Footer

Bottom Copy

Col 1 Heading

Internal Link

Label

Only link to top level pages using this, if you need to link to something deeper like a blog post then use the External Link block.

Link

About

Why Contento?

Careers

Contact

Col 1 Links

Col 2 Heading

Blog

White Papers

External Link

Documentation

Col 2 Links

Col 3 Heading

Pricing

Book a Demo

Migration Service

Status

Col 3 Links

Col 4 Heading

Terms of Service

Privacy Policy

Cookie Policy

GDPR

Col 4 Links

Internal Name

Top Copy

Cutting-edge Headless CMS technology, built specifically for B2B SaaS marketing websites.

Footer Content

Hello Bar

Copy

Are you an experienced Laravel developer? Come join us!

https://www.contento.io/job/laravel-back-end-developer

Pill Text

Switch this on / off to hide and show the hello bar.

Visible?

Blog Post

27 Headless Cms And Seo

Cover Image

Meta Description

This article explores how a Headless CMS can support SEO efforts due to the exceptionally fast site speeds that can result from a well configured site.

Meta Title

Post Body

<h2>Headless CMS and SEO</h2>

<p>This blog will explore the link between Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) and Content Management Systems (CMS), specifically focusing on how a Headless CMS can lead to impressive SEO results. </p>

<h2>Introduction to Headless CMS</h2>

<p>The curiously named category of Headless CMS is a relatively new category of Content Management Systems (CMS) that has emerged in recent years as an increasingly popular CMS. Its popularity has been primarily amongst B2B/ commercial users ranging from eCommerce sites to International brands to growing/ <a href="https://www.contento.io/blog/b2b-saas-growth">scaling B2B SaaS</a> companies. The names of those brands who have moved across to Headless reads like a “<strong><em>Who's Who</em></strong>” of major brands and includes everyone from adidas to Nike to Netflix, through to B2B SaaS companies like Intercom, Stripe, and Teamwork.</p>

<h2>Mass Exodus: So Why Are They Moving?</h2>

<p>The <a href="https://www.contento.io/blog/benefits-headless-cms">benefits of a Headless CMS</a> are particularly appealing to those looking to migrate to a highly performant platform and away from some of the issues associated with more traditional legacy platforms like WordPress. </p>

<p><a href="https://www.contento.io/blog/wordpress-issues">Issues with WordPress</a> are well documented, and include security vulnerabilities from plugins, through to performance issues due to <a href="https://www.contento.io/blog/website-bloat">website bloat</a> (amongst other factors), and maintenance overhead (over the years as the site matures and scales).</p>

<p>Other traditional CMS (also known as Monolithic CMSs) be they Squarespace, Wix, or Webflow can also be problematic for those looking to scale their businesses. </p>

<p>What works well in the early years becomes a problem a few years down the line. </p>

<p>There is thus a mix of push and pull factors informing <a href="https://www.contento.io/blog/b2b-saas-migration">website migration</a> decisions, be they problems with existing CMSs or the appeal of a modern Headless approach that helps address many of the legacy issues typical with traditional CMSs.</p>

<hr>

<h2>Understanding Headless CMS and Traditional CMS: Key Differences</h2>

<p>When it comes to Content Management Systems for powering websites there are some fundamental differences to be aware of.</p>

<p>Unlike Traditional CMSs which are designed to manage both content and the front-end, a Headless CMS focuses exclusively on <em>‘content management’</em>. After creating and editing the content, it is published via an Application Programming Interface (API) without any involvement or impact on the front-end. The Headless CMS does not have any control or input on the front-end, unlike Traditional CMSs which aim to provide a unified solution for both content and front-end management.</p>

<h2>What Does All This Mean In Practice?</h2>

<p>It means that the initial website build for a Headless CMS website is not determined in the CMS by tweaking an existing template. A front-end designer will need to create and implement a design. Herein lies the crux, for those more resource-constrained clients a template-based approach will suffice, but for those who prioritize the user experience, security, and performance, the lack of a template won’t be an issue. They will be looking to engage a designer to create a beautifully designed site that is also optimized for conversions using the best tools and technologies they can find.</p>

<p>Hence when it comes to CMS selection the old adage applies - it is very much a ‘<strong><em>horses for courses</em>’</strong> decision. In short, your exact requirements should determine the CMS selection, and these evolve as your website (and company matures). Thus when it comes to Headless CMSs, they are rarely used to power a companies first website but do represent a natural upgrade path for those on a growth-oriented journey.</p>

<hr>

<h2>The Key Benefits of a Headless CMS</h2>

<p>So what are some of the Key Benefits of a Headless CMS?</p>

<p><strong>1- Unparalleled Speed</strong></p>

<p>The <a href="https://www.contento.io/blog/jamstack-headless-cms">Jamstack Headless CMS</a> approach to web development, which combines Static Site Generators (SSGs) and Content Delivery Networks (CDNs), results in exceptionally fast page loading times without the need for any supplementary optimization of the frontend code. A Headless CMS is a vital component of this approach, allowing for unparalleled website performance. </p>

<p><strong>2- Impressive Security Credentials</strong></p>

<p>Headless CMSs are known for their exceptionally high level of security. With a decoupled architecture, a Headless CMS can offer better protection against a variety of attacks. Many Headless CMS platforms provide access controls and single-sign-on features that reduce the number of login credentials required and make monitoring CMS access more straightforward.</p>

<p>Compared to traditional CMS setups, Headless CMS can minimize the impact of DDoS attacks because the client-side performs content rendering in the browser. In traditional setups, login forms and other entry points may directly point to the server, necessitating constant attention to security measures to prevent unauthorized access. In contrast, with a Headless CMS, the provider assumes the responsibility for security, ensuring that the statically generated front-end remains safe from attack.</p>

<p><strong>3- Perfect for Scaling</strong></p>

<p>One of the key benefits of Headless CMSs is their highly scalable architecture, which allows organizations to handle increased traffic and content without incurring additional costs. By utilizing cost-effective hosting and licensing options, Headless CMSs can provide a more cost-effective solution than traditional CMSs.</p>

<p><strong>4- Built Especially for Marketing Teams</strong></p>

<p>Many Headless CMS solutions are primarily designed to cater to the needs of technology leaders, but Contento takes a different approach. Contento has created a Headless CMS solution that is not only user-friendly for the tech team but also enjoyable for the marketing team, who will be spending a significant amount of time in the application after deployment.</p>

<p><strong>5- Supports Omnichannel Strategies</strong></p>

<p>Due to the proliferation of new technologies and the widespread use of smart devices, businesses are increasingly focusing on delivering seamless and consistent experiences across multiple devices and touchpoints. Brands that rely on traditional content management systems often struggle to provide responsive content that can adapt to different digital platforms. In contrast, with a Headless CMS, businesses can produce content once and publish it instantly across various channels, providing a highly efficient and effective solution.</p>

<hr>

<h2>Traditional CMS and SEO</h2>

<p>When it comes to SEO and Traditional CMS it is apparent that in many instances SEO is primarily an ‘<em>afterthought</em>’ and is thus not a crucial concern.  </p>

<p>Looking at some examples:</p>

<p>With Squarespace, there is a rudimentary SEO setting (as of March 2023) within the Page Setting tab which consists of three elements:</p>

