second, check to see if it's easy to customize and if it integrates with other applications. Finally, ask how long it takes to set up and get running, as well as how much support it offers.

To decide which headless CMS is right for you, consider these factors:

1) Headless CMS and SEO - The importance of SEO for businesses is widely known and accepted today. There’s nothing more important for a digital business than having a good rank in search results on search engines like Google. Still, most CMS, including headless ones, come without in-built SEO tools. But this has begun to change as the ‘headless CMS and SEO’ combination has now been offered by some of the most popular CMS designers.

2) Size and needs - A small business might be better suited to a small headless CMS. A large company might need a head-enabled CMS to scale.

3) Company’s structure - Some businesses prefer a WordPress-based CMS, while others prefer a custom-built one.

4) Business’s goals - What are your business’s goals for using a CMS? Is it for content management, eCommerce, or marketing

How to choose the right headless CMS for your needs

There are many headless CMSs on the market today. However, not all headless CMS are created equal. Before you choose a headless CMS, consider these four key factors:

1) Is the headless CMS secure?

In order for a headless CMS to be secure, it must be equipped with strong authentication, strong encryption, and strong security protocols. When possible, choose a headless CMS that is built on an open source framework like WordPress.

2) Is the headless CMS user-friendly?

A headless CMS should be easy to use from both a front-end and back-end perspective. Make sure that the headless system is accessible from any device and allows users to perform common tasks such as creating and editing content.

3) Is the headless CMS scalable?

Take into account how much data you will be storing, as well as your distribution architecture. A scalable system should be able to accommodate increases in traffic without slowing down performance or becoming overloaded.

4) Is the headless CMS flexible?

While many variables can affect performance, a flexible system should be able to adapt to load time and performance changes.