Headless web development: what you need to know

Headless web development is more than just a new trend. It’s an evolutionary step in web development that breaks down barriers to flexibility and scalability in traditional website creation. Taking the headless approach, websites can be built much faster, updated frequently, and integrated with other applications to deliver more engaging and interactive user experiences.

The shift to headless web development has been driven greatly by the consumer demand for personalized digital experiences on multiple channels, and it’s quickly becoming a popular choice for businesses of all sizes. If you want to create more flexible, scalable, and engaging websites while getting the most from your digital content, headless web development is worth considering.

This blog will explain headless web development, highlight the benefits for marketers, content creators, developers, and business teams, provide tips on choosing the right headless content management system (CMS), and more.

What is headless web development?

In websites built the traditional way, the front-end code is dependent on back-end code and siloed, and any changes to one part require changes to the other. Making updates can be time-consuming and slow. And there’s no easy way to repurpose website content for use on other channels.

Headless web development solves these problems by separating the front-end presentation layer from the CMS on the back end. With headless, the job of the front-end code is to display content, while the back-end code stores and manages it. This allows the front end to be developed and maintained independently of the back-end code, making it simpler to update.

An application programming interface (API) is different from a CMS. However, APIs are essential for headless platforms because they enable the back to communicate with the user interface (UI) on the front end. APIs also enable connecting the back end to additional “heads” besides the website framework, such as additional websites or mobile apps. So, in essence, even though a headless platform doesn’t have one head – it can connect via APIs to multiple “heads” (e.g., channels, websites, mobile apps).

How headless design works

When a website is created with a headless design approach, the content is stored in a central repository, such as a headless CMS. The front-end framework or technology delivers this content to the presentation layer. This gives designers and developers more freedom to create the user experience they want without being limited by the capabilities of their CMS.

More businesses are shifting to headless design as they adopt microservices architectures. In a microservices architecture, each software application is responsible for a specific task, such as managing content, rendering the UI, or handling payments. These different applications can be integrated to work seamlessly, yet they are independent. This makes it easier to develop and maintain each application without impacting other functionality, and it also enables the scaling of applications over time as your business needs change.

With headless design, organizations can also future-proof their websites because they aren’t tied to a specific front-end framework. They can instead easily change front-end technology or even the components in their tech stacks without impacting the CMS. This eliminates the need for lengthy migrations and downtime when changing the look or functionality of your websites.

What is the role of the user interface in headless?

In headless design, the UI displays the content stored in the headless CMS. The UI can be any front-end framework or technology you choose, such as Gatsby, Next.js, Vue.js, React, and Angular.

The UI can create various user experiences, including responsive websites viewable on any device or custom mobile app.

The UI is also responsible for handling user interactions, such as clicking links or filling out forms. The UI uses data from the headless CMS to respond to these user interactions in an automated yet meaningful way, often leveraging relevant content personalized for each specific audience.

When designing a UI for a headless application, keep these things in mind: the UI should be flexible enough to be used on a variety of devices and platforms, performant enough so that it doesn’t slow down the application, secure to protect user data and accessible to all users including those with disabilities.

Using headless architecture to create efficient static sites

In static website design, headless architecture can be used to create more lightweight, efficient, and secure websites. By decoupling the front end from the back end, developers can use different technologies for each layer, leading to better performance and security.

Here are some of the benefits of using headless architecture in static website design:

• Lightweight and efficient

  Headless websites are typically smaller and faster than traditional websites, as they do not have to include the code for the front end. This can lead to faster load times, improved performance, and better SEO.

• Scalable

  Headless websites are easily scaled up or down to meet demand. This makes them ideal for businesses that experience seasonal traffic spikes or need to handle many concurrent users.

• Secure

  Headless websites can be more secure than traditional websites, as the front end is not responsible for storing or processing sensitive data. This helps to protect against data breaches and other security threats.

• Flexible

  Headless websites give developers more flexibility to choose the technologies they want. This provides more freedom to create custom websites that meet specific business needs.

