The Ultimate Guide to

Headless CMS
The Ultimate Guide to Headless CMS
© 2023 Kontent.ai
The Ultimate Guide to
Headless CMS
Everything you need to know
to choose the right CMS
TL;DR (If you read nothing else, read this) 6

Chapter I: The world has changed and so must the CMS 9

Chapter II: How does a headless CMS work? 17

Chapter III: Choosing your hosting model 33

Chapter IV: When to use a headless CMS 41

Chapter V: Increase your digital agility with a headless CMS 51

Summary 59
 TL;DR (If you read nothing else, read this)

The future is now: Engage Take complete control over your content
customers through new channels
With a modern CMS, you can create content once and then use it across
Your customers are increasingly using mobile apps, virtual reality, multiple platforms such as websites, mobile apps, social media, and
augmented reality, chat, voice-controlled digital assistants, smart others. This saves time and reduces the risk of inconsistencies, as all
wearables, and various Internet of Things devices. If you’re not of the content will come from a single source of truth.
connecting with them through these new channels, you’re missing
an opportunity. In addition to improving the efficiency of content creation, a modern
CMS can also streamline internal processes. The ability to manage
content from a central location makes it easier for teams to collaborate,
Traditional web-oriented review and approve content, and keep track of changes. This reduces
Content Management Systems the need for manual processes and minimizes the risk of errors.
aren’t ready for this

You need a new type of CMS that was built for omnichannel content Stay ahead of your competition
management and delivery from the very beginning—a headless CMS.
Headless CMS focuses on content management and provides an A modern headless CMS is considered cutting-edge technology for
Application Programming Interface (API) that makes the content large organizations that want to engage customers across an increasing
available on any device and any platform. number of channels. This book will explain how the headless approach
compares to others and will help you make an informed decision.

6
 TL;DR

Traditional CMS Headless CMS

Your code

Your code

Back-end UI
CDN

CMS API

Back-end UI
Webserver Database

Infrastructure
CMS

7
Chapter I

The world has changed

and so must the CMS
 1 Why multichannel engagement matters to every business

4.5 hours on a phone Connected devices to 1.4 billion people using

each day be 3x the global population Augmented Reality technology

The average time spent daily on a phone is In 2023, there’s going to be more than By the end of 2023, there will
expected to reach 4.5 hours in 2023, which three times more networked devices on Earth be 1.4 billion Augmented Reality (AR)
emphasizes the importance of having a strong than humans. device users.
presence on mobile devices.

Source: Statista (2022) Source: RCR Wireless News (2021) Source: XR Today (2022)

10
 Chapter I: The world has changed and so must the CMS

2 We need a new way of managing content

in this multichannel world
Gone are the days when a single platform or channel could suffice for
businesses to connect with their target audience. The rapidly evolving
technological landscape has given rise to four major trends. Let’s have
a close look at each of them:

Multichannel

In the new multichannel world, your content may be consumed on any

number of devices. If you do not want to miss the opportunity of truly
engaging with your customers, you need to make sure your content
is ready for multiple channels. This requires a whole new mindset in
structuring, organizing, managing, and presenting content.

Unfortunately, traditional CMS systems were built with just websites

in mind and, although they do support structured content, the
multichannel approach is an afterthought for them and they do not
support the new paradigm well.

11
 Modular content strategy

The term “modular approach to content” means your content

is divided into smaller, reusable pieces. It can be easily reused
across multiple platforms, allowing for greater flexibility as these
pieces can be recombined and modified to fit the needs of different
channels and contexts.

Additionally, modular content allows for greater collaboration

between teams and departments—pieces of content can be created
and managed by a large number of people while still maintaining
a consistent voice and message.