<p>- SEO Title (Optional), </p>

<p>- SEO Description (Optional), </p>

<p>- and a toggle related to <em>“Hide Page from Search Results</em>”. </p>

<p>This is a pretty basic SEO deployment.</p>

<p>When it comes to WordPress, the world’s most popular CMS, the plugin Yoast is the leading WordPress SEO plugin. </p>

<p>As numerous commentators have pointed out, <a href="https://www.contento.io/blog/fast-website-speed">site speed</a> is a key ranking factor and WordPress sites often fare poorly on Lighthouse speed tests serving to undermine the efforts of a dedicated SEO plugin.</p>

<p>Of course, your SEO success or otherwise is contingent on a whole host of factors, some within your control, and some not. A lack of in-house SEO ‘know-how’ is often a primary cause of issues as in many cases junior content creators simply don’t know the basics. </p>

<p>However, if you can marry ‘<em>best of breed</em>’ SEO know-how and execution with a blazingly quick CMS you are going some way towards giving yourself a shot at the much-coveted page 1 ranking on Google for a chosen keyword.</p>

<hr>

<h2>How Headless CMS Improves SEO?</h2>

<p>While we don’t know the exact criteria that impact SEO we do know some of the factors that are typically at play. </p>

<p>These consist of a mix of technical SEO elements (often on-site elements) as well as off-site elements. Off-site elements are largely related to securing backlinks (preferably from high Domain Authority sites) based on a key premise that the more ‘good’ 3rd party sites that link to your content the higher the perceived value of the content. </p>

<p>On-site elements typically include:</p>

<ul><li><p>page loading speed, </p></li><li><p>internal linking, </p></li><li><p>keyword use in meta titles and meta descriptions, </p></li><li><p>URL / slug configuration (incl canonical URL’s)</p></li><li><p>structured data markup, and </p></li><li><p>how a site renders on a mobile as well as many other factors.</p></li></ul>

<p>With <a href="https://www.contento.io/blog/headless-cms-seo">Headless CMSs and SEO</a>, several underlying factors play to the strength of the Headless CMS category:</p>

<p>1- Site Performance (Site Speed)</p>

<p>2- Mobile Experience (Responsive design)</p>

<p>3- Structured Content Emphasis (a <a href="https://www.contento.io/blog/structured-content">structured content</a>-based approach helps with SEO)</p>

<p>When it comes to other on-site elements it is fair to say that some Headless CMSs fall short. However, Contento, the Headless CMS we describe further below, has been built with SEO in mind, and thus includes the technical SEO elements baked in so that those working on content can ensure they are taking care of the SEO elements within the platform. </p>

<p>It is also worth pointing out that site speed is not just about SEO, there is a direct correlation between site speed and conversion rates. Targeting a 1 second page loading time makes a commercial difference also in terms of increased conversions.</p>

<hr>

<h2>The Importance of Structured Content in a Headless CMS for SEO</h2>

<p>According to Carrie Haine, a Digital Strategist and Founder, Tanzen </p>

<blockquote><p><em>Structured content is content that is planned, developed, and connected outside of an interface — so that it's ready for any interface. It means breaking down content into the smallest reasonable pieces — with each of those pieces holding the characteristics of the thing it represents.</em></p></blockquote>

<p>Although there are numerous advantages to adopting a structured content approach, we'll focus on its primary SEO benefit: it enables search engines to better comprehend the content's subject matter. Structured content achieves this by explicitly and visibly linking the searcher's query to your content.</p>

<blockquote><p><em>Structured content is a technology-agnostic way of organizing and tagging content in consistent, predictable ways. Think of it as a way of enabling people and systems to take advantage of patterns across a body of content, making it easier to find, mix and match, and redeploy content components at a moment’s notice to any device, channel, or format.</em></p></blockquote>

<p>— Getting Started With Structured Content</p>

<p>Most Headless CMSs including Contento, are set up to leverage a structured content approach, with the use of fields, blocks, and ‘<em>reusable components’</em>. </p>

<blockquote><p><em>From an SEO perspective, it helps search engines like Google better understand what your content is about, increasing your chances of that content being ranked more highly in search results, and of it being shown to the right users.</em></p></blockquote>

<p>In short, the structured content approach common in most Headless CMSs aligns well with the requirements of Google’s search engine as it tries to understand what the content is about so it can serve it based on relevance.</p>

<hr>

<h2>How Headless CMS Affects Page Speed and SEO?</h2>

<p>Site speed has been a known ranking factor for over 10 years since the 2010 Google announcement:</p>

<blockquote><p><em>You may have heard that here at Google we're obsessed with speed, in our products and on the web. As part of that effort, today we're including a new signal in our search ranking algorithms: site speed. Site speed reflects how quickly a website responds to web requests. We encourage you to start looking at your site's speed (the tools above provide a great starting point)—not only to improve your ranking in search engines, but also to improve everyone's experience on the Internet.</em><br>Google Search Central Blog (2010)</p></blockquote>

<p>As Matt Southern went on to argue in the Search Engine Journal in 2022 </p>

<blockquote><p><em>Google is said to prioritize speed when it comes to ranking search results, giving fast sites an advantage over sites that take longer to load.</em></p></blockquote>

<p>While relevance will always be the key driver for Google, the user experience will likely remain a key ranking factor as illustrated by their ongoing focus on speed be that through Lighthouse (Google) or PageSpeed Insights. </p>

<p>In short, the evidence indicates that Google rewards fast sites, and as a ranking factor for SEO it is one to focus on. Of course site speed is not really about SEO, it is also tightly correlated with conversion optimization. The faster the site the higher the conversion rate all things considered. </p>

<hr>

<h2>Key Considerations for Choosing a Headless CMS for SEO</h2>

<p>When evaluating a new Headless CMS it is worth assessing the SEO capability especially if the site you are migrating has significant numbers of pages, and has decent organic ranking. </p>

<p>Some Headless CMSs put more of a focus on SEO than others so it is worth asking the question on a Demo so you can assess how sophisticated the SEO module or feature is. All vendors will likely claim their SEO module is strong, but from our experience, that is not always the case. Ideally, you’ll want your marketing colleagues to be able to:</p>

<ul><li><p>Edit / customise URL’s (slugs)</p></li><li><p>Set Meta Titles and Descriptions (with validation rules flagging breaches of wordcount and the like)</p></li><li><p>Optimise images including Alt Tags</p></li><li><p>Set pages as “No index no follow” where appropriate (e.g. on pages where gated assets are housed)</p></li><li><p>Manage canonical URL’s so you can signpost which content is the best representative page</p></li><li><p>Easily identify internal linking opportunities for the target keyword</p></li></ul>

<hr>

<h2>Headless CMS and Content Optimization for SEO: Best Practices</h2>

<p>When it comes to best practices I recommend that those responsible for content creation have a good understanding of key SEO principles. Ideally, they use a selection from the following tools to help their content creation process:</p>

<ul><li><p>aHrefs</p></li><li><p>Grammarly</p></li><li><p>Surfer</p></li><li><p>SE Ranking</p></li><li><p>SEM Rush</p></li><li><p>SERPSTAT</p></li></ul>

