The advantages of a Headless CMS for 2020
Tags: webdev, headlesscms, frontend, architecture
Published: 2020-04-29 11:04:13

Are you planning to leverage a new system for managing your digital content in 2020? If so, be sure to **check out headless CMSs**! 
These systems are a great help for your content management efforts and aid you in distributing quality content across all of your digital channels effortlessly. 
Let's find out what benefits you can expect from the best headless CMSs for 2020.

## What is a headless CMS?
Before we delve into the advantages of using a headless CMS, let's first talk about what headless or decoupled content management is.
If you look at more **traditional CMS** like WordPress, you can see that its back-end is directly connected with the front-end of your website. With a **headless CMS**, you are usually **free to choose how you want to build your UI** since the front-end is decoupled from the back-end.
You enter content in a secured admin interface and store it in a central content repository from which developers access content via an API. 
This allows you to **display content on any channel**, be it your website, e-commerce site, or native app. 
![How a traditional CMS differs from a headless CMS](https://res.cloudinary.com/contentchef/image/upload/v1/chefsite-2910/L7ERWwDSvkq/CC_advantages_01)
Now that we've clarified what a headless CMS is, we can discover its benefits – especially for 2020 and the years to come!
How can your business benefit from a headless CMS?
## Shorten time-to-market
A headless CMS enables you to release new features or entirely new apps and websites in less time. One reason is that you typically use APIs to retrieve content from your CMS, saving you the time of building things within the restrictions of a more traditional system. Besides, you can quickly redesign and add new features to your products the way you see fit. 
In 2020, the market for digital products will continue to grow, and companies will strive to be more innovative and progressive than the competition. A decoupled CMS lets you act fast in this ever-changing technical landscape and offer high-quality digital experiences to your customers.
## Create multi-channel experiences
With all the different devices that users can use to experience your digital product, it is becoming increasingly important to deliver customized experiences of the same content. Using a headless CMS, you only need to create content once and then distribute it to all your connected channels. These channels can be anything, be it your blog, e-commerce site, native app, or IoT device. 
So if you plan to offer your service or product on new devices in 2020, a headless CMS will help you lay the perfect foundation. Simply connect a new channel to your content management system and start building!
## Provide users with tailor-made products
Naturally, every device and type of digital product has different requirements regarding looks and functionality. Hence, it's of utmost importance to provide your users and customers with UIs that fit the medium perfectly, increasing satisfaction and trust in your brand. As you already know, trends come and go quickly – especially in the technology industry. With a headless CMS, you stay flexible enough to react to changes, experiment with new tech, and make your business keep pace. 
## What advantages can developers expect from headless CMSs in 2020?
## Focus on programming
You probably have a pretty solid idea of what a perfect day as a front-end developer should look like. Working on an app's UI and then being disrupted by some CMS problems is most likely not part of this vision. Fortunately, with a headless CMS, you can spend your valuable time creating UIs hassle-free, without worrying about the limitations of a content management system. 
When you switch to a headless CMS in 2020, you can finally try out all the new technologies and experiment in a safe and open environment. Program as you see fit, and always work with real and accurate data from your headless CMS.
## Create UIs using your favorite front-end stack
Since you use APIs to retrieve content from a headless CMS, you can usually work with your beloved and proven front-end stack. Many headless CMSs also offer SDKs for various programming languages, which make working with the system even more straightforward. As a result, you don't need to learn a CMS-specific template language or use frameworks that you don't know or like. Also, if you want to try a new front-end framework or library in 2020, a headless CMS won't stop you! 
## Get things done faster
Continually releasing new features and bug fixes is essential for your business to stay relevant to the market. As discussed above, a headless CMS can help you reduce time-to-market times by stripping away the complexity of more traditional content management systems. Another great advantage of headless CMSs is that you and your entire team can work with real and accurate data in all development environments right from the start. As a result, you don't have to rely on hardcoded dummy data during development and always see what your user interface will look like for your users.
## Advantages of a headless CMS for designers in 2020
## Focus on designing
Designers shouldn't have to worry about the CMS used and its restrictions. Therefore, a headless CMS is a perfect opportunity to take that burden off the shoulders of design experts. Get creative and think outside the box to come up with new and innovative ways to provide users with great experiences. In this way, your company can take a leading role in the market and deliver valuable products and services to your customers in 2020 – and in the years to come.
## Improve collaboration with developers
The digital products we develop today require designers and developers to work closely together. Only then can companies publish the best digital solutions in terms of appearance and functionality. Both parties have valuable insights and expertise to share with one another that can take your products to the next level. A headless CMS relieves most of the operational burdens of conventional systems and gives you more time and freedom to innovate, design, and build with new technologies in 2020.
## ContentChef helps you achieve your content goals in 2020
A headless CMS can help you in several ways, whether you are a business stakeholder, developer, or designer.
If you want to distribute content to multiple channels and release tailored digital experiences, our headless CMS may just be what you're looking for. 
Why not give ContentChef a try? We invite you to [sign up for a 30-day trial](https://contentchef.io) and see for yourself how you can benefit from a headless CMS.