12
 Chapter I: The world has changed and so must the CMS

Single source of truth MACH architecture

With multiple departments and teams, it’s easy for information MACH stands for Microservices-based, API-first, Cloud-based, and
to become fragmented and duplicated, leading to confusion and Headless, and is a set of technology principles for building enterprise
mistakes. By having a central content hub, organizations can software in 2022 and beyond.
eliminate inconsistencies and ensure everyone is working on the latest
version of content. With a microservices-based approach, an organization can break
down its applications into smaller, independent services that can
This can help improve decision-making, streamline processes, and be developed, deployed, and scaled independently. This not only leads
ultimately lead to better outcomes for the organization. Moreover, having to faster development times but also enables teams to work on specific
a single source of truth also helps businesses stay compliant with parts of the application without affecting the overall system.
industry regulations and standards, as it ensures that all information
is accurate, up to date, and easily accessible. Using these modular components, organizations can quickly
assemble powerful digital experiences that are tailored to meet the
needs of their customers.

13
 3 Current trends are driving the need
for a scalable CMS solution
The trends described in this chapter emphasize the importance of breaking
down content into smaller, reusable components, which can be easily
assembled to create digital experiences across multiple channels.

The increasing number of channels, devices, and touchpoints requires

organizations to have a flexible and scalable content management solution
that can keep up with the pace of change.

In the next chapter, we’ll take a closer look at each type of CMS and
its pros and cons.

14
 Chapter I: The world has changed and so must the CMS

Headless Content
Management Systems

Monolithic Digital
Experience Platforms Today

Dynamic Web CMS 2010s

2000s
Page Generators

1990s

15
Chapter II

How does a headless

CMS work?
 1 Headless CMS in a nutshell
Headless CMS is a content management system that allows you to
manage content and access it from your applications using an API.

Unlike traditional CMS solutions, headless CMS does without the

presentation layer (the “head”) that would dictate how the content
should be displayed. Instead, you control the presentation completely
with your own code.

This not only enables a content-first approach to your engagement

with your audience (as content creators no longer have to wait for
Your code
development teams to catch up) but it means you can use the same
Webserver
content across multiple channels—website, mobile app, digital assistant,
virtual reality, smart watches, etc.—making the headless CMS the ideal
solution for the fast-paced multichannel world.

CDN

API

Back-end UI

CMS

18
 Chapter II: What is a cloud-first headless CMS?

Theoretically, you can run an on-premise headless CMS, but you will get
the most out of it if you use it as a cloud service. This is because the
headless architecture allows CMS vendors to provide a true multitenant
Software as a Service (SaaS) product and look after the CMS for you
while you focus on your applications.

Furthermore, modern headless CMSs come equipped with collaborative

and project management tools, granting global content teams greater
control and oversight over what gets published, where, and when.

19
 2 Coupled, decoupled, or headless?
When you’re choosing a new CMS, it’s important that you understand
the differences in various architectural approaches used by different
products. While this may look like a technical detail, it has a big impact
on how the CMS will support your business goals now and in the future.

20
 Chapter II: What is a cloud-first headless CMS?

Coupled CMS Decoupled CMS Headless CMS

Most traditional CMS systems are built A decoupled CMS for better Headless CMS: no head, no limits
as a coupled CMSs separation of concerns A headless CMS makes the presentation
The coupled architecture combines In this case, you make all modifications layer much more flexible as it eliminates
everything in a single application: the content in the content management environment the front-end part: by providing the content
repository, back-end user interface for (typically behind the firewall) and synchronize through its application programming interface
editors, templating system, as well as your the published content with the content (API), it can be used on any platform and on
custom code. delivery environment. any device to retrieve and display the content.

CMS CMS

CMS

21
 3 Which architecture is right for you?
Coupled CMS

Pros
■ This approach is very popular as it only requires a single environment
and it’s easy to set up and manage.
Front-end
templates
Cons +
CMS Your code
■ The CMS code is tightly connected with your templates and custom
code, meaning you need to look after your own code as well as the Back-end UI

CMS code during the whole application life cycle (installation, upgrades,
hotfixes, code versioning, continuous deployment, etc.).
Webserver Database

Infrastructure
■ The CMS code is exposed on the public server which increases
security risks.

■ The load on your website impacts the performance of your content

management back end, and vice versa.