<p>Topic ideation is also important:</p>

<ul><li><p>Is the content they are writing valuable to key target personas?</p></li><li><p>Are they writing content to a clear plan (as captured in an editorial calendar? </p></li></ul>

<p>A common issue I see in B2B SaaS companies is that content creation is farmed out to a junior marketing person who lacks the domain knowledge, and experience to craft a compelling piece. </p>

<p>Finally, once published content needs to be amplified through a range of channels incl social from both personal and business profiles. </p>

<hr>

<h2>An Introduction to Contento - Headless CMS</h2>

<p>Contento is a Headless CMS with some distinctive characteristics. It offers all of the key features you’d come to expect from a leading Headless CMS including:</p>

<ul><li><p>A REST API for super fast and flexible querying</p></li><li><p>A visual editor that allows you to preview your content in real-time</p></li><li><p>A first-class asset manager to manipulate and compress images</p></li><li><p>A  structured content modeling capability to manage content</p></li></ul>

<p>However, it has a particular focus in mind which helps it to stand out from the crowd.</p>

<ul><li><p>Unlike most of the competition, it is designed with the needs of marketing in mind (the majority of others are very developer-centric)</p></li><li><p>We assume the primary use case is for powering a B2B SaaS or technology website (this assumption allows us to bake in features that support this specific use case).</p></li><li><p>We’ve doubled down on usability so it is genuinely intuitive and even enjoyable for content creators to use</p></li></ul>

<hr>

<h2>Contento PageSpeed Insights</h2>

<p>So when we looked at our site homepage as powered by our own Headless CMS, Contento the highly performant nature of the site was evidenced in some pretty impressive scores:</p>

<p><strong>Desktop </strong></p>

<ul><li><p>Performance 100</p></li><li><p>Accessibility 98</p></li><li><p>Best Practises 100</p></li><li><p>SEO 92</p></li><li><p>First Contentful Paint 0.6S</p></li><li><p>Largest Contentful Paint 0.7S</p></li></ul>

<p>As the site is a relatively new site the Domain Authority is low and thus our SEO efforts have yet to pay off in terms of organic traffic. However, as we continue to embark on our SEO journey we do so, confident in the fact our underlying CMS architecture is supporting our efforts.</p>

<hr>

<h2>Summary</h2>

<p>When it comes to SEO, there are lots of areas that freelancers and agencies focus on, be that ‘on site’ or ‘off site’ activities. A typical engagement starts with an audit, an analysis of keywords, and an editorial calendar. Popular third-party tools like SEM Rush, aHrefs, SE Ranking, Screaming Frog, and Uber Suggest may be referenced as tools to support content generation efforts.</p>

<p>An often overlooked element is the underlying Content Management System (CMS) powering the website. Most SEO specialists will be familiar with WordPress (and Yoast) given the market dominance of the platform. However, running a mature site on WordPress can be a significant factor inhibiting the potential of your SEO efforts. Marrying a Headless CMS, with a clear SEO and content strategy will help ensure you are giving your site every chance of succeeding. </p>

<p>Finally, it is worth noting that SEO relies on numerous factors from technical elements, to employee know-how, to site speed, to the content and its relevance for those searching for answers. Migrating to a Headless CMS won’t in isolation deliver results.<br></p>

Reading Time (in minutes)

Appears just under the title on the post detail page and list cards.

Summary

This blog will explore the link between Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) and Content Management Systems (CMS), specifically focusing on how a Headless CMS can lead to impressive SEO results.

Title

Headless CMS and SEO

26 Headless Cms Digital Agencies

Working for a digital agency ? Take a look at a Headless CMS like Contento today, and see first-hand why the category is exploding.

<h2>Headless CMS Digital Agency</h2>

<p><strong><em>Tl;dr</em></strong></p>

<p><strong>This blog explores the fast growing category of Headless CMSs and argues that your digital agency should consider offering that website capability for the right fit clients.</strong></p>

<h2>Introduction</h2>

<p>When it comes to utilizing a Headless CMS for your <a href="https://www.contento.io/blog/b2b-saas-website">B2B SaaS website</a> you will generally need some external support; be that in the guise of a freelancer, or specialist Headless CMS Digital Agency. This blog outlines some of the key elements you need to be aware of to ensure a successful website relaunch.</p>

<hr>

<h2>B2B SaaS Focus</h2>

<p>Before we commence, it is worth flagging that this blog is written from the perspective of <a href="https://www.contento.io/blog/b2b-saas-growth">growing B2B SaaS companies</a>. There are hundreds of Content Management Systems (CMSs) on the market. Selecting the correct option for your use case is highly context-dependent. Hence the focus of this piece is on marketing and tech leaders in high-growth companies in sectors like B2B SaaS, and the broader technology space. </p>

<hr>

<h2>Issues with WordPress</h2>

<p>We take the position that the well-documented <a href="https://www.contento.io/blog/wordpress-issues">issues with WordPress</a> mean that WordPress is simply not fit-for-purpose for growing and scaling B2B SaaS companies. </p>

<p>We make several assumptions about the requirements for those working in B2B SaaS which we feel are incompatible with WordPress (without throwing a lot of money at the problem).</p>

<p>These WordPress issues include:</p>

<ul><li><p>Security vulnerabilities (due in part to typical reliance on plugins)</p></li><li><p>Usability issues (struggles on the part of junior marketers to manage websites)</p></li><li><p>Performance issues (problems with website bloat and sluggish performance)</p></li><li><p>Ongoing maintenance costs (just to keep the site from going down)</p></li></ul>

<p>When it comes to the assumptions we are making about B2B SaaS marketing team requirements we are assuming that:</p>

<ul><li><p>Content and inbound marketing are important elements of the marketing strategy</p></li><li><p>A strong SEO capability is important</p></li><li><p>A genuinely intuitive UI/UX content platform (or CMS) is ‘non-negotiable’</p></li><li><p>A blazingly fast beautifully designed website is ‘table stakes’</p></li><li><p>There is a decently sized marketing team (more than 3) and some budget to deliver on the above requirements.</p></li></ul>

<p>Given the issues with WordPress and the requirements we are seeing amongst B2B SaaS companies, the curiously named category of Headless CMS is emerging as an increasingly popular choice. </p>

<p>So what is a Headless CMS and why the sudden appeal?</p>

<hr>

<h2>An Introduction to Headless CMS</h2>

<p>A traditional Content Management System (CMS), commonly referred to as a legacy or monolithic CMS e.g. WordPress, is a system in which the front-end presentation and back-end data storage components are closely interconnected.</p>

<p>In recent years, Headless CMS has emerged as a contrasting approach. </p>

<p>A Headless CMS is a content management system that provides the backend content repository and APIs to facilitate the retrieval and modification of content. Unlike a traditional CMS, it does not include a pre-built front-end for displaying content, allowing developers to use any front-end technology or framework of their choice to deliver the content to end users. This decoupling of the content management functionality from the presentation layer offers greater flexibility, scalability, and agility in creating and delivering digital experiences across multiple channels and devices. </p>