Headless architecture is a powerful tool that can be used to create static websites that are more flexible, scalable, and secure. Headless architecture is a good option for a new website design.

Using headless for e-commerce

Headless platforms are ideal for e-commerce sites because they don’t limit third-party applications' use. For example, an e-commerce business could use a headless CMS to manage its product catalog and then use a headless checkout solution to process payments. 

With headless, the back-end codebase is separated from front-end features like storefronts, product information and inventory management platforms, marketing and sales platforms, payment systems, and more.

Among the many advantages, headless architecture frees businesses to choose the best-of-breed solutions for each of their unique needs rather than being locked into solutions approved by a website vendor. 

Other advantages of headless e-commerce include the ability to update omnichannel content quickly, keep up with e-commerce innovation as technology advances, quickly design digital storefronts, and perform A/B testing to identify the most effective design and content. Check out our “Headless e-commerce” guide for more information about the benefits.

How headless benefits different teams

Headless web development benefits marketers, content editors, developers, and even business teams. Here’s a brief overview of these benefits.

Developers

Because developers aren’t limited by back-end conventions, they gain more freedom to be creative. With Headless, they can focus on developing new features to engage your audience and less time on mundane content edits and updates.

Marketers

Headless websites empower marketers to act with greater speed and agility, whether responding to a change in the market, user feedback, or something else entirely. They can get campaigns and promotions to market faster, pivot quickly when needed, and get better results as they optimize user experiences.

Content creators and editors

Headless makes it easier and faster for content creators and editors to publish new content or make updates, whether pushing the content to one website or multiple channels. They can make the content change in one place and then push it to all the endpoints where it’s needed. And they can do this without coding experience or having to submit tickets to developers.

Business teams

With Headless, business teams can more easily and quickly roll out new products and services and expand into new territories while delivering consistent messaging across all the channels they use for customer engagement. They become empowered to focus on growing the business with confidence that their CMS has the agility to keep up.

Choosing a suitable headless CMS

Here are some factors to consider and questions to ask when choosing a headless CMS:

• Your unique business needs

• What are your specific requirements for a headless CMS? Do you need a system that can be used to create and manage content for a variety of channels, such as websites, mobile apps, and IoT devices? Do you need a system that offers a lot of flexibility and customization? Do you need a system that is easy to use and manage?

• Developer functionality and ease of use

• Headless CMSes are a bit more technically oriented than traditional CMSes, so you'll need to ensure that your chosen system is easy for developers to use. The system should also have a well-documented API that allows developers to integrate it with other systems easily.

• Omnichannel capability

• Can the headless CMS you're considering be used to create and manage content for all your channels? This is an essential consideration if you want to be able to deliver your content to users on the devices they prefer.

• Content and authoring role workflow

• How does the headless CMS you're considering handle content creation and management? Does it offer a user-friendly interface for content authors? Does it allow for different levels of access and permissions so content approvers can access the system?

• Technical and sales support

• What kind of technical and sales support does the headless CMS vendor offer? Is a dedicated team of experts available to help you with your implementation and ongoing needs?

• Cost

• Does the headless CMS you're considering align with your budget? Does the vendor offer different pricing plans for different needs?

• A clear strategy

• Before you start building your headless website, developing a clear strategy for how you want to use it is essential. This will help you avoid making unnecessary changes down the road.

Are you ready to amplify digital experiences?

From faster publishing times and website updates to seamlessly rolling out new channels, products, and services without downtime or impacting other functionality, we’ve covered many benefits of transitioning to headless. 

However, we want to emphasize that none is more important than the freedom it gives organizations to amp up user experience to engage existing customers better and attract new ones.

By removing many of the limitations of traditional, monolithic systems, headless platforms like Contentstack enable organizations to move with greater speed and agility to deliver consistent and relevant content to users across multiple channels in multiple formats while incorporating features like localization as well as digital tools ranging from analytics and automation to payment processing.

If you’d like to learn how Headless can help your organization amplify digital experiences, schedule a free Contentstack demo today.