What is Headless WordPress? & Why is it Beneficial to Your Business?

Introduction

Headless WordPress enables you to fully manage the content of your website. There are many benefits to a website built with headless WordPress, but one of the main advantages is the ability to decouple content editorial teams from developers. This blog will explain what a headless WordPress is, the benefits and drawbacks of utilizing it for your WordPress website, and how to install it. Before we get started, let us define what a headless CMS is and what distinguishes a headless WordPress from a traditional CMS.

What is a Headless CMS?

A headless CMS is any form of back-end content management system in which the content repository’s “body” is decoupled from the presentation layer’s “head.” A headless CMS’s content is provided via APIs for seamless presentation across several devices. A headless CMS is a content repository system that allows control of website content, has no presentation layer, and displays data on any device.

Therefore to overcome the limitation that was there on traditional CMS, Headless CMS is implemented – here the presentation layer of any website is known as the “Head” of a CMS. So, if you cut out the presentation layer then it is what we call “Headless CMS.”.

This type of headless CMS lets you choose the right presentation layer for a digital platform, but it doesn’t solve the main problem of organizing content so that it can be reused on many different platforms and channels.

Like a headless CMS, a headless architecture is a way to publish dynamic content across many platforms and devices. In a headless architecture, content is stored in its raw and unformatted state, and the way it looks when it’s shown doesn’t depend on a front-end system.

What is Headless WordPress?

In a Headless WordPress system, WordPress is used to manage content, but other front-end technologies are used to show content to site visitors.

Some people say that WordPress is a Monolithic CMS. Despite having a powerful backend for making and organizing content, the front-end is still very focused on how it looks. As a side note, WordPress adds display functionality to themes and plugins, which can be linked to the front end of a website. This can make the website look better.

With WordPress, however, you can use its powerful content management features to cut it in half, leaving behind a fast and lightweight CMS that is easy to use. Enjoy the content management that you’ve made in WordPress even as it grows beyond your theme thanks to the REST API.

In this case, you would be able to use all of the back-end features of the platform, but it would no longer be a proactive system. You would only be able to get the information you need when you need it. This is in contrast to how WordPress currently sends content to mostly browser-based sites.

Headless WordPress has both good and bad things about it, so now that you know more about it, you can decide if you want to switch from traditional WordPress CMS.

When to Use Headless WordPress

Use Headless WordPress for the following:

Superior Performance

If your goal is to achieve almost-instant load times and perfect Core Web Vitals with SSG (Static Site Generation) or SSR (Server-Side Rendering).

Reinforced Security

Hide the WP admin panel from the public if you want to minimize the attack surface. 

Omnichannel Delivery

When you need to serve the same content to several entities, such as a mobile app, website, smart devices, or digital kiosks.

Complex Interactions

You’re creating a web app with extremely interactive elements of complex data visualizations that are easily manageable with modern JavaScript frameworks. 

Developer Preferences

The team is more skilled with modern JS ecosystems than traditional PHP-based WP theme development.

Benefits of Headless WordPress

Headless WordPress is beneficial to business organizations. The following are some benefits of using a headless into your organization’s website. 

Tighter Security

Content risks are minimized through headless and decoupled approaches. Since the content is separate from the frontend delivery, it’s not at risk of third-party application concerns.

Exceptional Performance

A fast-performing website is paramount to any business. One of the key benefits of going headless is performance. The headless architecture can offer enhanced speed and performance, as well as more scalability. 

Increased Scalability

When developing with a headless CMS, scaling your business is very fast. Furthermore, your content can continue to build, and now that you’re an API-first shop, you can quickly reply to new user requirements. 

Seamless Management

A headless approach for your online presence can simplify content management and deployment across various apps and websites. A headless WP site can provide one source of truth for content, which makes ensuring accuracy and consistency across all digital properties easier. 

Numerous Opportunities

Headless WordPress provides numerous opportunities for organizations to benefit from, most of which include speed, security, and overall experience. 

Lightweight Design

When you opt for headless, you discard some serious weight. Since the system now consists of only API calls and the content database, delivery of content becomes sleek, responsive, and fast. 

Drawbacks of Headless WordPress

Going for Headless WordPress should not be taken lightly. The following are some of the drawbacks of going headless:

Easily Messed Up

Installing Headless WordPress differs greatly from traditional WP setups. It changes the mindsets, workflow, and even the development team’s skillsets. One single puzzle out of place can make a world of difference if not planned carefully. 

Time-Consuming and Expensive

It requires developing custom code to query and display content in the front-end app, which adds to its complexity. Often, it requires additional resources. It requires substantial overhead when it comes to coordination and release management. 

