Headless CMS and SEO

When a visitor opens a link to a Web site, he or she lands on a page called the front-end. But it is also possible to create a website without a front-end, with a headless CMS. What exactly is headless CMS and how does it benefit the SEO of a website or page: I explain it to you in detail here.

What is headless CMS?

A headless Content Management System (CMS) is a type of CMS in which the content backend (the “body”) is decoupled from the frontend presentation layer (the “head”). This means that the backend of a headless CMS serves only for content storage and management, without being concerned with how and where the content is displayed. (1)

In a traditional CMS, the backend (where the content is created and managed) and the frontend (the user interface where the content is displayed) are closely linked. This can impose restrictions on how and where content is presented. In contrast, a headless CMS delivers the content via an API, which gives developers more freedom to choose how and where to use the content. This could be on websites, mobile apps, IoT devices, and more.

My opinion on a headless CMS and SEO

A headless CMS and SEO can go hand in hand and work out really nicely. I have many examples of this. What I will say with this is that you either have to have enough budget or an in-house team of developers. Because everything you want to implement in the website during an SEO process will take a lot of time and energy. Everything slows down and everything needs more budget.

Many things that are already pre-built (in the form of a plugin) in WordPress, for example, you won’t find in this construction. That’s my biggest requirement for this: budget or an in-house team of developers.

The benefits of a headless CMS include:

• Flexibility: Developers can choose the front-end technologies that best suit their project, rather than being limited by CMS capabilities.
• Omnichannel delivery: Content can be easily published to multiple platforms (such as web, mobile, IoT devices) from a single content repository.
• Improved performance: Because the frontend and backend are separated, web page load times may be faster (is not true in all cases).
• Better security: Because content storage is separate from the front end, the risk of web attacks can be reduced.

A headless CMS is especially useful for companies that want to publish their content on multiple platforms and have flexibility in the development and presentation of their digital content.

Difference between CMS and headless CMS

With a traditional Content Management System (CMS), there is an integrated front-end and back-end. The front-end is the part that visitors to the website see and experience, while the back-end is used for managing and creating content, and is not visible to the visitor.

Unlike a traditional CMS, a headless CMS provides only the back-end functionality. This means that the content managed here is available to various front-ends via an API. For example, this could be a website, mobile app, or even an IoT device.

A headless CMS is especially useful for developers who want more flexibility in creating interactive websites and apps because they are not bound by the front-end limitations of a traditional CMS. For marketers, it allows content to be centrally managed and easily distributed across platforms. Users also ultimately benefit as they interact with modern and responsive systems powered by headless CMS technology.

My advice

With headless CMS, a website’s content comes first. It is therefore important to work on this.

I recommend creating a good content strategy before using headless CMS. In addition, it is important to consider SEO in the code by providing fields for meta-title and description. Therefore, hiring an expert in this field is definitely recommended.