I have been operating a product called microCMS for over four years now, and I've probably been asked hundreds of times, "What is a headless CMS?" and "What's good about it?"

To be honest, the benefits have largely been for engineers, and I have long struggled to explain its business benefits. But now that I can finally articulate it, I'd like to summarize here. I'll focus specifically on the unique benefits of headless CMS, setting aside the general advantages of CMS.

Improvement in Site Quality

This depends more on the implementation of the front end rather than the headless CMS itself. Headless CMS is chosen because it's essential for integrating CMS into advanced front-end implementations.

Speed and SEO

For instance, if PHP or Ruby is used server-side to fetch data from a headless CMS and return HTML to the browser, the structure is no different from WordPress, and the site quality is comparable.

However, with a modern setup using Next.js + Vercel, etc., the structure typically returns data via CDN, creating a fast website just by default. Of course, traditional setups can also achieve high speed by setting up their own CDN.

High speed can be confirmed using Google's PageSpeed Insights, which is beneficial for SEO.

A key difference between modern and traditional setups is the use of SPA (Single Page Application). SPAs use JavaScript for page transitions, and combining this with prefetching (preloading transition data) allows for almost lag-free page transitions.

Non-SPA setups, on the other hand, always load pages during transitions, causing a brief pause (though this is hardly noticeable with extremely fast page load speeds).

Security

With headless CMS, the admin panel and site are completely separated, creating a configuration that is hard to attack.

Furthermore, if SSG (Static Site Generation) is used, there is no backend communication, completely concealing potential attack points and enhancing robustness. It's also strong against heavy traffic, withstanding sudden surges in visits, such as those caused by commercials.

To summarize so far:

• The API-based nature of headless CMS allows for modern front-end implementation.
• Modern configurations enable high-quality site creation with less effort.
• Using CDN, page load speed per se might not differ, but considering page transitions, a noticeable difference in smoothness is achieved.
• Headless CMS enables the separation of the admin panel and site, and depending on the build, can completely conceal the backend, ensuring security.

Flexibility

When considering the business advantages of headless CMS, "flexibility" is a crucial point.

There are two types of flexibility in CMS:

• Flexibility of the admin panel
• Flexibility of the application

Let's look at each.

1. Flexibility of the Admin Panel

This aspect is not much related to whether the CMS is headless or not. It's about how flexibly content can be managed. It could also be phrased as how well it can accommodate data formats for different types of content.

Moreover, the layout of the content editing interface and operational workflow flexibility are important points.

Essentially, any CMS vendor can handle these, as they are merely a matter of implementation and not a structural barrier. Nevertheless, these are undeniably core aspects of a CMS.

2. Application Flexibility

This is where being headless is directly relevant. It's about how easily the application can be made to withstand functional modifications.

For sites that don't require frequent updates, flexibility might not be necessary. In such cases, the main reason to choose a headless CMS would be the ability to create high-quality sites.

However, flexibility becomes crucial for complex system configurations, complex UIs, or when integration with external services or in-house databases is needed.

For example, theoretically, any feature can be developed from scratch in any project (though it would require an enormous amount of time and effort).

To put it bluntly, a headless CMS manages only the content and its input/output, and everything else is developed from scratch.

"Scratch" here doesn't imply as much difficulty as before, thanks to advances in front-end technology.

Moreover, there are many headless services specialized in authentication, customer management, and payment (such as Auth0 and Stripe).

The advantage of a headless setup is being able to develop with maximum freedom while making the process easier by combining these services.

On the downside, there are demerits such as increased complexity in management and costs due to the involvement of more services. (This is something our company would like to cover by enhancing inter-service integration.)

Reducing Operational Costs Through Multiple Uses of Content

Headless CMS allows for the retrieval of data via API, enabling the distribution of content to multiple locations while managing it centrally.

For instance, if a company owns the following channels, publishing content from the admin panel can simultaneously update it in four places:

• Site A (aaa.com)
• Site B (bbb.com)
• App C
• Digital Signage D

This is one of the commonly cited benefits of headless CMS. However, actually connecting each channel with the API and adjusting interfaces can be quite challenging.

Often, different departments manage each channel separately, so consolidating operations requires involving those who oversee the entire organization. It’s a time-consuming and labor-intensive process.

The recommended approach is to implement headless CMS in one channel first, then gradually expand to others. Once it’s implemented in one channel, the data and API already exist, so the remaining task is just connecting each frontend, though this is still a considerable effort.

Server Management

There's a notion that using headless CMS eliminates the need for server management, but this actually depends on whether it’s cloud-based or on-premise, not on whether it’s headless.

For example, WordPress.org is an installable (on-premise) platform, whereas WordPress.com is a SaaS (cloud) type, requiring no server management.

Comparing microCMS with WordPress.org is more about comparing SaaS with installable platforms, hence the discussion about "no server management" arises.

Summary

Personally, I consider the following three points as the business benefits of headless CMS:

1. Improvement in site quality
2. Flexibility of the application
3. Reducing operational costs through multiple uses of content

Point 1 applies to any site, as long as the technical structure is set up correctly.

Point 2’s benefits vary depending on the use case. The more complex the case, the greater the benefit.

Point 3 is challenging to implement, but once the system is in place, daily operations will dramatically change.

While discussing business benefits, I've delved into technical aspects, but the technical perspective is indispensable in conveying the merits of headless CMS. Please understand.