Introduction
According to Zippia, the market size of CMS has reached $62.4 billion in recent times, alongside the number of 73M CMS-based websites around the globe. Since its appearance, CMS has played as one-size-fits-all software in the process of creating and managing content for the entire server. Notably, the revolution of traditional CMS into headless CMS seems to optimize resources with supportive features for non-IT personnel. In this article, we’ll provide the differences between headless CMS vs traditional CMS as well as these approaches insights so that people can make a proper choice for their business.
An Overview of CMS
In brief, a content management system (CMS) is one-stop software that enables users (can be any role with access to website: designers, marketers, developers, or project managers) to manage, create, and edit digital content, regardless of technical expertise. With the great capabilities of CMS, your content can be posted not only on websites but also across multiple channels, such as mobile apps or other digital technologies.
As for the popularity of CMS, it is often deployed for enterprise content management (ECM) and web content management (WCM) due to its effective and easy-to-use content management toolset. With a three-component operating system, including a content repository, an interface layer, and a publishing workflow, let’s see how it can aid your publishing process with the findings below.
Prior to the transformation of the content management system (CMS), managing a non-static website was relatively difficult. Since the demand for constant updates, for example, regular blog posts and product details, varied from different categories and stock.
If you want to manage the website’s content but lack expertise in coding and CMS assistants, you’ll have to outsource to an individual or development team for each update. Additionally, this team will need to develop a custom-made backend for content adjustment.
After many problems for website administrators, headless CMS vs traditional CMS has emerged as a game-changer. To further consolidate valuable functions for the CMS, developers have set up advanced tools in the form of plugins so that newbies can get acquainted with them and utilize them fluently for their content management.
Traditional CMS Explained
A traditional CMS is a web-based application that allows users to adjust and upload content on a closely linked backend and frontend system. This model is also known as monothilic architecture, which helps non-experts get started right away. In particular, the front end includes HTML templates, CSS, and Javascript (how content is presented), while the backend is where the database, code and plugins are stored (where content is managed).
Pros of Traditional CMS
Some famous traditional CMS include Drupal and WordPress with content publishing on an intuitive interface and a few other features. Even WordPress with robust advances can be considered headless CMS. Several notable advantages of tradition CMS would be:
The simplicity of configuration will be a suitable choice for the needs of small and medium-sized businesses. Harnessing the ready-made templates, traditional CMS will save setup time.
The combination of backend & frontend instead of a single API somewhat improves domain performance
The user interface front end and back end where content is executed will support consistency and cohesion across text, media, and visual layout.
The seamless and less complex structure of traditional CMS will save businesses an initial cost. However, this is not necessarily a superior advantage compared to headless CMS.
- Easy-to-approach Interface
Workflows on traditional CMS are made up of pre-built templates, WYSIWYG editors, and a drag-and-drop toolset, providing a convenient usage experience for business users.
Cons of Traditional CMS
It cannot be denied that the presence of early CMS has brought many improvements in accessing websites to publish content effectively. However, this model’s limitations will lead to the selection of an upgrade version – headless CMS (we’ll talk about it later). Consider the following disadvantages of traditional CMS:
The process of processing and posting content is based on existing structures, so it will not be optimal for the specific needs of the business. Once user experience or digital improvements are needed, the business may have to look for another solution.
The rising of content volume and domain’s traffic will be a challenge for traditional CMS. Many businesses find that website performance also deteriorates when dealing with extended content and excessive traffic.
Relying too much on plugins will cause compatibility issues and site crashes, even reducing page loading speed since some plugins are not upgraded on time.
Numerous plugins from third-party providers for CMS do not strictly comply with security regulations. This may lead to unauthorized infringement of your website.
- No Optimal For Multichannel
Digitalization requires omnichannel, which is a major shortage for a web-based content management system. Content that you want to optimize on other platforms, such as mobile devices, marketplaces, or social will not be seamless and not highly interactive.
Headless CMS Explained
As technology evolved rapidly, an improved version of CMS was born based on a dependency-free structure. That is headless CMS, literally a content management system that removes the connection of the backend and frontend (body and head part of the website). This feature provides the ability to meet a variety of production and content management needs in modular chunks. API-driven technology of headless CMS serves as a bridge to seamlessly combine two components to achieve efficiency for content coordination.