Missing Out on the Plug-and-Play Approach

Since the front-end is detached from the back-end, the majority of the time spent installing a plugin will not work as expected. The familiar plug-and-play approach in a traditional setting is not possible when building a headless website since every plugin has to be tailored to work with your setup choice. 

Overdoing Plugins

You have to be careful with the number of plugins you want to add because this can easily break your website. And, this impact is intensified when you add headless into the mix. Too many plugins can affect the speed of your site and can be detrimental to the load times. 

Wrong Choice for Most Websites

For the majority of website owners, opting for headless is the wrong choice. There are instances when it becomes a passion or vanity project for a development team. This is true when headless is not the right fit for the organization. 

Traditional CMS vs Headless WordPress

Determine the difference between traditional CMS and headless WordPress.

How to Get Started with Headless WordPress?

Before plunging in, it’s important to understand the knowledge and resources you would need to succeed in implementing Headless WordPress. 

Prerequisites

• In-depth WordPress understanding: You should have a good grasp of how WordPress works as a content management system, which includes being well-versed in CSS, HTML, and PHP.
• API Knowledge: Since headless relies heavily on APIs, you should have a solid understanding of how to interact with REST API, as well as GraphQL for content retrieval and management. 
• Frontend frameworks understanding: Experience with JavaScript frameworks, like Angular, Vue.js, and React, is crucial. All are primary tools to build a decoupled frontend. 
• Proper hosting setup: Although you can still host the backend on traditional hosting platforms, the frontend usually requires separate hosting. Make sure your provider supports the modern stack of technologies you have in mind. 
• Revised client onboarding: You may want to take a fresh look at the onboarding process and revise it as needed for the new product.
• Updated internal workflow and test site: Make sure to create a test site first to close any knowledge gaps. Furthermore, work out any communication and development process kinks. Update workflow accordingly to ensure that efficient systems are in place to manage your new projects. 

How to Set Up a Headless WordPress Implementation?

There are several major steps to take in implementing Headless WordPress.

• Configure installation with the necessary plugins, including WPGraphQL. Moreover, make sure that the REST API is enabled properly.
• Use a chosen JS framework to set up the frontend project.
• Fetch WordPress data by creating API connections.
• Create components for fetched content rendering.
• Set up routing to handle various content types. 
• Test the API connection at the start to identify and resolve possible issues. 

Things to Keep In Mind Before Opting for a Headless Site

If you are still not sure if Headless WordPress is the right fit for your brand, check out the following considerations:

Familiarity with Technology

Determine if you or your team are more familiar with working with JavaScript or PHP.

Custom Code and Experiences

Building a headless CMS requires technical decisions and developer time customized to the project. Ask yourself if the flexibility of the architecture is really necessary for you.

Project Goals

Headless sites offer more flexibility and could boost performance. Often, these projects require more complexity and more time to develop. 

Cache Strategies

An optimized caching strategy integrating CDN edge servers with server-side caching, like Varnish, for instance, a WP website could achieve performance levels that are comparable to a static website. 

Under-the-Hood Tech

Without built-in caching and optimization features, you would have to implement these yourself with the use of a caching service or layer. 

WP, SEO-friendly, out-of-the-box

Make sure that the front-end properly handles SEO. This involves SSG or SSR, which is already supported in common front-end frameworks. Also, you may have to fetch SEO data and follow the WordPress SEO tips. Redirects should also be handled appropriately because you will lose built-in permalink handling when you go headless. 

Sitemaps and RSS feeds

This functionality may have to be coded and served from the frontend with a headless setup. 

Headless WordPress Use Cases

Let’s find out several scenarios where an organization can make use of a headless CMS installation.

• Hotel and Casino. Some may use a third-party tool, such as a CMS or Booking engine, to gather transaction data. 
• Restaurant Owners. In most instances, restaurant sites don’t allow placing an online order. However, they provide a digital copy of the menu, which is great for delivery or take-home orders. 
• Content publishers and newspapers. News organizations share data with affiliate partners 24 hours a day. It’s great to have one headless WP installation where every journalist can log in and write. WordPress is great for adding content into specific buckets for distribution. 

Final Thoughts About Headless WordPress

Headless WordPress represents a substantial evolution in the way websites are built and managed. It offers new opportunities to create flexible, fast, and multichannel digital experiences through separating content management from presentation. 

While the approach is not suitable for all web development projects, WordPress, nevertheless, does offer a powerful solution when the work range is very complex. A clear understanding of the benefits, requirements, challenges, and proper planning is crucial before going headless for your brand. 

Frequently Asked Questions