Why would you listen to music on Spotify instead of a tape recorder? Well, because Spotify enables you to manage music, make playlists, and share them across multiple platforms with one system. The same goes for building a content hub with a headless CMS.
What is a content hub?- a collection of content focused on one topic.
What is a headless CMS? - a content management that serves as a content repository.
You can do the math by yourself: collection of content + content repository = content database ready to be published and reused.
In other words, a headless CMS is a Spotify (or better said, digital content hub) for your content, brand, teams, strategies, communication, and management.
Ok, I set up your mindset, now, the only thing left is to set up a content hub with a headless CMS.
Why build a Content Hub with a headless CMS
Content management systems have long been recognized as an integral part of a digital strategy. Is it even possible today to successfully run a quality website without a CMS? The same philosophy can be applied to content hubs. Here are the reasons why your CMS can be the central hub for your digital content:
Flexibility in content distribution
A headless CMS separates the content from its presentation, meaning the content is stored as data and delivered via APIs. This makes it easier to distribute the same content across different platforms (websites, mobile apps, IoT devices, etc.) without having to separately write it for each one.
Centralized content management
The goal of a content hub is to break down the silos of content that exist across multiple components. Organizations can have complete visibility and control over all digital assets by centralizing their content management efforts.
Better security
With content assets centrally located, organizations can more easily secure one or a group of platforms than handle an isolated system that includes content items they’re not sure about.
Using headless as a central hub to manage security protocols within a single system is smoother and safer than trying to manage multiple users across multiple systems which will result in a system with a secure gateway.
Learn more: Is Headless CMS a secure CMS? A Comprehensive Analysis
Integration support is out-of-the-box
Integrating new systems and channels is easiest with an API-first CMS where they don't require building from scratch. This is particularly useful for organizations that use a diverse tech stack or need to connect their content management with CRM systems, e-commerce platforms, job boards, or other digital marketing tools.
Another option that you can use is to build the systems you need within a CMS.
Example: How to use Headless CMS as your job board CMS
Better developer experience and independence
Everything in CMS revolves around balancing the requirements of both editors and developers. Developers can build and maintain different frontends (for web, mobile, kiosks, etc.) using the best technologies suited to each platform. The headless CMS will deliver content via APIs, ensuring that each frontend displays it appropriately.
The great balance between developers' and other teams' needs in an organization you can see in this example: Composable architecture example: Go headless (best practices)
Benefits of having Content Hub with a headless CMS
Before I go to the "how-to" part of the article, here is the list that outlines the key benefits of using a headless CMS for a Content Hub, each explained clearly and simply so that whenever you need it you can take a 👀.
- Flexibility in content distribution: Easily share content across various platforms.
- Centralized content management: Manage all content from one central location.
- Better security: Enhanced security from separating content management from delivery.
- Better developer experience and independence: Developers use their favorite tools. boosting efficiency.
- Scalability: Handles more content traffic easily as needs grow.
- Cost efficiency: Saves money by simplifying backend needs and infrastructure
- Performance: Speeds up content delivery and improves UX.
- Content modeling: Easily define and structure types of content, to your specific needs.
- Multi-language support: Supports delivering content in multiple languages from the same platform.
- Content reusability: Reuse the same content in different contexts without additional platforms.
- Advanced permissions settings: Control who can view, edit, or manage content. Enhancing security and workflow management.
Ok, the quick reminder is done. So let’s go to some practical steps and use cases.
How to set up a content hub with a headless CMS
Setting up a content hub with a headless CMS involves several key steps to ensure you manage and your content across multiple platforms. Below is a detailed guide on how to set up such a system with BCMS:
Step 1: Define and design your content model
- Identify content types: Determine the kinds of content you need, such as a home page, team member’s permissions and roles, blog, articles, product pages, user profiles, and more.
Here’s how to do that in BCMS:
BCMS Templates are a pre-defined content structure. So when you determine your content needs you are ready to make templates for each content piece.
