In the realm of Content Management Systems (CMS), the options are diverse, and making the right choice is crucial. To navigate this decision successfully, it’s essential to understand the nuances of different CMS systems and get insights when each type is most beneficial for your specific needs.
Making the Right choice: Classic, Hybrid, or Headless CMS?
In the realm of Content Management Systems (CMS), the options are diverse, and making the right choice is crucial. To navigate this decision successfully, it’s essential to understand the nuances of different CMS systems and get insights when each type is most beneficial for your specific needs.
Classic CMS
A classic CMS is an all-in-one solution that seamlessly integrates content creation, storage and presentation in a single system. It typically incorporates a What You See Is What You Get (WYSIWYG) interface that simplifies content management and page appearance for non-technical users.
Classic CMS systems typically come with a wide array of built-in features, like Adobe AEM’s Core Components or various plugins for platforms like WordPress, enhancing user capabilities and website experiences.
Nevertheless, classic CMS systems fall short when it comes to reusing content across different channels or applications, since their content is confined within the CMS system itself. Their monolithic structure can limit flexibility and necessitate substantial IT investments to enhance adaptability.
Examples of classic CMS systems are WordPress, Joomla and Drupal.
Headless CMS
A headless CMS separates content management from content delivery and visualization. It prioritizes the storage and organization of content while exposing it through a set of APIs.
This decoupling of content from its presentation enables content reuse across various platforms. To be API-friendly, the content within a headless CMS must be well-structured, which may limit editorial freedom.
The strength of headless CMS systems lies in their scalability and flexibility.
Content delivery is detached from the CMS system, allowing the creation of customized front-end experiences across multiple channels, ensuring adaptability.
This flexibility often comes with additional costs, as developing external applications for visual presentation can be pricier than using a classic CMS with readily available standard components.
Integrating multiple applications onto the same CMS system can also complicate the IT landscape as a whole, which is something to keep in mind.
Examples of headless CMS systems include Contentful, Strapi and Prismic.
Hybrid CMS
A hybrid CMS blends elements from both traditional and headless CMS into one solution. It offers content management capabilities found in both Headless and Classic CMS systems while providing a WYSIWYG interface for content editors to create pages within the CMS system. Additionally, APIs are available to make content created within the CMS system accessible on external platforms.
The choice of a Hybrid CMS depends on the specific use case and implementation. It often lies in between classic and headless CMS options. Regardless of the scenario, content must be well-structured to be suitable for transmission through an API.
Examples of Hybrid CMS systems are Adobe Experience Manager, Kentico and Sitecore.
When to choose what?
Selecting the right CMS system hinges on your unique use case, but some general guidelines can be followed:
Choose a Classic CMS
- when your content team consists primarily of non-technical editors and the editing experience is a primary focus.
- When you don’t require content to be distributed across multiple channels.
- Minimizing upfront costs is a key consideration.
Choose a Headless CMS
- When your content needs to be distributed across a wide range of platforms like web, apps, IoT and more.
- When you possess the expertise and resources to create custom front-end experiences.
- When you are willing to invest more in the initial stages of the project. When scalability and adaptability to emerging front-end technologies are critical.
Choose a Hybrid CMS
- When editing experience is important and you need to distribute content across various channels.
- When you have plans to expand content distribution to different channels in the future, even if your primary focus is currently on the web.
Even after selecting the CMS type best suited for your organisation, choosing the right tool within that category can still be a challenging endeavour. Want to deep-dive more into the topic? Do you need assistance in analysing the optimal solution for your business? Reach out.