<hr>

<h2>What Does a Headless CMS Do?</h2>

<p>A Headless CMS is best considered as the content platform or repository where the website content is stored, edited, and published. This <a href="https://www.contento.io/blog/structured-content">structured content</a> is then delivered via an API to various ‘<em>heads</em>’ be they a website or IoT device or screen. The missing piece is of course the display layer or front-end. This is where your front-end developer comes in. </p>

<p>You will need a front-end developer/designer to create the front-end design. Of course, there are Pros and Cons to this approach. The template-based approach of legacy CMSs is more cost-effective, however, as mentioned above the requirements of growing B2B SaaS companies are such that a beautifully designed site optimized for conversions will typically trump the requirement for a hastily built site based on an existing template. </p>

<hr>

<h2>What are the Advantages of a Headless CMS?</h2>

<p>So what are some of the advantages of choosing a Headless CMS?</p>

<p><strong>1- Unrivaled Speed<br><br></strong>Blazingly fast page loading times can be achieved without requiring any additional optimization of the frontend code. A Headless CMS is part of the <a href="https://www.contento.io/blog/jamstack-headless-cms">Jamstack Headless CMS</a> approach to web development and marrying Static Site Generators (SSGs) and Content Delivery Networks (CDNs) can deliver an unparalleled site performance. </p>

<p><strong>2- High-Level Security</strong></p>

<p>A Headless CMS tends to offer a very high-level of security due to several factors.</p>

<p>A decoupled architecture can provide better protection against various attacks. Access controls and single-sign-on features are often available in many Headless CMS platforms, which can reduce the number of login credentials required and enable easier monitoring of CMS access.</p>

<p>Compared to traditional CMS setups, headless CMSs can minimize the impact of DDoS attacks because content rendering is performed on the client side. In traditional setups, login forms and other entry points may directly point to the server, necessitating constant attention to security measures to prevent unauthorized access. In contrast, with a Headless CMS, the provider assumes the responsibility for security, ensuring that the statically generated front-end remains safe from attack.</p>

<p><strong>3- Scalable and Cost Effective</strong></p>

<p>Headless CMSs are designed to be highly scalable, allowing organizations to handle increased traffic and content without incurring additional maintenance costs. By reducing the amount of maintenance required and utilizing cost-effective hosting and licensing options, Headless CMSs can offer lower maintenance costs than traditional CMSs.</p>

<p><strong>4- Beautiful UI/UX - Enjoyable Content Management</strong></p>

<p>With a Headless CMS like <a href="https://www.contento.io">Contento</a>, the UI/UX is designed with the marketing team in mind (which is not a typical case). Far too many Headless CMSs are designed solely with the needs of the technology leader in mind. Contento is different. We have doubled down on ensuring that the use of our Headless CMS solution is <strong><u>enjoyable</u></strong> for the marketing team, who post deployment will after-all be spending a lot more time in the application than the tech team. </p>

<p><strong>5- Deliver a Seamless Omnichannel Experience</strong></p>

<p>By offering more purchasing channels, including mobile, web, and in-store, an omnichannel strategy enhances the customer experience. Businesses are thus increasingly prioritizing seamless and consistent customer experiences across various touch points due to the emergence of new technologies and the widespread use of smart devices. However, brands that rely on traditional content management systems are struggling to keep up with the increasing demand for responsive content that can adapt to different digital platforms. With a Headless CMS it is a case of produce once, and publish everywhere in an instance.</p>

<hr>

<h2>What are the Disadvantages of a Headless CMS?</h2>

<p>There are several disadvantages of Headless CMSs, so it is important to be aware of these before making the switch.</p>

<p><strong>1- It is not an all-in-one Solution </strong></p>

<p>With WordPress, Squarespace, Wix, and other traditional CMSs there is no decoupling of the front and back ends. With Headless there is a need to plug in other components of the Jamstack (all via API’s) to put a website live. (All very straightforward for relatively junior developers).</p>

<p><strong>2- Developer Dependency</strong></p>

<p>You will need access to a front-end developer/ designer to set everything up (as well as to craft the design). In most cases ongoing maintenance is negligible but as the site evolves you will need access to a developer. The good news is that you won’t need a specialist developer as most front-end developers will be familiar with ‘the Jamstack’, so as a SaaS company there is a strong likelihood that the skill-set exists in-house and can be tapped into on an ad-hoc basis.</p>

<p><strong>3- Fewer Shortcuts</strong></p>

<p>With a Traditional CMS, buying a website template helps expedite the build process, and in some instances enables users to build and manage sites themselves. Instead, most Headless CMSs empower developers and designers to build a site without constraints allowing them to choose the components as they see fit. Again context is everything, marketing leading brands and growing B2B SaaS companies are usually happy to ensure a strong visual identity. Building a site using a template is generally not the route this cohort wants to take.</p>

<hr>

<h2>How Much Does a Headless CMS Cost?</h2>

<p>The cost of a Headless CMS can vary depending on a whole host of factors. Most providers offer a free version for developers to test initially and to assess fit for purpose. In reality, the bulk of the cost for a new website is likely to go on the front-end design and hence the annual subscription for the Headless CMS will represent a small portion of the overall spend. Given the range of options and factors influencing price, assuming a €10,000 annual subscription represents a good ballpark figure. Finally, the ongoing maintenance costs should be relatively modest especially if there are in-house developers that can be called upon, on an ad-hoc basis. </p>

<hr>

<h2>Companies Using Headless CMSs</h2>

<p>The adoption of Headless has been particularly noticeable amongst a cohort of early adopters from the SaaS world (Intercom, Stripe, and Teamwork spring to mind). However, there has also been significant adoption amongst “big brands”, where website traffic is high and features offering benefits related to security, performance, and omnichannel capability are important. Brands like the following have all moved part (if not all) of their websites to one of the leading Headless CMS providers:</p>

<blockquote><p>Notion, Costa Coffee, Specsavers, Nike, mailchimp, Vodafone, Spotify, Twilio, Atlassian, Bang &amp; Olufsen, McDonalds, Google, deliveroo, dribbble, GoCardless, Sonos, adidas, &amp; Pizza Hut.</p></blockquote>

<hr>

<h2>Headless CMS Website for B2B SaaS</h2>

<p>When it comes to different categories of users, it is evident from the names listed above that Headless CMSs span a vast range of consumer brands from different sectors. These are not small businesses. The brands largely represent sites with strong traffic volumes that place a premium on design without compromising on performance. B2B SaaS companies share many of the same requirements as the leading B2C brands listed above (although omnichannel related benefits are not usually a primary motivator). Most growth-oriented B2B SaaS companies are focused on conversion optimization and thus value benefits like unbeatable site speeds, beautiful design, enhanced security and highly performant websites.</p>

<hr>

<h2>Introduction to Contento - the Headless CMS for B2B SaaS</h2>

<p>Contento is a Headless CMS designed specifically with the needs of B2B SaaS companies in mind. Most of the other Headless CMSs are open boxes and are not designed with any specific use case in mind. Contento includes all the features you’d expect from a Headless CMS, with a particular slant - a core assumption we make is that you are using Contento to manage a B2B SaaS site. This simple assumption enables us to meet the unique needs of this category - after all, it is the world the founding team all come from. </p>

