WordPress vs. Headless Content Management: Choosing Simplicity or Functionality
Reader Takeaways:
- A content management system (CMS) is a system that stores and displays your company’s content onto a website, mobile app, or another platform.
- WordPress is great if you’re looking for a simple marketing website you can build without a development team.
- Headless CMS might be for you if you’re a larger corporation with a team to build custom applications for multiple platforms.
Managing content correctly can make or break your company’s website functionality. With so many new types of content management systems (CMS), it can be hard to decide. In this article, we’ll break down two popular types of content management systems so you can make the right decision.
What Is a Content Management System?
All of the content you’ve created for your website has to be stored somewhere so you can add, remove, and edit when needed. The system can contain a front end, where the content is displayed on a website (or app, game, kiosk, etc.), and a back end, where the data is stored and edited.
WordPress
WordPress is the simplest, most popular way to create your own website. WordPress is a content management system that is free to use, encompassing both the front end and the back end of your website. That is to say, you add the words and images, pick a theme, and choose some features, and boom… you have a website.
WordPress sites are great all-in-one solutions you can build yourself with preloaded themes and plugins. So WordPress is nice if you have a small website, but it was meant for blogging, so it works best on a site with only information or marketing content.
WordPress has its downsides when it comes to scalability and performance. As soon as you try to add more functionality, like maybe an eCommerce site or a forum for your customers to chat with each other, you’re going to have to create a lot of custom code that could slow down the site.
WordPress might be for you if:
- You’re looking for an enterprise-level website you can build without a development team.
- You need a simple marketing website.
- You don’t require a lot of functionality or availability on digital devices and platforms.
Headless CMS
While WordPress is your all-in-one solution, a headless CMS has only one focus: the back end. In short, a headless CMS stores your content and leaves the front end display up to you. While that might sound counterproductive, the headless approach can put your content into any technology you can think of, from iOS apps to kiosks to smartwatches and even inside virtual reality headsets.
Using a headless CMS is a powerful option for companies with mobile and web developers. With the right vision, a headless CMS can use any front end tool they want to present content in meaningful and interactive ways.
While a headless CMS can be free to use, just like WordPress, it requires a development team to plan, create, and maintain. And since you’re not working from a template, the user experience can also sometimes suffer. Many growing companies looking for more functionality are choosing headless CMS.
Headless CMS might be for you if:
- You’re a larger corporation, with a team to build custom applications.
- You need to publish content on multiple platforms, all at once.
- A traditional website isn’t doing it for you, and you need more functionality.
What We Recommend
WordPress makes creating a great website quick and easy, and it’s a terrific option for most companies. But as your company is growing, consider making the move to a headless CMS part of your long-term vision; you will be more flexible, prepared for new devices, and have no worries to scale for high traffic. Understanding your options in content management can help you deliver the experience you want, and the one your customers expect.
PeakActivity can help bring your company to the next level by considering all your options in content management. By working with those in the know and using the right tools, you can instantly access new tools to help your website thrive.