Why we build websites with a headless CMS

We've been building websites using headless CMS technology for over a decade. Long before it became a popular approach, we could see the benefits of separating content management from the website itself.

Today, it's how we approach almost every website we build at Anything, with Storyblok and Astro forming a key part of our technology stack.

But what actually is a headless CMS, how does it compare with traditional platforms like WordPress and Umbraco, and why do we think it's the right approach for so many businesses?

What is a headless CMS?

A headless CMS is a content management system that separates where you manage your content from the technology used to display it.

With a traditional CMS, such as WordPress or Umbraco, the content management system and the frontend of the website are typically closely connected. The CMS manages your content and is also responsible for how it's presented to visitors.

A headless CMS takes a different approach. Your content is managed centrally and delivered through an API. Developers then have the freedom to build the frontend using the technology best suited to the project, whether that's Astro, Next.js or something else entirely.

That same content can also be delivered to mobile apps, digital displays or other platforms, without needing to manage separate copies.

It's a relatively simple difference in architecture, but one that changes how websites can be built, maintained and developed over time.

Headless CMS vs traditional CMS: what's the difference?

Traditional CMS platforms have served businesses well for years, and they're still a perfectly good choice for many websites. They typically provide content management, templates, plugins and the frontend within one platform, which can make getting a straightforward website up and running relatively simple.

The downside is that these parts can become closely connected. Changing the frontend technology or carrying out a major platform upgrade can sometimes involve significant development work.

With a headless CMS, the content platform and frontend are independent. You can improve the website, change its technology or introduce new channels without necessarily having to replace the CMS or migrate all your content.

The trade-off is that the frontend needs to be developed and maintained separately. Features such as live preview, search, forms and SEO controls need to be considered as part of the overall implementation rather than assuming the CMS will provide everything out of the box.

For us, that flexibility is worth it, particularly for businesses with more complex requirements or websites that need to continue evolving.

Building faster websites

Website performance is one of the biggest reasons we've adopted a headless approach.

Traditional CMS platforms can be very capable, but depending on how they're implemented, they can carry additional overhead from themes, plugins and server-side processing. Separating the frontend gives us more control over what gets delivered to visitors.

For many of our projects, we use Astro because it allows us to generate pages as static HTML, delivering content quickly without needing to process everything on the server for every request.

We've also increasingly moved towards server-side rendering (SSR) combined with CDN caching. With publishing webhooks and targeted cache invalidation, this allows websites to serve cached pages while making updated content available without rebuilding the entire website.

When we launched Amtico's new website in 2023, performance had been a particular challenge. We chose Storyblok and Astro specifically to address those problems, prerendering much of the website so visitors could benefit from fast-loading pages.

That approach has continued to work well as Amtico has expanded into new markets and added more content.

We've since carried out a major technical upgrade, reducing production deployment times from nearly 11 minutes to just over one, without rebuilding the website or migrating content.

Of course, using a headless CMS doesn't automatically make a website faster. Performance still depends on how it's built, which is why we put so much emphasis on lightweight frontend development, efficient data fetching and caching.

A website that can grow with your business

One of the biggest advantages of a headless CMS is how well it can support growth.

Businesses rarely stand still. New markets, additional languages, product ranges and brands all introduce new requirements. A headless CMS allows content to be managed centrally while different websites, markets or applications can present it in ways that suit their audiences.

Storyblok is particularly good at this. Its component-based approach gives editors the flexibility to create pages using reusable blocks, rather than relying on developers to build every new layout.

We've seen the benefits first-hand with Amtico, where the website has expanded into additional markets since launch, and with Kingspan, where we've built a large multi-brand, multilingual platform using Storyblok and Astro.

For Kingspan, that means different brands and markets can operate within a shared technical platform, while retaining the flexibility to manage their own content and experiences.

This is where headless architecture really starts to prove its value. Instead of treating every new website or market as a completely separate project, you can build on an existing platform, reuse components and maintain greater consistency across the business.

Upgrading without starting again

This is probably one of the most overlooked benefits of a headless CMS.

Anyone who's managed a website on a traditional CMS will know that major version upgrades can sometimes become significant projects. In our experience with platforms such as Umbraco, these have involved substantial redevelopment, testing and carefully planned migrations.

Separating content management from the frontend gives us more flexibility.

We recently demonstrated this with Amtico, upgrading its website from Astro 4 to Astro 7, alongside major updates to Storyblok's integration and the rest of the technology stack.

Because the content was managed independently in Storyblok, we could run the existing website and the upgraded version alongside each other, both using exactly the same content.

This allowed us to develop and test the upgraded platform without interrupting the live website or Amtico's content team. When everything was ready, we could switch over without a content migration or planned downtime.

That's the kind of long-term flexibility we want for our clients. Technology will continue to change, but improving a website shouldn't mean having to start again every few years.

Better for content editors too

One of the common criticisms of headless CMS platforms is that they're great for developers but not always as friendly for the people managing content.

That can certainly be true, depending on the CMS and how it's implemented. It's also one of the reasons we've become such strong advocates of Storyblok.

Its Visual Editor allows content teams to see their website as they make changes, build pages using reusable components and manage content without needing to understand the underlying code.

Developers can focus on building and improving those components, while editors have the freedom to use them.

We've also seen Storyblok's editing experience improve considerably over the past few years, including better live preview support and closer integration with Astro.

For us, a good CMS needs to work just as well for the people managing content as it does for the developers building the website. Technical flexibility means very little if the content team finds the platform difficult to use.

What about SEO, AI and sustainability?

A headless CMS can give you greater control over how your website is built, which is useful for search engine optimisation. You can manage structured data, metadata, URLs and redirects while choosing how content is rendered and delivered.

For SEO and AI search, the important thing is that pages are accessible, content is well structured and search engines can retrieve the information they need. Modern frontend frameworks such as Astro support server-rendered and prerendered HTML, helping make content available without relying on client-side JavaScript to assemble every page.

The CMS itself won't guarantee better rankings or visibility in AI-generated answers. Content quality, technical implementation and how clearly your website communicates what your business does still matter.

Sustainability is another consideration. We favour lightweight websites that transfer less data, use fewer unnecessary dependencies and avoid processing that doesn't need to happen.

A headless architecture gives us the flexibility to make those choices. It can also help from a long-term maintenance perspective, allowing websites to be improved and modernised without repeatedly replacing the entire platform.

Is a headless CMS worth the investment?

Headless architecture does introduce some additional considerations. You're managing a content platform and a separate frontend, which means development, hosting, integrations and ongoing maintenance all need to be accounted for.

For a small website with straightforward requirements, a traditional CMS may be the simpler and more cost-effective option. There's little benefit in introducing unnecessary complexity.

But for businesses managing multiple websites, working across different markets or expecting their digital platforms to grow, the long-term benefits can be substantial.

The value isn't simply in what it costs to launch a website. It's in how easily that website can be managed, expanded and improved over the years that follow.

At Anything, we've spent more than a decade working with headless CMS technology, and that experience has reinforced why we favour it.

We want to build websites that are fast today, straightforward for content teams to manage and flexible enough to keep improving as the technology and business evolve.

Building a great website is one thing. Being able to keep making it better without starting again is just as important.

If you're considering moving to a headless CMS, or want to understand what it could mean for your existing website, get in touch with our team.