Step 2: Structure your content
Design the structure for each content piece with fields that represent different content elements.
For example:
-
Articles:
- Title
- Author
- Body
- Published date
- Tags
-
Authors:
- Name
- Bio
- Profile picture
Here’s how to do that in BCMS:
As you can see from the video above, BCMS entry is a feature that helps you structure (define) properties for every template created.
The structure of an entry depends on the properties of its template. Every entry will display the properties defined in its template. Aside from the pre-defined meta, each entry has a content area.
Let’s see an example, I’ll use my profile in BCMS to show how content is structured.
In this example, this entry is structured this way:
Pre-defined meta:
- Title: The title is pre-defined for a reason because it enables easier finding (in this case my name) Just by searching my name in the CMS, anyone from the organization can see which projects I worked on and track all actions within the system.
Other entries can benefit from a pre-defined title to make them more structured, so you will be able to easily find the entries you need among 10,000 entries.
- Role ( old and new members, can have insights what is my job, or for what questions they need to contact me).
- Profile photo ( so the whole team can be able to see how handsome I am 😎).
Content area:
In this example, the content area serves to customize this entry. Pre-defined metadata is structured the same for all team members, but a content area, in this case, can be used to write my bio or work experience and give more insights about me.
Categories/Tags Pages
This feature helps organize the content and makes it easy for users to find related topics. Use categories, tags, and other taxonomies to organize your content effectively.
Implement search functionality
Content hubs need search functionality because it improves UX, provides quick access to information, simplifies navigation, improves content discoverability, allows users to find relevant content quickly, and provides valuable insights into user behavior and content performance.
Kinds of search functionality in CMSs:
- Basic search: Most CMS platforms provide basic search functionality. Configure this to meet your needs.
- Advanced search: Consider integrating a third-party search service like Algolia or ElasticSearch for more advanced search capabilities.
- Faceted search: Implement faceted search to allow users to filter content based on different criteria (e.g., date, category, tags).
Search functionality in BCMS:
Step 2: Integrate the CMS with existing systems
- Identify integration points: Determine which systems need to connect with the BCMS, such as CRM systems, E-commerce platforms, or marketing automation tools.
- Use APIs: Leverage the BCMS’s API to integrate with these systems.
Step 3: Develop a content delivery infrastructure
- Select frontend technologies: Choose technologies for developing the frontend(s) that will consume the CMS content.
BCMS is frontend agnostic so you can let developers in your organization choose your stack. Also, there are some official integrations with the popular frontend frameworks that can help them make a decision easier.
- Build frontends: Develop the frontend applications separate from the CMS, ensuring they can consume the API endpoints provided by the CMS.
- Ensure performance: Optimize content delivery with caching, content delivery networks (CDNs), and API calls.
Step 4: Set up content governance
- Define workflows: Create workflows that dictate how content is created, approved, and published. Include roles for content creators, editors, and administrators.
- Implement roles and permissions: Configure the CMS to enforce these workflows by setting up appropriate roles and permissions for all users.
Roles and permissions are essential for a content hub because they control who can create, edit, and publish content. This ensures that only authorized users make changes, maintaining content quality and security. Clear roles and permissions also help with teamwork, as everyone knows their responsibilities, making content management more efficient and organized.
Step 5: Go live
Before going live, conduct testing of the CMS and frontend integrations, including user acceptance testing (UAT) to ensure everything works as expected and after that, you are ready to go live.
Get prepared for BCMS as your Content Hub
You've seen the reasons, you learned how to set up (B)CMS as a content hub. The only thing left is to give it a try.
So at the very end, I'll leave you with sources that you and other members of your organization may find useful:
- BCMS documentation
- OpenAPI documentation
- Code source
- BCMS starters (in case you want to build additional services)
Now you have a list of materials that help you get started and build a content hub for your enterprise, so every member of your team can enjoy the advantages of a centralized content database.
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