Headless WordPress 101: Everything You Need to Know

by Vipe Team in WordPress Development; Published on 22.11.2021

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Headless has proven itself to be the best and most efficient way to deliver digital experiences. It is now shaping the future of technologies and digital platforms. Using a headless CMS can help overcome many of the limitations that are part of building a site and delivering content.

Those who will benefit from headless are those who also have a vision of the future and want to build innovative, dynamic, powerful websites. Headless must be used in a way that corresponds to its essence – modern and flexible.

Headless WordPress is something more and more discussed and implemented in today’s world of technology. That is why in this article, our WordPress development agency will take you through everything you need to know about headless CMS as well as what it means to use WordPress as a headless CMS.

What Does It Mean for a CMS to Be Headless?

Our WordPress development agency believes that before we start discussing what is a headless CMS, we first need to look at what a traditional content management system is. The latter has been around for many years with the idea to store and present content components.

Content management systems usually manage content by putting everything in one single place – from content through images to HTML. However, this approach makes it impossible to use the content again since it’s mixed with code. This problem, as well as others, have been overcome due to the development of technologies.

A headless content management system has its back-end and front-end separated from one another. The “body” is the place where the content is being stored and managed, and the “head” is the visible part of the site. When using a headless CMS, these two parts are being separated and you have the option to choose which heads you can send your content to.

Traditional CMSes have many limitations that can be solved by implementing a headless CMS. The options are numerous: choosing a proper presentation layer, publishing dynamic content across a variety of platforms and devices. You get total freedom of work within the front-end.

What is Headless WordPress?

Source: The State of Headless: A Global Research Report

One of the reasonable questions users ask as developing headless websites has become more common practice, is “Can we implement headless CMS using WordPress?” The simple answer is yes but our WordPress development agency suggests we dive deep a little deeper.

A headless WordPress is a website that uses WordPress for organizing and managing content in the back-end and another system to display the content in the front-end. The advantages of this type of website are enormous, including the opportunity to get all of the WordPress features and the ability to try out web frameworks that were not compatible before.

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Benefits of Using Headless WordPress?

As our WordPress development agency previously mentioned, you can benefit a ton from using WordPress as a headless CMS. By disconnecting the front end from the back end, you’re left with the possibility to use the latter for whatever you wish. Nonetheless, you can use an entirely different language to code your site. That’s a great opportunity for WordPress developers.

When you use WordPress as a headless CMS, you get a better editing experience because there is no need to handle content rendering. Headless content allows finding an audience across different channels since you are not tied to one specific presentation. Another great feature is the enhanced security. Headless content is not part of the presentation layer and it’s a smaller area, so the chance of an attack is also smaller.

Why Headless WordPress Is the Future of Web Development?

Our WordPress development agency is always on the hunt for innovative approaches in building and maintaining high-quality websites. We set out hearts on providing our clients with the most up-to-date solutions that correspond with today’s digital reality and satisfy users’ needs.

That is what pushed us in the direction of implementing headless architecture in our work. Headless WordPress is an original and fresh path to website building. With the increasing dynamism of the online environment, the tech industry has found that headless is the future of content management systems.

Our professional WordPress developers have been building and maintaining high-quality websites for our clients for years. Developing headless WordPress websites is something new, challenging, and inspiring we added to our arsenal of services.

We use the powerful REST-API functionality of WordPress and the most up-to-date CSS technologies to create the website of your dreams. As a result, you’ll be supplied with fast-working and expandable network applications.

We already have a headless project in our portfolio we are more than proud of. Leventieva is a personal blog of a professional marketer who gives some of the best tips on productivity and remote work. Any manager can benefit from implementing her tips. Our WordPress development agency loved working on Joana’s website and we believe the topics she covers on work/life balance are worth reading.

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Maybe you’re curious how our WordPress developers were able to build such a unique site? With enough dedication and effort, we created her a one-of-a-kind place on the Internet. We created UX design entirely focused on minimalism. At the same time, the blog offers great development control, security, and speed.

To accomplish this we used React.js, allowing maximum results at page speed. Leventieva loads the content fast because of the server-side script built after Node.js. Our WordPress development agency built something unique by combining WordPress and innovative headless technologies.

A well-built, fast and optimized website is the heart and soul of any business. The technology behind headless WordPress allows the building of powerful websites. They are crucial for the success of any company since people visit a website many times before deciding whether to purchase a product or not.

Thus, you need to make sure you offer them quality and unique experiences. That is something fully accomplishable with the help of Headless WordPress.

The Advantages of Using Headless WordPress with React

As our WordPress development agency already pointed out, headless technology separates the front-end of a site from the back-end. The front-end is what users see, and the back-end is where the code is live. By implementing a headless structure to a WordPress site, your front-end and back-end end up working independently.

The application programming interface, known as API, is what the system uses to send content and product information. It can be connected to any channel – from sites through mobile apps to voice assistants. Headless WordPress allows the developers to work with any coding language of their choice. Because of the API, they can tailor their content to any framework of their choice.

Now, our WordPress development agency will look at React more closely. ReactJS is a JavaScript library that makes it possible to create fast, dynamic, and innovative user interfaces for the web. It is an open-source and front-end library, responsible for the view layer of a website. What is more, React applications consist of multiple components, since they play the role of building blocks. They can be reused which saves time on development.

React can be used with Headless WordPress to expand the functions of your website. One of the great advantages of this is publishing on different platforms and channels, which makes your website more accessible. Furthermore, this fresh combination provides better performance, flexibility, ease of use, and improved security. This makes your site not only fast and optimized but also safe from vulnerabilities and hacker attacks.

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How Headless Technologies Affect Enterprise?

According to a recent survey, more than 60% of enterprise organizations are now implementing headless. It is expected that with time, more and more companies will turn to these innovative approaches when building websites. This type of technology isn’t new on the market, however companies and businesses didn’t understand the benefits of headless until recently.

Businesses of all kinds and sizes have found that content management systems provide the needed functionality while at the same time aiming to simplify the user experience. That’s great since modern businesses have to take care of the customers’ needs and stay on top of the fast evolution of technologies.

As this evolution continues, enterprises’ needs also expand. That’s why the traditional content delivery model has elevated. Content management systems are now implementing headless web architecture. Our WordPress development agency reminds you that the consequences are better performance and less spending on time and money.

WordPress powers more than 40% of the web, which means that many businesses and organizations rely on the powerful CMS to position themselves online. By implementing headless architecture, they are going to achieve even more flexibility and will notice a great improvement in their website. This will affect their businesses as a whole.

Nonetheless, our WordPress development agency supports the idea that there is a strong connection between providing quality digital experiences and any company’s success. That’s why headless is now laying the foundation of the future of technologies and digital platforms. It allows organizations to deliver a better content experience and serves web users’ needs better.

Headless WordPress as the Future of Web Development

Using a Headless CMS for WordPress will unlock many doors in front of you when developing websites. Our WordPress development agency believes that this is the future for those ready to invest in a powerful, fast, and dynamic site that will take their online presence to the next level.

Our WordPress developers know how to create top-notch websites using Headless WordPress because of their many years of experience. They put all of their dedication and efforts into every project. You already saw one of the websites in our portfolio. Thus, if you have been dreaming of having a well-optimized website, our WordPress development agency is here to help you with building a professional site using headless technology.