By now, many marketing and engineering teams and organizations are realizing that headless CMS is the next stage in content production and management. It allows teams to create content faster, repurpose it for longer, and unify their branding by decoupling the front-end and back-end of their content production. 

Knowing that headless CMS is the future, however, doesn't necessarily clue you in on which headless CMS framework is right for your team. 

This quick guide covers the key things to consider when choosing a headless CMS solution.

1. The infrastructure

The first thing you'll want to look at is the infrastructure. This is how a particular headless CMS solution is built. Looking at the way it functions, the features it offers, and how it integrates into your workflow is key to finding the "right" option for you. Here are things to look out for: 

Speed and Scalability. A headless CMS with the right infrastructure is fast, scalable, and always available. You can check that a particular headless CMS is fast and scalable by seeing if it uses Content Delivery Networks (CDNs). CDNs allow your content to be delivered quickly throughout your channels. 

High Availability. When it comes to availability, you'll want to look at the guarantees a headless CMS is making. How reliable does it claim to be? Is there a possibility of downtime? These things might seem small, but they can lead to errors and inconsistencies in your content.

Security. Another reason for looking at a headless CMS infrastructure is the importance of security. A headless CMS will give you insight into how secure it is (or isn't). Since this CMS is going to be the backbone of your content, you need to be sure that it will keep that content safe. 

Service Model. On-premise software used to be the way to go. Today, however, these systems tend to be slower and locked down. SaaS models are leaner, usually work on all of your devices, and are easily accessed by your team. 

2. Developer Ecosystem

The second thing to consider when comparing headless CMS options is the developer ecosystem. The better the experience is for your developers, the better the headless CMS will work for your marketing team. Here's how a developer ecosystem can impact your developers' workflow. 

Will you have the documentation and developer tools you need?

Documentation is the developer's bread and butter. Without it, they can only fidget with your headless CMS to figure out how it's supposed to work. Now, most headless CMS solutions will come with documentation. What you need to make sure of is that it's descriptive and routinely updated. Having your developers look it over is a great way to check it. 

Additionally, your developers are going to need powerful tools to make your CMS-based application shine. That means rich SDKs, demo source code, libraries, and more. 

How active is the developer community?

A strong indicator of the developer ecosystem is to look at how active the developer community is in support forums and message boards. Also, how active is the headless CMS support team in participating in community discussions and responding to feedback? What’s the turnaround time for solving defects and addressing enhancement requests? A vibrant community is a surefire sign of new tech you can take a chance on.

API-based importing and management

APIs are one of the most important components of a headless CMS, as they allow you to integrate it with other systems, services, and applications. This will allow you to add your content and data to the system much faster and more easily. 

3. Easy content production

Considering your developers' needs is important, but it's only half the battle. Once you've found headless CMS options that they agree on, it's time to align your selection with the marketers. Here are factors to look for that will keep your marketers happy and productive. 

Analytics and empowerment

Marketers love analytics. They give insight into how a content is performing, which direction to take things in, and when to ditch a bad idea. The right headless CMS should have a wide and flexible range of analytical tools to keep your team informed. 

A solid headless CMS should also be empowering for your marketers, and that means keeping things non-technical. If only your developers can understand the CMS, then it's not right for your team!

Personalization

Millions are already happy to let Netflix customize their viewing experience, and Spotify takes charge of their music preferences. Now the mindset of personalization is spreading to web applications in all industries.

A personalization engine can add a lot to the quality and engagement of the content your marketers are producing. It will allow each of your users/customers to have a personalized experience, making your marketing far more effective. 

ThinkLogic and Kontent.ai can provide you with a groundbreaking headless CMS

Need a headless CMS that checks all the boxes? Reach out to the team at ThinkLogic to learn about our partnership with cutting-edge headless CMS Kontent.ai.