Sanity · Contentful · Strapi
Headless CMS
Content managed in one place and delivered to several: a site, an app, a partner feed. Paired with a Next.js or Astro front end.
Get test credentialsHeadless separates content from presentation, which is genuinely valuable when the same content has to feed more than one destination, a website, a mobile app, a partner integration.
The honest caveat
For a single marketing site it is usually the wrong choice. You gain flexibility nobody needs and lose the thing clients value most: an editor where what you type looks like what will publish. We will recommend it when the second destination actually exists, not in anticipation of one.
Headless is a content model decision, not a speed one
Headless is usually sold on performance and bought for the wrong reason. A well-built traditional site is fast enough; what headless actually buys is a content model that is not shaped by one presentation layer — the same content going to a site, an app and a partner feed without being rewritten for each.
If there is only ever going to be one front end, the extra build cost and the extra moving parts buy very little. If there are going to be three, they buy a great deal.
Headless, in practice
- The content model designed before the front end, not derived from it
- Editors given a preview, because an editor who cannot see the result stops editing
- Build and deploy costs counted as part of the running cost
See custom software development for how these are scoped, and web development services for the comparison with a conventional build.
How this work usually starts
A headless project starts with the content model on paper: what the entities are, what they contain, and which of them are reused. If that exercise produces one entity used in one place, the honest recommendation is a conventional build, and we will make it.
Two questions decide whether headless is the right call: how many front ends the content genuinely has to reach, and whether the editors will get a preview. A no to the first or the second is a reason to build conventionally and spend the difference elsewhere.
- Front end Next.js or Astro, statically rendered where possible
- Content API GraphQL or REST, with preview builds for editors
- Editing Structured content models rather than free-form pages
- Hosting Your Vercel, Netlify or cloud account
Get credentials
Credentials are issued with your test account, on the same routes production will use.
Before you decide
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Web Development Services
Custom websites and ecommerce builds planned around search, speed and conversion, with support after launch. Request a website proposal from our team.
Live Chat Support Services for Websites
Staffed live chat that answers in seconds, rescues hesitating buyers and hands qualified enquiries to sales. Cover your peak browsing hours.