While coupled CMSs may also provide an API for non-web channels, When to use
they weren’t built as API-first solutions and do not provide the A coupled CMS may be a good fit for you when you plan to
benefits of a true headless CMS (see chapter True headless-first versus build a brochure website and you don’t expect to publish to
“me too” headless CMS). multiple channels.

22
 Chapter II: What is a cloud-first headless CMS?

Decoupled CMS

Pros Front-end
templates
■ This model provides better security, higher (though not full) CMS +
Your code
separation of your custom code from the CMS, and easier scalability.

Cons
Webserver Database

SYNC
■ You have to manage several environments, which multiplies the costs
Infrastructure
of infrastructure, ongoing maintenance, and software licenses.

The synchronization of content introduces potential issues, especially if

your website enables members to contribute their own content that then
needs to be synchronized back. CMS Back-end UI

Webserver Database

Infrastructure

When to use
The decoupled CMS enables similar use cases to the coupled CMS,
just with a more robust architecture. However, by nature, it’s still
primarily a web-focused solution.

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 Headless CMS

Pros
■ The API makes the content available through any channel and on any
device and allows you to make the CMS part of your microservices Your code
architecture. Webserver

■ You can write your websites or mobile applications using

any programming language, your favorite tools, and your own
development process.
API
CMS
■ You have full control over the application lifecycle without having to Back-end UI
interfere with any CMS code.

■ It provides higher security and much easier scalability. Webserver Database

Infrastructure
Cons
■ Headless CMS offers more creative freedom but also requires
a team of skilled developers since it doesn’t come with any pre-built
When to use
templates or themes.
If you plan on supporting multiple channels, a headless CMS
is your best choice. Whether it’s a website, mobile app, voice
■ The idea of separating the front-end and back-end components and
interface, or something new, a headless platform allows you
having content served through APIs can be challenging to understand
to deliver high-quality content across all devices and touchpoints
for those who are used to traditional CMSs.
in a consistent manner.

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 Chapter II: What is a cloud-first headless CMS?

4 Understanding the differences:

Decoupled versus headless CMS
There’s a lot of confusion around “decoupled” and “headless” in the
market. People may tell you things like “a decoupled CMS is just another
name for a headless CMS”. Unfortunately, that’s a misunderstanding of
the headless concept.

The decoupled CMS does separate the presentation layer (the “head”)
and the content management back end, but it still uses a templating
model and is responsible for how the content is displayed.

Front-end
templates
The “head” looks after how The headless approach
CMS +
Your code the content is displayed leaves presentation

Your code entirely up to you

Webserver
Webserver Database
SYNC

Infrastructure

API
CMS Back-end UI CMS
Back-end UI

Webserver Database Webserver Database

Infrastructure Infrastructure

25
 5 Understanding the differences: True
headless-first versus “me too” headless CMS
Many traditional coupled or decoupled CMS systems provide some
kind of REST API and claim they are “hybrid” or “also headless”.
You should be aware, however, of important details that make
a big difference between a CMS that was designed with a headless
or “API-first” approach in mind from the very beginning, versus a CMS
for which the API was an afterthought.

Car model: Tesla S Price: $120,000

Content model
Maker: Tesla, Inc. Photo:

A true headless CMS works with all content in a way that makes Variant: P100D
it possible to use the content for any channel.
Description: The model S is…

Traditional web-oriented CMS systems often use concepts of pages

and drag-and-drop interfaces that create content in a format that
doesn’t allow for content reuse.

Oftentimes you will discover that their REST API may not even make How much is Tesla?
such content available or the way the content is provided makes
Tesla S P100D
Model P100D is $120,000
it useless for other channels, like a mobile app.

26
 Chapter II: What is a cloud-first headless CMS?

Robustness and performance of the API

A true headless CMS was built with an API-first approach. Traditional CMS products often provide just a pure REST API, lacking
the additional elements that ensure high scalability and security of the
Its creators usually pay a lot of attention to the API and the whole APIs in real-world applications. They usually don’t provide a Content
solution is designed in a way that enables its full power. Delivery Network (CDN) to ensure global coverage, or high speed or
high service availability, which has a considerable negative impact on
its overall performance.