<hr>

<h2>Why Do You Need a Headless CMS Freelancer or Agency?</h2>

<p>One of the nuances of a Headless CMS compared to a Traditional CMS like WordPress is that developer input is required. The focus shifts to creating a beautifully designed site that is optimized to drive conversions. Specialist skills make a difference, and the quality of websites done in-house compared to using specialists is markedly different in our experience. When a beautiful design is married to compelling copy, strong imagery, and a blazingly quick site the difference is all too apparent. </p>

<p>The <a href="https://stripe.com/gb"><u>Stripe website</u></a> is a great example - beautifully designed, with powerful imagery, and exceptional site speed. Of course, there are lots of beautifully designed sites that are not on Headless also, but depending on the CMS there can be significant issues in the background that tend not to exist with a Jamstack-based approach.</p>

<hr>

<h2>Where to Find a Headless CMS Agency?</h2>

<p>An increasing number of digital agencies are now offering Headless CMSs as an option for the right client and context. Others like <a href="https://mawla.agency/"><u>Mawla</u></a> in Dublin have gone full-in focusing on content and marketing websites utilizing a Headless CMS &amp; NextJS Jamstack-backed architecture exclusively, eschewing WordPress based web development work.</p>

<p>We will shortly be adding a dedicated Headless CMS digital agency page to the Contento website that shortlists some of the main providers you need to know about.</p>

<hr>

<h2>Benefits for Your Agency Embracing Headless</h2>

<p>So what are some of the benefits you can enjoy from exploring Headless as a category to offer clients?</p>

<ul><li><p>Significant Venture Capital (VC) cash has gone into the space and a large number of providers are promoting it as a future-proof way to manage modern sites.</p></li><li><p>The benefit set for moving to Headless is compelling for certain cohorts of users.</p></li><li><p>The need for a front-end design and Jamstack architecture means that many agencies can easily pivot to offering it profitably.</p></li><li><p>Some providers offer recurring commissions as long as the client is still a customer, bringing income streams without associated overheads. </p></li><li><p>It is a growing market predicted to explode.</p></li></ul>

<p><em>The Global Headless CMS Platform Software Market Size Was Valued at USD 502 Million in 2021 and is Expected to Expand at a CAGR of 19.99% During the Forecast Period, Reaching USD 1498 Million By 2027 (Source - </em><a href="https://www.researchreportsworld.com/global-headless-cms-platform-software-industry-research-report-competitive-landscape-market-22069652"><em><u>Research Reports World</u></em></a><em>)</em></p>

<hr>

<h2>Contento Digital Agency Program</h2>

<p>Our agency program includes -priority access to our development team, ongoing commission, and access to our suite of training resources.</p>

<p>Unlike leading vendors who typically offer a basic 10% commission on plans, Contento offers a much more attractive commission. </p>

<p>Please <a href="https://www.contento.io/contact">get in touch</a> to learn more.</p>

<hr>

<h2>Headless CMS and Digital Agencies - A Summary</h2>

<p>In summary, the category of Headless CMS has been taking off. An early tranche of digital agencies has already made the jump across focusing on the Jamstack and Headless. As this article has outlined, it is worth all digital agencies exploring the category to assess if it fits with the client base in situ and their requirements. One thing is clear - this new category is very much here to stay.</p>

Digital agencies should explore the fast growing category of Headless CMSs to assess if it could meet the needs of their client base.

Headless CMS - The Perfect CMS to Help Grow Your Digital Agency

Authors

Josh Angell, the technology lead, has over a decade of experience building websites and Content Management Systems.

LinkedIn

Name

Josh Angell

Photo

Role

Guide Using Headless Cms

Learn how you can benefit from the power of a Headless CMS to power your growing B2B SaaS business. We discuss some of the key features you will benefit from.

Using a Headless CMS for your SaaS B2B Site

<h2>Introduction</h2>

<p>When it comes to building a new <a href="https://www.contento.io/blog/b2b-saas-website">B2B or SaaS website</a> there are different routes you can go down. Replatforming is an increasingly popular part of most major website updates where migration to a new Content Management System (CMS) is included alongside visual identity uplifts and site refreshes. So what are the things you need to be aware of if you plan to go down this route?</p>

<h2>The Classic CMS</h2>

<p>Firstly, a common trend for many growing B2B and SaaS companies is to move off classic monolithic CMSs like WordPress as you grow. The issues with WordPress are well documented and include:</p>

<ul><li><p>Performance issues due to <a href="https://www.gocontento.com/blog/website-bloat">website bloat</a>, and excessive use of plug-ins</p></li><li><p>Security vulnerabilities, in-part due to plug-ins</p></li><li><p>Usability issues for junior staff tasked with maintaining the site</p></li><li><p>Reliance on freelance developers on a retainer to keep the site up</p></li></ul>

<p>The list goes on.</p>

<p>That all said, many web agencies are fully in the <em>‘WordPress camp’</em> given the historic popularity of WordPress for all websites (not just growth-orientated B2B and SaaS ones). Margins are decent for retainer clients, and developers are numerous, driving the price down. Is it any wonder that despite its apparent flaws, many agencies still persist with promoting WordPress?</p>

<p>However, an increasing number of tech and marketing leaders are concluding that platforms like WordPress are simply no longer fit-for-purpose for growing B2B, SaaS and tech companies. <a href="https://www.contento.io/blog/migrate-wordpress">Migrating off WordPress</a> is thus becoming increasingly common for growing tech businesses.</p>

<h2>The Site Builders</h2>

<p>The ‘site builders’ consist of well known brands like Squarespace, Wix or Webflow.</p>

<p>With the ‘site builder’ model, they host the infrastructure that makes your site, but they also help you manage how the pages are designed and built. So Webflow or Wix are very much visual site builders, utilising templates and ‘<em>drag and drop</em>’ components to build a website.</p>

<p>The upside of this approach is that it's a very low barrier to entry for people to come in and build a simple website. I have personally used Squarespace to build numerous entry level websites, and have enjoyed the flexibility.</p>

<p>The drawbacks with site builders kick in as you look to scale and grow. It can be difficult to add custom elements and you are constrained by chosen templates. It is also hard to embrace a <a href="https://www.contento.io/blog/structured-content">structured content</a> lead approach when choosing this route. And it's also quite hard to maintain a cohesive design and structure across the site because everything's visual, and therefore, it's hard to lock down the design of various types of content. Similarly anybody with edit access can go in and mess around with the layout of a page.</p>

<p>In short, site builders are very attractive for many users, however, are not ideal for growing companies looking to scale their businesses.</p>

<p><strong>Recommended Resource:</strong> <a href="https://www.contento.io/blog/webflow-v-headless">Webflow v Headless CMS</a></p>

<h2>The Content Platforms (Headless CMS)</h2>

<p>Content platforms also known as Headless CMSs [<a href="https://www.contento.io/blog/what-is-a-headless-cms">What is a Headless CMS</a>?] represent an online CMS that lets you do all of your content management in the platform through your web browser, and then it exposes an API for you to use with your site e.g. <a href="https://www.contento.io">Contento</a>.</p>

<p>A note about terminology:</p>

<p>The phrase ‘<em>content platform</em>’, speaks to a wider general bucket of people, and the phrase ‘<em>headless CMS</em>’, is a technical terminology for developers that says this is a CMS platform that will not render the front of your site.</p>