In parallel, entrepreneurs can unlock the potential of headless CMS to combine different applications and coding languages across multiple digital channels.
Pros of Headless CMS
The decoupled nature of the main structure of the website allows headless CMS to get rid of downtime when the backend system has problems. At the same time, it still meets the needs of editing and managing content easily.
Successfully applying the power of API, CMS users can enhance customer experience with a convenient, easy-to-use process while receiving an agile system for business expansion.
- Better conditions for developers
Headless CMS offers a convenient space for front-end JavaScript frameworks, helping businesses easily achieve their goals of promoting their brands in their own way. Integrating new technologies is not a big challenge for headless CMS.
- Better conditions for marketers
Headless CMS is not only a convenient and systematic tool for content management and creation, but it is also a valuable connector for cross-platform content reuse.
With superior SEO assistance features such as fast page loading speed and standardized content, Headless CMS enables website tweaks that boost search engine ranks.
Cons of Headless CMS
Although the advantages of headless CMS are countless, its separate structure can still have a few limitations that businesses need to keep in mind when applying to their domains.
For long-term path, headless CMS can be economical for businesses to scale up, but the initial setup will be more expensive than traditional CMS. Establishing front end from the beginning will require a significant fee to integrate apps from third-party vendors or train specialized staff for improved functions.
The recommendation now is that businesses hire a specialized headless CMS services company to optimize costs for the most suitable solutions.
Setting up and managing a headless CMS system yourself is a big challenge for non-professional users since it’s a new and somewhat complicated technology. At the same time, API management is also a task for IT-savvy personnel to operate the workflow without hurdles. In short, in-house personnel with no technical team cannot handle headless CMS without outside support.
The duplication problem may occur when the content and display of the headless CMS are entirely separate. This leads to increased maintenance expenses for numerous modifications of multiple front-end systems.
Headless CMS Vs Traditional CMS: Which One Is Suitable?
After remarkable upsides and downsides of the two CMS models, it is undeniable that the assets that headless CMS vs traditional CMS bring to the revolution of every business’s website. Want to investigate in detail the features that each content management system can fulfill enterprise-level demand? Keep scrolling down and see!
When is traditional CMS more dominant?
Opt for a quick setup and simple functions, traditional CMS is ideal for uncomplicated business requirements as well as low-maintenance projects.
For instance:
- Individuals or small-scale businesses want to simply deploy a website containing features such as blogging or showcasing projects. A limited budget will also fit this CMS model.
- No coding expertise: Born with simplicity for general users, traditional CMS possesses a more optimal operating process in terms of technique and structure. If you cannot hire a vendor, researching and coordinating content yourself may also be feasible.
- Web-only applications & content: If your content distribution needs are only based on the website and not through other digital channels such as apps, IoT, VR, chatbots, and smart devices, then traditional CMS has enough functionality.
- User-friendly: Traditional CMS’s user-centric methodology enables an intuitive and accessible interface to handle content. This approach cannot fulfill the demand for bespoke development.
When is headless CMS more dominant?
Between headless CMS vs traditional CMS, the former is investigated and developed later, which contains outstanding improvements compared to the previous version to enhance the content process. Therefore, the need to use headless CMS will also differ in a few points:
- Suitable for Omnichannel: Headless CMS empowers users to post and synchronize content across Omnichannel. This system brings high efficiency in terms of unity and all-in-one management.
- Quick publishing: While working on a front-end and back-end separation, content upload time will be faster than traditional ver. Non-ITs, such as marketers or admins, can accelerate posting and editing time without depending on developers.
- Large content management repository: Enterprise-level data needs to be processed and coordinated by a system such as a headless CMS to be consistent in message and format.
- Improved Security: The decoupled architecture of headless CMS protects your domain from DDoS attacks and vulnerabilities since there is an additional secured layer to increase security for cross-platform content.
Conclusion
Throughout this article, we adopted the notion and contrasts between headless CMS vs traditional CMS. Each kind has double-edged characteristics that users or businesses need to understand deeply to make an informed decision that is compatible with their needs. If you want to look for a CMS solution from an outside vendor to optimize costs and setup time, AHT Tech can offer intensive and custom CMS services. Our 16+ years in the journey to improve experience and accelerate transformation for business-related solutions won’t let you down!