27
 6 Understanding the differences: True
SaaS CMS versus CMS hosted in the Cloud

Software as a Service model

The most revolutionary aspect of the headless approach is that it

enables CMS vendors to provide a CMS in a true multitenant Software
as a Service model.

This wasn’t possible with traditional CMS models that combined both
content management and content presentation.
You look after
your application
In fact, it’s one of the main reasons traditional CMS vendors only Presentation code

provide single-tenant managed hosting or Platform as a Service (PaaS)

hosting for their products. Such models, however, don’t unlock all the
benefits of the Cloud, as we explain later in the chapter “Choosing your
hosting model”.

The vendor looks

Back-end UI after the CMS

CMS

28
 Chapter II: What is a cloud-first headless CMS?

7 Other options to consider

In order to give you a complete overview of your CMS options, we’ve
included some alternatives that may fit certain scenarios. CMS
Static site generators

Static site generators aren’t actually a CMS. These are usually

Website Generator
frameworks or scripts that take content provided in a specific format
and use it to generate static HTML files that can be hosted on any server.

This option is popular for smaller websites that change infrequently

and don’t need to provide any kind of personalization or other
dynamic elements.

In order to provide a user-friendly editing interface, it’s common

to use a headless CMS as the source of content for a static site Static HTML Website
generator. You can also use headless CMS webhooks that notify your
site-generating code when content is updated so it can generate and
upload a new version of the website to the server.

Static site generators are focused on HTML websites, so they do not

support other channels.

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 Flat-file CMS

Flat-file CMS systems are usually coupled, web-oriented systems that

use a file system to store the content in a structured format, such
as XML or JSON files.
Front-end templates
+
This means they don’t use SQL databases, which makes their server Your code
footprint smaller and makes them easier to deploy or migrate to
other servers.
Back-end UI

This is an interesting option for companies that want a custom, dynamic,

CMS-powered website with very low hosting costs.
Content repository

This model, however, doesn’t scale for large websites.

[ News1.JSON ]
[ News2.JSON ]
[ News3.JSON ]

30
 Chapter II: What is a cloud-first headless CMS?

Website builders

Website builders include SaaS solutions like Wix, Squarespace,

Webnode, and others. These products are great for simple
template-based websites. They’re very easy to set up and
even non-technical users can create a great-looking website in
Website Builders |
a couple of hours.

They are, however, not suitable for organizations that want a fully
custom solution with specific functionality or integrations.

They also aren’t a true CMS as they do not allow for management
of structured content—they only support page editing and a limited
number of predefined content types, such as blog posts or news,
and don’t allow you to define your own content types.

While these builders allow you to create responsive websites, they

offer no (or very limited) capabilities for any other channels.

31
Chapter III

Choosing your
hosting model
 1 On premise, managed cloud, or SaaS?
You can choose from a number of CMS hosting models. Very few
customers run their CMS as a true on-premise solution on their own
servers. These days, most customers leverage a cloud hosting model.
In most cases, however, they just manage a CMS installation in the Cloud
themselves or have a vendor manage it for them. This approach doesn’t
allow customers to fully leverage all the benefits of the Cloud. The new
headless model finally allows vendors to provide a CMS as Software as
a Service (SaaS). Let’s have a look at each option: Perform
ance

Security

Self-hosted on premise
Backup

If you run a traditional CMS on premise you need to manage the:

Upgrades

■ configuring of a web server

■ installation of the CMS Hotfixes

■ application of hotfixes and upgrades

Installation
■ ensurance of backup, security, and performance

… and only after that can you work on your website. Webserver

That’s why more and more customers are looking for a better model.