<p>A Headless CMS refers to the separation of the front-end and the back-end so the two are decoupled and rely on API’s to manage a site build.</p>

<h2>Contento - The Headless CMS for B2B SaaS</h2>

<p>Contento is a Headless CMS that is optimised for running B2B &amp; SaaS Websites. It sits in the Headless Content Management System (CMS) category which is one of the three dominant approaches to website building outlined above and is part of the <a href="https://www.contento.io/blog/jamstack-headless-cms">Jamstack Headless CMS</a> architecture approach to website development.</p>

<p>Headless CMS is an increasingly popular option for those looking to scale and grow.</p>

<h2>What are some of the Advantages of Headless CMS?</h2>

<p>The reason that headless CMS as a category has been growing so strongly, is that there are a number of compelling benefits including:</p>

<p><strong>1- Division of Labor [Specialism]</strong></p>

<p>A Headless CMS allows you to focus on building the front of your site and not on hosting or maintaining an application. And that means that you can build the front end of your site and the back end of your site in a nice organised fashion and join the two together.</p>

<p><strong>2- Flexibility</strong></p>

<p>The second major advantage of dividing the two parts of the website, into the front and the back end of the website is the greater flexibility you get.</p>

<p>If you wanted to switch to a different Headless CMS provider, then that wouldn't mean you had to re-engineer the front end of your site - vendor lock-in is limited.</p>

<p>Whereas with the classic model, if you build something on WordPress, and you want to switch your CMS, you have to rebuild everything from scratch. In the Headless CMS world, you can leave the front of my site largely alone, unplug one API and plug in the other one. There's a lot less work required to switch things around.</p>

<p>The same goes with the front end of the site. You may be happy with your Headless CMS, but if you want to redesign the front of the site, you can do that in quite an isolated way. You just swap out the front-end and it's less of a headache than having everything all bundled up into one place.</p>

<p><strong>3- Risk Reduction</strong></p>

<p>A Headless CMS also de-risks things from a development perspective, and from a technical debt perspective - it is a new modern approach to development favoured by a growing number of front-end developers.</p>

<p><strong>4- Usability</strong></p>

<p>An additional appeal of a Headless CMS led approach is that it allows you to really focus on your content management experience.</p>

<p>With a Headless CMS you can build the back end of the site prioritising the content editing experience with a really high level of focus for the marketing team, and thus can structure things so they make sense for the people who are actually updating the content.</p>

<p><strong>5- Performance</strong></p>

<p>We all need really super <a href="https://www.contento.io/blog/fast-website-speed">fast websites</a> and the new headless CMS approach lends itself to speed. The speed of Headless CMS sites is unrivalled.</p>

<p>If you're rendering web pages on a server and then sending the result to the user, that's invariably going to have some latency in it (Old dynamic-site approach). Whereas if you pre render web pages, and you have flat HTML files that you're delivering straight to the user, then it's a lot quicker (New Headless CMS / static site based approach).</p>

<p>The technology stack for managing this is called Jam Stack which means you have a JavaScript powered website that produces that HTML.</p>

<blockquote><p>Jamstack is an architectural approach that decouples the web experience layer from data and business logic, improving flexibility, scalability, performance, and maintainability. Jamstack removes the need for business logic to dictate the web experience. It enables a composable architecture for the web where custom logic and 3rd party services are consumed through APIs.</p></blockquote>

<p>Source: Jamstack</p>

<p>This allows you to deploy a site on to a highly performant Content Delivery Network (CDN) service that will provide websites to users really quickly and securely (a CDN lessens the risk of DDOS attacks). And you can have a really slick, interactive website, that's really fast because it's not relying on constantly trying to fetch data from the back end because it's all pre-rendered before it gets sent to users.</p>

<h2>Content Delivery Network (CDN)</h2>

<blockquote><p>A distributed network optimized for serving assets to users. By being geographically distributed, a CDN can provide redundancy and also improve delivery performance as a result of servicing requests from the infrastructure closest to the user making the request.</p></blockquote>

<p>Source Jamstack</p>

<p>So that modern way of building websites pairs inherently well with Headless CMS because they're built using technologies that work well together. And if you're building a Jam Stack site, and you need to have your content editable, you basically will always reach for a Headless CMS. And these days, people are building more and more Jamstack sites because the advantages of them are widely understood in the development community.</p>

<p><strong>Additional Reading:</strong> <a href="https://www.contento.io/blog/benefits-headless-cms">What are the Key Benefits of a Headless CMS</a>?</p>

<hr>

<h2>Contento: The Headless CMS for B2B &amp; SaaS Websites</h2>

<p>B2B SaaS websites need to do a few set things, and they need to do those things well, and effectively. If you take the existing Headless CMS platforms that are out there, they are what we call open platforms. You can do whatever you like and then you can build a content model for displaying data anywhere, be that a train update notification board, or on an Apple Watch.</p>

<p>As a result of them being very open, they don't provide you with common things ‘<em>out of the box</em>’. So for example with many of the leading Headless CMS’s there's no such thing as ‘SEO’. You essentially have to invent what that is yourself within their platform.</p>

<p>At Contento we are focused on a dominant use case - a Headless CMS for powering B2B SaaS marketing websites which share common requirements; be they built in lead generation, conversion optimisation, SEO, links to G2 and Capterra, announcement bars across the site, or gated content accessible via forms.</p>

<p>These are elements that we have pre built into Contento so that you don't have to invent them from scratch. One of the things that we want to do is really focus on the needs of B2B &amp; SaaS websites and make sure we tick off all of the common things that they need to do and make them super speedy and super efficient for users to have rather than having to rebuild them from scratch. Offering a powerful baked-in SEO solution is also a key element of our approach.</p>

<h2>Elements for Building Your B2B SaaS Site with a Headless CMS like Contento</h2>

<p>So what are the elements you need to build your site?</p>

<p>There are 4 core elements if you utilise the Headless CMS route.</p>

<ol><li><p>The Content Platform/Headless CMS e.g. Contento</p></li><li><p>The Front End Stack - Static Site Generators e.g. Vue / NuxtJS or React</p></li><li><p>The Build Pipeline e.g. Netlify</p></li><li><p>The Development Process (Content Delivery Network) e.g. Netlify</p></li></ol>

<p>While these all may seem a lot, they are all “<em>best of breed</em>” low cost frameworks/ components that are designed to work effectively together.</p>

<hr>

<p>In terms of the resources, what else do you need to get your site up and running?</p>

<h2>Front End Developer</h2>

<p>Unlike the templated approach of website builders like Webflow or Wix you can’t just log into Contento, open it up and use it to run your website. It fits in between the two categories of building your own application and full service. So Contento sits in the sweet spot in the middle. You need a front end developer for the initial setup and build, but they don’t need to have much experience with the back end because they don't need to understand that.</p>

<p>This front end developer will build your site. They can then use JavaScript, to pull the data from Contento through our API into the site.</p>

<p>There are different frameworks and technologies for doing that.</p>

<p>You could use a vanilla JavaScript and HTML page. We're gearing our platform towards serving the sort of standard Jamstack set of technologies. So for example, that might be React and Next, or it might be Vue and NuxtJS.</p>

