​Headless CMS

In this dossier you will find the numerous aspects as well as pros and cons of the new technology.

Headless – an Application without Frontend

The Headless Content Management System presents an interesting alternative to the classical Web CMS. This is because the separation of the content management from the actual content presentation offers editors and software designers new possibilities and advantages.

This separation is not limited to a content management system alone. Other applications and platforms, such as an online shop, can also benefit from Headless.

What is a Headless CMS?

A headless CMS can be confined in the essence to the acronym CMS (Content Management System). It offers the possibility of modelling, capture and retrieving content. The way content is being presented is left to specialised systems. They will source their data from interfaces (API) of the Headless CMS. In short: Headless is a CMS without Frontend.

In this way your flexibility grows in the content production process. At the same time you can use the same content for a number of channels, for example the web, print and mobile app, and thus ensure consistent communication.

Do you need a classical or a Headless CMS?

The classical CMS approach

Traditional CMS feature many more functionalities than a simple content editing and storage. They can stretch from analytical tools through a sophisticated workflow management to personalisation. As a result, CMS systems are becoming increasingly complex and cost-intensive in terms of operation, further development and upgrades.

Despite all services, the classical CMS is still mainly focused on the website channel. Therefore, with CMS there is hardly any separation between the content and its display format. This leads to a situation where editors conceive and create their content primarily for the website. They think in terms of websites and web layouts rather than “content first”. It makes it double as difficult to reuse the content since such content can be used neither in terms of their essence nor formally for any other publication formats – be it for instance a newsletter or social media purposes.

The Headless approach

You need more than “just” a new website? You want to maintain all your content in one place, regardless of whether you will display them on your website, a mobile app or in print media? Then the time has come to consider a Headless CMS.

Christian HahnloserSeptember 2020

Headless at Zurich Airport – a Look Back

We would like show how we have developed a state-of-the-art platform for Zurich Airport that opens many doors. We present the technologically innovative approaches of this interconnected multisite platform and try to shed light on the question of how decoupled Sitecore Headless really is.

Headless at Zurich Airport – a Look Back

Carmen CandinasAugust 2021

Stay Ahead With Structured Content

For the relaunch of energieschweiz.ch, the editorial team invested a lot of energy into reworking the content. A content strategy, new formats and a content management system with headless architecture were a breath of fresh air for the web editing team.

Stay Ahead With Structured Content
EnergieSchweiz_teaser02

David DästerAugust 2021

Headless at EnergieSchweiz: Where Everything Interacts

A headless content management system alone is not yet a website. A Kubernetes cluster cannot deploy anything on its own. It is only when architecture, code, tools, processes and people are allowed to interact that the adjustments made to the content in the CMS trigger an update in the statically generated website.

Headless at EnergieSchweiz: Where Everything Interacts

Content model and flexible interfaces

The headless approach focuses entirely on the content and not on its format or communication channel. Therefore editors and content designers maintain structured content models rather than page contents: Instead of getting lost in teaser lists and accordion components, their content belongs now to customers, projects, locations or are part of colleague citations. Content models turn texts into valuable data, that can be put in relation to each other and reused as need be. Interfaces (API) finally feed the required channels with the right information.

Your advantages with a Headless CMS

  • Content service: with a headless system you have a content management system, which you can flexibly combine with other services. Authors need not compromise on anything here: The solution covers classic content management tasks such as shared content editing, versioning, workflows and previews.

  • Flexibility: Developers profit from highly available and flexible interfaces (API). They choose the technologies which meet your requirements best. Within the Web it is possible to choose freely the needed frontend framework or the required Web server.

  • Cloud solution: Many Headless CMS are offered as a cloud solution, and are therefore immediately available. There is no need to set up an own infrastructure, which should lead to lower operating costs.

More Insights on This Topic

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Headless Commerce – Moving Towards Better Service

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Headless Commerce – Moving Towards Better Service

Headless Drupal, decoupling Drupal

Drupal is often and rightly referred to as a classic CMS. However, in recent years Drupal has also made a name for itself in the headless and decoupled scene.

Headless Drupal, decoupling Drupal

A Selection of Our Headless Projects

Flughafen Zürich AG

Cutting-edge Multisite Platform

With technologically highly innovative solutions and a clear UX orientation, the new multisite platform covers the entire system landscape of Zurich Airport and thus meets the diverse needs.

Cutting-edge Multisite Platform

Plansee HPM

Information is Key

How do you accommodate a wealth of information on a corporate website? For our client Plansee HPM, we simply rethought the navigation structure.

Information is Key

EnergieSchweiz, Swiss Federal Office of Energy

The Future of Energy

Incredibly short loading times and relevant content: Contentful, GatsbyJS with React and Kubernetes play seamlessly together on the headless platform we implemented.

The Future of Energy
CERATIZIT-Corporate-Website-Mobile

Ceratizit Group

Product Access From (U)X Perspectives

Headless CMS and modern UX design working together for an industrial company? CERATIZIT has both and addresses different target groups.

Product Access From (U)X Perspectives

Jungfraubahnen Management AG

Innovative Sales Manual 2.0

Tailor-made presentations at the push of a button: Jungfrau Railways have digitally transformed their way how their products are sold in B2B markets. A progressive webapp in combination with the headless CMS Contentful makes it possible.

Innovative Sales App 2.0

Contact for your Digital Solution

Book an appointment

Are you keen to talk about your next project? We will be happy exchange ideas with you: Melanie Klühe, Stefanie Berger, Stephan Handschin and Philippe Surber (clockwise).

Melanie Kluhe
Stefanie Berger
Philippe Surber
Stephan Handschin

Contact for your Digital Solution with Unic

Book an appointment

Are you keen too discuss your digital tasks with us? We would be happy to exchange ideas with you: Jörg Nölke and Gerrit Taaks (from left to right).

Gerrit Taaks