34
 Chapter III: Choosing your hosting model

Self-hosted in the Cloud

Even if you install your CMS in the Cloud, such as Amazon Web
Services or Microsoft Azure, you still need to babysit it. The only
advantage is that you no longer need to worry about the infrastructure Perform
ance
or the underlying platform.
Security

Managed cloud hosting

Backup

Some traditional CMS vendors offer managed cloud hosting for

Upgrades
their CMS.

Perform
ance
While your first reaction might be “Wow, they take care of everything!”, Hotfixes

it lacks the flexibility one would expect: with every change of the code,
Security
Installation
you typically need to talk to the vendor and ask them to deploy it to your
production environment. Backup

Moreover, while this model moves the inefficiencies from you to the Upgrades

vendor, at the end of the day, you pay for them.

Hotfixes

Installation

35
 Platform as a Service (PaaS)

This model is based on a unified CMS configuration that allows vendors

to automate what would otherwise be manually managed cloud hosting.

The problem is, you may not be able to use certain plugins or create
certain customizations. You also only have limited control over the
hosting environment and you still have to test your website after each
upgrade and hotfix to make sure it’s not broken.

The PaaS model still lacks the elegance and efficiency you would expect
Performance
from a true cloud service.

Security

Backup

Upgrades

Hotfixes

Installation

36
 Chapter III: Choosing your hosting model

Software as a Service (SaaS)

The headless approach separates the concerns of the vendor

(running a CMS) and the client (creating a website or other application
that consumes the content).

With SaaS, the vendor provides all customers with the same
up-to-date CMS, high availability, security, and performance.

This means you only look after your own solution.

This model allows both vendors and customers to get all the benefits Your code

of the Cloud and achieve higher agility at lower operating costs. Webserver

CDN

API

Back-end UI

CMS

37
 2 Cloud-first headless CMS:
your peace of mind
As previously mentioned, the headless model enables vendors to
provide a CMS as a true Software as a Service (SaaS) solution. This
wasn’t possible before and it means a major revolution to the whole
CMS industry. While you can use an on-premise headless CMS, it would
be like buying a hybrid car and using only its combustion engine.
You should use a headless CMS that was built for the Cloud from the
very beginning as it offers huge benefits over any other CMS model:

38
 Chapter III: Choosing your hosting model

No worries about infrastructure and CMS Better security

The SaaS model means that you do not need to worry about Since the headless CMS is managed by the vendor who deeply
any underlying infrastructure or middleware. You can forget about: understands its architecture and underlying infrastructure, it’s much
easier for the vendor to ensure proper security. Moreover, when the
■ Web server maintenance vendor fixes a security flaw, it’s fixed immediately for all customers,
■ Database server maintenance giving hackers a much smaller window of opportunity. It’s true that
■ Backups you still need to make sure your own code is secure, but it’s much
easier than securing a large monolithic CMS application as well as
… and other pains connected with running a CMS. All you do is manage third-party plugins.
your content and retrieve it through an API!

Infinite scalability and high availability

No painful upgrades
The headless CMS model allows vendors to fully leverage the power
of the Cloud and build a highly scalable architecture with high
With a headless CMS, you are always using the latest version of the
availability—and you can very easily build your solutions on top of that
CMS, without going through painful and costly upgrades. Is there a new
architecture without any effort!
version of a browser? A security threat new on the scene? Or new
legislation to comply with? No worries, the vendor takes care of that and
Moreover, such a CMS typically uses a global Content Delivery Network
you benefit from any new functionality immediately.
(CDN) to deliver the content to any application anywhere in the world
in no time. The CDNs are built for extreme load which makes the content
delivery unbreakable, even if you run a Super Bowl commercial or your
campaign goes viral.

39
Chapter IV

When to use
a headless CMS
 1 Should you use a headless or
traditional CMS?