<p>Once you've got your site built and turned into a static site, or a sort of pre rendered site, you can then deploy that pretty much wherever you like. So you could deploy it onto your own server and host it there and it would be really quick or you could deploy it onto an optimised service like Netlify or even a sort of standard CDN like CloudFront.</p>

<h2>Graphic Designer</h2>

<p>While the front end developer is going to build your site, you'll still need a designer to actually design it. Usually, you'll have a designer and a front end developer working together. They might have some overlap, but your designer is going to do the visual graphic design of how you want your site to look. And then your front end developer is going to take that and turn it into HTML and CSS and JavaScript and then either bake that into a JavaScript framework like Vue and Nuxt.</p>

<h2>Copywriter</h2>

<p>Finally as I argue in my blog - <a href="https://www.contento.io/blog/b2b-saas-copywriting">Using B2B SaaS Copywriters to Improve Conversions</a>, bringing a specialist B2B SaaS copywriter into the project will be money well spent.</p>

<h2>Summary</h2>

<p>Using a Headless CMS, like Contento, is an increasingly popular way to manage growing B2B SaaS websites. The performance is unrivalled and while the initial set up costs are more complicated than with a more basic architecture, once live the ongoing external dependencies are eliminated. The marketing team will be able to manage the content themselves, and should be able to call on a junior developer on an ad hoc basis to create any new pages required.</p>

When it comes to building a new B2B or SaaS website there are different routes you can go down. Replatforming is an increasingly popular part of most major website updates where migration to a new Content Management System (CMS) is included alongside visual identity uplifts and site refreshes. So what are the things you need to be aware of if you plan to go down this route?

Using a Headless CMS for Your SaaS Website

3 What Are The Key Benefits Of A Headless Cms

This guide outlines some of the key benefits of a Headless CMS as well as outlining some of the elements to be aware of.

<p>They represent the next generation of content management systems and enable developers to avail themselves of the latest technologies to power them.</p>

<p>So what are some of the key benefits that are driving this trend?</p>

<h2>Headless CMS - a Definition</h2>

<p>Firstly, it is important to define <a href="https://www.contento.io/blog/what-is-a-headless-cms">what a Headless CMS is</a> and how it works. A Headless CMS is an approach to content management that takes a different approach to traditional website building. A key element is that it decouples the front-end and the back-end and the focus is on the creation of a content repository powered by an API, so it can be displayed on any device.</p>

<ol><li><p>Front-end / presentation layer = Head</p></li><li><p>Back-end / content repository = Body</p></li></ol>

<p>This separation is referred to as Headless CMS.</p>

<p>The Headless CMS focus is on “the body” which acts as a content platform where data is stored, managed, and shared.</p>

<h2>What does this mean in practice?</h2>

<p>It means you are breaking apart the “<em>all in one approach</em>” you may be familiar with from the likes of older CMS’ known as monolithic systems like Squarespace, Wix, Webflow, or WordPress (to name a few).</p>

<p>While these applications and the “all in one” approach works for smaller organizations, it starts becoming problematic as companies grow and want more flexibility with how they operate. For those focusing on inbound marketing and content creation, the importance of a robust independent content management system is crucial. Similarly, another driver behind the increased adoption of Headless is the ease with which it can operate in a mobile environment.</p>

<p>So the back-end and front-end are connected via an API. The front-end is thus built independently which has its pros and cons. The major drawback is that you need a developer to design and build the front-end, the major advantage is that it won’t have a template feel and a good developer can thus create a beautifully designed site aligned with the content in the CMS.</p>

<h2>Headless CMS Benefits</h2>

<p>There are numerous advantages to utilizing a Headless CMS, with many of them appealing separately to different functions (marketing and technology representing the two main ones).</p>

<p>For those working in marketing, they tend to include usability i.e managing and maintaining content, while developers can focus on offering a great user experience.</p>

<h3>1. Speed</h3>

<p>Websites powered by a Headless CMS tend to be very quick to load. This is because they lend themselves to having a fully compiled or “flat-file” front-end - so if you want a blazingly quick user experience then this may be a sensible option for you.</p>

<p>In this model, since the CMS doesn’t have to render pages on its own and instead uses client-side or build-time rendering, this means that content can load faster for end users.</p>

<h3>2. Scalability</h3>

<p>Pairing a Headless CMS with a statically generated front-end can give you infinite scalability. You don’t have to worry about scaling the back-end, as that’s handled by your Headless CMS provider, and the front-end can be deployed on a global CDN like Netlify, CloudFlare, AWS CloudFront, etc. This means you never have to worry about traffic spikes on your marketing site again.</p>

<h3>3. Flexibility</h3>

<p>It is a much more flexible approach for developers who have the freedom to choose their favorite modern frameworks and technologies for the website. A headless CMS’ flexibility and agility thus appeal to developers.</p>

<h3>4. No Vendor Lock-In</h3>

<p>When it comes to traditional monolithic systems the CMS code is tightly linked to other code (be it custom code or templates) which makes it more difficult to then port to a new CMS. With Headless CMS portability is a key benefit, so you can move to a new CMS more easily if you so desire.</p>

<h3>5. Multichannel</h3>

<p>A key attraction of Headless CMS’ is that the API-based approach means the content repository can feed into a range of different applications beyond just the website.</p>

<p>A Headless CMS-based architecture makes content accessible, opening up the content to new possibilities in particular for omnichannel delivery i.e. distributing content designed for display on various websites, mobile phones, tablets, and other Internet of Things (IoT) e.g. smartwatches.</p>

<h3>6. Security</h3>

<p>A decoupled architecture typically means you are better shielded from attacks of all types. Many headless CMS platforms feature access controls and single-sign-on features that reduce the number of login credentials required and make it easier to monitor who has access to the CMS.</p>

<p>Headless CMSs reduce the impact of DDoS, as all the rendering of content is done on the client side. In a traditional CMS setup, you will likely have login forms and other entry points that directly point to your server. This means you have to keep on top of your security layer and make sure a malicious actor can’t get in. With a Headless CMS all of that responsibility is put onto the Headless CMS provider, and your statically generated front-end is safe from attack.</p>

<h3>7. Customisation</h3>

<p>Given the inherent flexibility, there are no constraints that you encounter when powering your site using a template-based CMS like Squarespace, Wix, or Webflow.</p>

<h3>8. Better Software Architecture</h3>

<p>Developers have a free hand to use the latest, most up-to-date tech stack they want and are not constrained by systems designed to operate in a distinctively limited way. Anyone familiar with the monolithic CMS approaches will be familiar with how constrained they are and how rigid the templates often are (of course this can be a good thing for the right user).</p>

<h3>9. Easier for Marketing to Update Content</h3>

<p>Separating the content layer from the presentation layer makes it easier for content producers to just focus on content production. Most Headless CMS platforms have intuitive platforms so those working in a marketing function can easily edit existing content or add content without needing to route through a developer.</p>

<h3>10. Content is Reusable</h3>

<p>Content is reusable and can be rendered in different applications making it well-suited to the world of omnichannel or mobile.</p>

<h2>Disadvantages of a Headless CMS</h2>

<p>There are several disadvantages to be aware of also before choosing to power your website with a Headless CMS solution.</p>

