Headless CMS Development

We build headless CMS setups: a content system where your team writes and manages content, and a separate website or app that displays it. Webzstore plans the content structure, the editing roles, the preview and publishing steps and the connected frontend (the part your visitors see).

Headless suits some projects and adds work to others, so we assess your needs first.

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01Choose

Choose what you want to change

Tick the part you want help with, or plan the whole setup. Your choices shape the conversation on the call and are not a quote.

Where this startsOur editors depend on developers for simple changes, and we want content managed in one place and shown on a new website.

Choose one part, several parts or the whole project
  • Content model drawn with your editors
  • CMS chosen from a compared shortlist
  • Frontend, routing and page titles built
  • Preview, publishing and roles tested
  • Hosting, handover and post-launch monitoring

Check first: Whether headless suits your content, team and channels at all.

Next: Share your current site or content list and what you want editors to do differently.

    • Map your content types and the links between them
    • Define who drafts, approves and publishes
    • Set up reusable blocks for common page layouts
    • Plan image handling and any translated versions

    Check first: Which content your editors change most often and where they get stuck today.

    Related: Custom Website Design, Headless CMS Migration

    Next: List your main content types and the people who edit each one.

    • Choose between Astro and Next.js for your update pattern
    • Fetch content through the CMS interface
    • Build page templates, routing and page titles
    • Set rebuild or refresh rules for published changes

    Check first: How often your content changes and how quickly changes must appear.

    Related: Custom Website Design, Website Migration Services

    Next: Send the address of any current site and a list of page types it needs.

    • Compare two or three CMS options against your needs
    • Build the CMS structure and the connected frontend
    • Set up preview, publishing and access control
    • Configure hosting and the deployment routine

    Check first: Whether a conventional CMS would meet your needs with less to maintain.

    Related: Custom Website Design, Headless CMS Migration

    Next: Describe the channels where content must appear and any systems it draws on.

    • Test a draft, a publish and an unpublish
    • Agree who holds each account
    • Write short editor guides
    • Walk your team through a real publishing task

    Check first: Who in your team will publish and who will manage logins.

    Related: Custom Website Design

    Next: Name the editors and approvers who should be trained.

In plain terms

Headless
A set-up where the CMS stores and manages content and a separate website displays it.
CMS
A content management system, the tool your editors use to write and publish.
Frontend
The part of the website that visitors see and use.
API
A way for one system to ask another for its content.

02Decide

Would a separate editor and website help you?

Headless means the CMS (the system your editors write in) and the website are built and run apart, joined by an API (a way for one system to request content from another). It is not automatically faster, cheaper or more secure. Test the idea against your own situation.

  • Your situation

    One site, one small team, mostly simple pages

    What we would look at

    A conventional CMS may fit better and be easier to maintain

  • Your situation

    The same content appears on a website and in an app or screen

    What we would look at

    One shared content store feeding each channel

  • Your situation

    Several languages, with different editors in each market

    What we would look at

    Translated fields and permissions per market

  • Your situation

    Editors wait for a developer to change layouts

    What we would look at

    Reusable page blocks that editors arrange within set rules

  • Your situation

    A custom interface needs data from several systems

    What we would look at

    A frontend built to combine those sources

03Model

Draw the content model before you pick a product

A content model is the plan for which kinds of content exist and how they connect. We draw it with your editors first, then compare options such as headless WordPress, Sanity, Strapi, Payload, Directus, Storyblok and Contentful. Astro and Next.js are frontend frameworks, not CMS products. The model decides which option fits.

  • Content types, such as article, product, location or team member, each with its own fields
  • Links between them, such as an author attached to many articles
  • Images and files, including how they are named and described for accessibility
  • Languages: which fields are translated and who approves each version
  • Roles: who drafts, who approves, who publishes and who may change the structure

04Test

Test a draft, a publish and an unpublish

Editors must see a draft before it goes live. Next.js has a Draft Mode that shows unpublished content to an editor while other visitors keep seeing the published page. It needs a CMS that can send editors to a preview address, so we check that first.

Published changes must also reach the live site. Astro builds pages ahead of time by default, so a content change normally triggers a rebuild. Next.js can refresh single pages after a set time or on request. We agree which suits how often your content changes, then test it on one page of every type.

05Handover

Agree access, hosting and handover

We set who can log in and what each role may do, and keep access keys out of public pages.

  • Your team agrees who holds the CMS, hosting and domain accounts.
  • We write short editor guides and walk your team through a real publishing task.
  • If you are replacing an existing site, a redirect map (a list sending each old address to its new one) is prepared, and the Headless CMS Migration page explains that side.
  • We monitor search performance after launch and do not promise a particular result.

Questions about headless builds

Is a headless site always faster?

No. Speed depends on the build, the hosting and the content. We test the pages we build rather than assume the architecture helps.

Can we keep WordPress as the CMS?

Yes. WordPress can serve content to an Astro or Next.js frontend through its API. Custom content types and plugin fields only appear there if they are set up to, so we check each one.

Can editors preview drafts before publishing?

Yes, where the CMS supports a preview address. We set it up and test it before handover.

Which CMS will you recommend?

It depends on your content model, editors, languages and hosting. We compare a short list against those needs and explain the trade-offs.

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Build it for a clear reason

Tell us what your editors struggle with today and where the content must appear. We will say whether headless fits or whether Custom Website Design is simpler.

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