Choose a traditional CMS if: Choose a headless CMS if:

■ You want to host the CMS yourself on your ■ You want to create content for multiple
servers or in the Cloud channels, not just a website

■ You only want to build a website and have ■ You want to leverage all benefits of a true
no plans to support other channels SaaS solution provided as a cloud service

■ You want to use the CMS as ■ You want to build your applications using
a development platform a microservices architecture

■ Your marketers can’t change their ■ Your marketers are able to adopt
“website-first” mindset an omnichannel content strategy

42
Chapter IV: When to use a headless CMS

43
 2 When to use a headless CMS:
Typical scenarios

Content hub—one place for all

your content

A single source of truth is crucial for organizations looking to operate

at scale. With a headless CMS, you can manage all your content in one
place, from articles and blog posts to videos, images, and more. This
allows you to safeguard your brand with content governance, ensuring
that only approved content is published.

Moreover, a headless CMS allows you to make the most of your content
and assets by enabling easy reuse and repurposing. It’s like having
a well-organized toolbox where each tool serves multiple purposes, and
you can quickly grab the ones you need to complete a project without
having to search through a cluttered mess.
Legacy CMS Legacy CMS

In short, centralizing all your content in one content hub makes it easier
PIM API delivery
to stay organized, streamlines collaboration, and ensures that your
Content hub
content is consistent, compliant, and on-brand. ERP E-commerce

44
 Chapter IV: When to use a headless CMS

Omnichannel content delivery

The API provided by a headless CMS allows you to deliver content to

any channel, any device, and any platform. While many of these channels
are obvious, let’s have a look at some specific scenarios.

■ Static page generation—you can use the headless CMS for

content storage and then use script to generate static HTML files for
your website.

■ Conversational interfaces, such as digital assistants or chatbots,

need a specific content structure that may not be well supported
by traditional page-oriented systems.

■ Microcontent for SaaS—think of a banking application that contains

hints, short product descriptions, or various promotions displayed in
Website Mobile SaaS Chatbot Knowledge
the context of the application.
application application base

API
Content hub

Virtual/
augmented E-commerce Static page Print IoT
reality generation

45
 Complex content operations

If you have a large team of content creators, it can be a daunting

task to keep everything organized and streamlined. That’s why having
a platform that helps you plan, create, and publish content is crucial.
A headless CMS provides just that, enabling all team members
to work together in real-time, regardless of their location.

Through a headless CMS, you can easily collaborate with

your teammates and stakeholders to get feedback, share
content ideas, and make quick changes to content. This leads
to faster decision-making and eliminates the need for multiple
communication channels.

Website
In addition, a headless CMS streamlines processes to accelerate
Export
time to market. With tools like content calendars and workflows,
Content hub
you can easily manage and monitor content production and approval
processes. This eliminates the need for manual tracking and Mobile app

reduces the risk of missed deadlines, ensuring timely publication

of high-quality content.

Knowledge
base

Editors

E-commerce

46
 Chapter IV: When to use a headless CMS

Need to provide localized content

Just like you wouldn’t wear a swimsuit to a job interview or a suit

to the beach, you wouldn’t want to give your audience content that
doesn’t suit their cultural or linguistic context. Delivering localized
content is like choosing the right outfit for the right occasion—it
helps you make a good impression and ensures that your message
resonates with your audience.
Regional Global
lteam team

A headless CMS offers several benefits to organizations looking

to maintain a consistent brand image across different regions.
It enables governance for global content, ensuring that local
teams comply with relevant regulations and policies. Additionally,
a headless CMS offers flexibility in content creation and
management, allowing local teams to create content that resonates
while staying true to the brand’s guidelines.
Regional Global
content content

Overall, a headless CMS provides the tools needed to achieve

a consistent brand image across regions while also empowering local
teams to create content that connects with their audiences.

Regional Global
website website

47
 E-commerce

One of the key advantages of a headless CMS is that it enables Finally, a headless CMS provides businesses with a future-proof
businesses to create custom digital storefronts with a modern API-first and secure e-commerce solution that can easily adapt to
approach. This means that businesses can create unique and engaging changing market conditions and customer needs. With its scalable
customer experiences that are tailored to their specific needs and architecture, a headless CMS allows businesses to add new features
preferences, whether it be through desktop, mobile, or other devices. and functionalities as their needs evolve, making it a valuable
long-term investment.
Moreover, e-commerce solutions built on headless CMS platforms make
January
it easy for customers to discover and buy products. With the ability newsletter
to personalize content and provide relevant product recommendations,
businesses can make the shopping experience more enjoyable and Promotional
newsletter
increase customer loyalty.