<h3>1. Need a Front-end Developer</h3>

<p>As a Headless CMS focuses on the back-end content platform (or repository) you will need a front-end developer to build and manage the site (the presentation layer is separate). Ideally, this person is in-house so you don’t have to have someone on retainer.</p>

<h3>2. Front-end Design</h3>

<p>Given the decoupling of the front and back ends you will need someone (perhaps the front-end developer) to design and build the front-end of the site.</p>

<h3>3. Use of Third Party Plugins</h3>

<p>While some will view the API-based approach as being an advantage others may not. With this approach, you will need third parties to handle things often done with plugins - like contact forms etc. Although they are increasingly becoming parts of the ecosystem you’re already using as illustrated by the likes of Netlify offering Netlify Forms.<br><br><strong>Recommended Resource:</strong> <a href="https://www.contento.io/blog/cons-headless-cms">Drawbacks of Headless CMS</a></p>

<h3>Contento - a different type of Headless CMS</h3>

<p>Contento is a brand new Headless CMS with some fundamental differences compared to the market leaders.</p>

<ol><li><p>We are focused on a single vertical - <a href="https://www.contento.io/blog/b2b-saas-website">B2B SaaS websites</a> - enabling us to focus on the features unique to B2B startups including a strong focus on SEO.</p></li><li><p>We optimize for websites - unlike other Headless CMS’ we believe the dominant use case for B2B SaaS startups is powering a marketing website.</p></li><li><p>We offer a competitively priced solution unlike some of our competitors who ratchet pricing aggressively on the back of a reasonable market entry price point.</p></li><li><p>Finally, our founders span both worlds and we thus ensure that our application meets the needs of both marketers and developers.</p></li></ol>

<h3>Summary</h3>

<p>In summary, there are numerous benefits to embracing the Headless CMS approach to managing your website. More traditional monolithic content management systems lack the scalability and flexibility required by fast-growing startups. A best-fit use case is where your B2B SaaS startup is scaling up (or has ambitions to scale) and has access to a front-end developer to support the site build and maintenance.</p>

Headless CMS’ have been taking off in recent years and represent core building blocks for B2B SaaS scale ups like Intercom, Teamwork and Stripe.

What are the Key Benefits of a Headless CMS?

9 What Is A Headless Cms

Headless CMS offers a number of compelling benefits. This short article outlines some of the key benefits so you can make an informed decision about upgrading.

<h2>What is a Headless CMS?</h2>

<p>The use of Headless Content Management Systems (CMS) has grown in popularity in recent years. This short article outlines the evolution before outlining some of the key benefits of the approach.</p>

<h2>Classic CMS’s</h2>

<p>Classic CMSs represent the primary method of delivering content management for many sites today, especially those that are a few years old.</p>

<p>The basic setup is an application that holds the content and allows the marketing manager to manage it (the CMS), which you host yourself or via a third party on a dedicated server like those offered by Digital Ocean or Linode. That application can pull content out of the database via a template language that compiles it down to HTML.</p>

<p>Template languages like Twig, Blade, Liquid, or Handlebars are usually simpler than using a raw back-end language and help front-end engineers to create the front of the site without having to learn the entire back-end ecosystem.</p>

<p>Sometimes there is no middle layer, WordPress for instance ships with PHP templates by default. This means you are mixing PHP directly in with HTML, which in short can lead to confusing and less-performant code.</p>

<p>In terms of what end-users see, it’s just like any other CMS or online application - they go to a URL (usually something like mysite.com/admin), log in and edit content using forms.</p>

<h2>Main Disadvantages</h2>

<p>Because the CMS itself is busy processing the template language and rendering the content, on top of updating content when someone edits something, the load on the server can sometimes balloon quickly. This means response times can slow down, and the front-end users can start to notice the site feels sluggish.</p>

<p>On top of that, pages can be slow to parse and compile down to HTML, front-end developers may not fully understand how to write performant database queries but are being asked to when using the templating layer, or sometimes the pages are just big and full of content.</p>

<p>To solve this bottleneck frequently a modern CMS like Craft or WordPress will use a caching system (usually via an add-on). This typically saves the resulting HTML down to a flat file on disk, which can be fetched quickly the next time the same request comes in. Whilst the end-result can be super fast for your users, setting up caching and getting it to invalidate properly can be tricky - oftentimes content editors end up publishing something in the CMS but not having it live on the site and have no idea why.</p>

<p>From a marketing perspective, there can be additional issues ranging from poor admin interfaces, difficulty updating complex types of content, security vulnerabilities due to third-party add-on’s etc.</p>

<p>There is also a natural evolution when it comes to B2B SaaS companies that outgrow legacy systems and are keen to upgrade to the latest cutting-edge CMS technology.</p>

<hr>

<h2>What is a Headless CMS ?</h2>

<p>We use the term headless to describe the next group of CMS’ because they come without a templating and rendering layer - they have no way to send fully-formed HTML to the browser, and don’t expose routes by themselves (e.g. /blog/my-post) at the primary domain.</p>

<p>Instead, they operate isolated from the front-end of the site and expose only an API for developers to interact with. At this point, developers can choose a myriad of different ways to get the content from the CMS to the front-end of the site. The quickest route is to call the Headless CMS API live in the browser, but this leads to endless spinners and loading states as content downloads.</p>

<p>Usually, the front-end codebase will make the API calls it needs to as part of a build process - this process only happens when needed, like when content changes in the CMS or when code has been updated by the dev team.</p>

<p>Once the build process has been run and produced all the HTML as flat files, those files can then be served up to the users very very quickly. They can also be easily deployed to global CDNs and replicated on servers physically near end-users.</p>

<p>There is also the bonus that the front-end is decoupled from the back-end, meaning you host both applications on more specifically appropriate hardware, and can also swap either part out for a new one with a lot less risk.</p>

<hr>

<h2>Implications for Marketing</h2>

<p>In terms of how this applies to the marketing team, in one sense there is little difference if the content modelling is done properly - you can build great and terrible sites on both systems! </p>

<p>The main upside for headless though is that the end-result website will likely be faster because using a headless CMS lends itself to a build process that produces flat HTML files which can then be cached and deployed on a CDN.</p>

<p>When it comes to changes in the content model both systems will require a developer to do something - but in the headless model it can be a lot less error-prone to roll out changes, resulting in fewer upsets or “<em>site down!</em>” calls.</p>

<p>However, there are trade-offs that you need to be aware of. You are essentially separating the two core components. You will thus need a developer to design the front-end of the site, as the marketing team primarily focuses on the content side. It is also best suited to teams that are scaling up and are looking to add more content and pages and want to do so while allowing free rein to designers to focus on the design. For growing B2B SaaS companies, looking to take their company to the next level, a Headless CMS like <a href="https://www.contento.io">Contento</a> represents an attractive option.</p>

<hr>

<h2>Summary</h2>

<p>Of course, it’s not quite as simple as the binary split as we’ve made it out to be here. You can self-host your own Headless CMS and there are plenty of SaaS offerings that deploy classic CMS solutions for you. This split is simply helpful to use when thinking about the two camps, as most often they fall into these two configurations.</p>

This short blog outlines the evolution from classic content management systems towards modern-day Headless CMS stacks.