Email April
newsletter

Email
confirmation
Customer
satisfaction
guarantee
Order
review/checkout

Profile of
Web product A

Product
profile

Profile of
product B

48
 Chapter IV: When to use a headless CMS

Personalized omnichannel experiences

As the headless CMS concept became more widely adopted, marketers A headless CMS also empowers marketers and content editors to set up
also began to realize its potential. With a headless CMS, they can create and view content recommendations using AI recommendation engines.
and manage content more efficiently, and deliver it to any channel This functionality helps businesses understand what content resonates
in a more personalized and engaging way. with their audience and adjust their strategy accordingly. Marketers
can use data-driven insights to optimize their content, making it more
By integrating with best-of-breed services, a headless CMS enables relevant, engaging, and effective. This level of personalization leads to
marketers to create targeted content that meets their customers’ a better user experience and can have a significant impact on conversion
specific needs. With the ability to deliver personalized content based rates and customer satisfaction.
on visitors’ behavior and preferences, businesses can tailor their
content to different segments of their audience, driving engagement
and building loyalty.

Marketing
automation

Interaction
CRM data

ERP

E-commerce Content + Context hub Personalized Digital

content experiences
Other content
sources

Editors Marketers Customers

49
Chapter V

Increase your
digital agility with
a headless CMS
 1 Replace waterfall with agile planning

Traditional CMS

With the traditional CMS, the project planning was driven by the Moreover, you couldn’t start entering the content into the CMS before
technology. Since your content was tightly connected to your website developers had implemented the page templates.
design, you needed to figure out what the website would look like before
you could start working on the content. This led to project delays and inefficiencies in content production: you
either waited until the website was ready or you had to create your
content in a temporary format, such as excel spreadsheets, and then
copy & paste the content into the new CMS.

Brief

Content strategy

Design

HTML templates

Development

Content production

52
 Chapter V: Increase your digital agility with a headless CMS

Headless CMS

The headless CMS naturally leads you to a content-first approach. Moreover, the headless approach enables front-end and back-end
Once you have a proper content strategy in place, you can start creating developers to work more independently, allowing for better people
content in a structured format that can be used for any channel. allocation on the project.

This means you don’t have to wait for the CMS to be set up—you Overall, the headless approach shortens your time to market and
can produce content while developers create the website and makes your process much more agile.
other applications.

Brief

Content strategy

Agile iterations

Content production

Design

HTML templates

Development

53
 2 Replace “website” with Property

“omnichannel”
Name: 4-bedroom Lake House Price: $2,123,000

Bedrooms: 4 Photo:

The new multichannel world requires a major shift in how you think
Location: 47.609, -122.284
about content. In the web-only world, it’s common that you organize
your content based on pages and their layouts. Suburb: Lake Washington

In the new omnichannel approach, content needs to be ready for any

presentation, meaning you need to structure content in smaller chunks
Suburb
that provide semantics to each piece of content and allow for its reuse.
Name: Lake Washington

Description: This suburb is…

Any houses for sale near

Lake Washington? You’re passing
4-bedroom Lake House
by a house
FOR SALE for sale!
$2,123,000
Yes, how about this?

Website Virtual reality Real-estate chatbot Augmented reality Smart watch

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 Chapter V: Increase your digital agility with a headless CMS

3 Replace your rigid IT process

with mode 2 IT and DevOps
A traditional safety-first approach to IT has become a struggle for As it’s provided as a cloud service, you can avoid troublesome
organizations that go through a digital transformation and need to installation, maintenance, and upgrades and can rely on the vendor
become more agile. to take care of CMS security and performance for you. At the same
time, you can easily integrate it into your environment through its API.
Bringing up a new website or digital initiative in such an environment The API-first architecture that clearly separates CMS from your code
often takes many months, whereas marketers expect weeks. makes your continuous deployment process much easier compared to
a traditional installed CMS.
As a result, marketers increasingly avoid their IT and choose sub-optimal
technical solutions that consequently become a nightmare to manage. A headless CMS represents a perfect fit for organizations seeking
more agility.
The solution is what Gartner describes as bimodal IT: Mode 1 is focused
on what is known making incremental improvements. Mode 2 is focused
on exploring and experimenting.

A prerequisite to Mode 2 IT is embracing the DevOps approach. DevOps

E
is a crossfunctional mode of working between product management, PL
E AS
AN
EL

CO
TE
R
software development, and operations that is focused on rapid

NF
EA
CR

IG
UR
development with frequent releases.

E
Such an approach allows you to quickly test new ideas and change your
DEV OPS
direction as often as you need to. VE E
R
IF AG
Y CK OR
PA N IT
MO

55
 4 Replace a monolith with microservices
In the past, the only digital experience most companies provided was The question is no longer “Which plugins do we use for this website?”,
their website, typically built on top of a CMS. Any custom code was but “Which APIs do we use for our applications?”
tightly connected to a CMS and glued to its monolithic architecture.
The use of microservices allows you to quickly assemble applications
Today, brands need to provide a seamless experience across multiple using multiple APIs from different vendors. What used to be a tedious
channels, such as mobile applications, point-of-sale systems, social integration task is now much easier.
media, Internet of Things devices, virtual reality, digital assistants,
and chatbots. These APIs are provided as a service which means you don’t have to
worry about running any software and you can benefit from ongoing
The growing number of customer touchpoints requires companies innovation without complex upgrades.
to provide a much broader set of applications.
The fact that you no longer build your application on top of a proprietary
This has lead developers to rethink their architecture and adopt CMS platform, but rather as a compilation of easily replaceable APIs,
the microservices approach where, instead of building a website means that you avoid vendor lock-in and extend the life of your code,
on top of a CMS, they create their applications as a combination thus protecting your investment in development.
of multiple services.

They can create their own microservices, or they can use external
services through their API as building blocks for their application. Instead
of writing code from scratch or including third-party libraries in their
code, they can simply call cloud-based services that do the job.

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 Chapter V: Increase your digital agility with a headless CMS

Monolith application built on top of CMS Digital experiences built using APIs

Authentication

Message delivery

Content
CMS
Transactional emails

Application E-commerce
Custom code

Front-end templates Billing

Plugin 1 Plugin 2

Machine learning

Built-in modules
Image processing
Back-end UI

Content repository
Search

Analytics and personalization

User engagement

57
Summary
If you want to take control of your content
operations and create a great digital
experience for your customers, a headless
CMS is the solution you need.

Now is the time to act: go to kontent.ai and

see what a headless CMS can do for you!
About the Author

Petr Palas has one passion—Content Management Systems. In the

past 15 years, he has written five CMSs. He’s the founder of the leading
headless CMS software company—Kontent.ai

About Kontent.ai

Kontent.ai is the headless CMS that enables organizations to have

complete control over content to speed up time to market and engage
meaningfully with audiences across channels.

In the Kontent.ai platform, governance underpins all operations and

workflows. Content creators collaborate in real time, making it easier to
land on the best ideas, reduce bottlenecks, and maximize the impact of
everything that’s created. Kontent.ai is an API-first cloud-native solution,
so developers can use their favorite technologies, languages, and
frameworks to deliver seamless experiences that look and feel great on
any channel.
The Ultimate Guide
to Headless CMS
Written by Petr Palas

Published by Kontent.ai in 2023

Nové sady 996/25, 602 00 Brno, Czech Republic

Printed by Didot, spol. s.r.o.

Trnkova 119, 628 00 Brno-Líšeň, Czech Republic

Fifth edition, 2023