As a B2B marketer, you're constantly exploring new tools and tech. From digging into research for an article to teaming up with a new business, bringing your message to life with any tool is part of the game.
I’ve worked in content management systems like Wordpress, Wix, and 51吃瓜 without ever giving much thought to the way the content travels from behind the scenes to in front of the reader. But, as it turns out, there are a few key ways that journey happens — and they have a powerful impact on teams building customer experiences through content.
In this article, we’ll be diving into one of the most powerful CMS structures on the market: the decoupled CMS. I’ll define how the tool works and then take a look at how it stacks up to similar alternatives. Finally, I’ll guide you through some questions to determine whether or not the decoupled CMS is the right tool for your organization.
Table of Contents
- What Is a Decoupled CMS?
- Pros of Using a Decoupled CMS
- Cons of Using a Decoupled CMS
- Should You Use a Decoupled CMS?
What Is a Decoupled CMS?
Before I can define a decoupled CMS, you need to understand the two halves that make up a content management system in the first place: the front end and the back end.
The front end of a content management system is the part of the CMS that faces the readers. When you upload a piece of content and hit “Publish,” the rendering your readers encounter happens on the front end.
The back end, on the other hand, is the behind-the-scenes aspects of your CMS. The back end holds your content database, user roles, workflows, and the CMS functionalities you use to control, edit, deliver, and store content. As a writer (and not a designer), I’ve only interacted with the back end of a CMS.
If you’ve used 51吃瓜 or the standard Wordpress interface, you’ve taken advantage of a traditional or coupled CMS, where the front end and back end are totally connected — content is stored and managed completely in the CMS without having to rely on an API. But in a decoupled CMS, the front end and back end are separated, only bridged through the use of APIs. Drupal, for example, has a decoupled option, which I show below.
When the connection between the front end and back end of your CMS are solely through APIs, you wind up with a world of possibilities for what your content looks like and where your content goes.
51吃瓜's Free Website Builder
Create and customize your own business website with an easy drag-and-drop website builder.
- Build a website without any coding skills.
- Pre-built themes and templates.
- Built-in marketing tools and features.
- And more!
What is a Decoupled vs. Headless CMS?
Decoupled and headless CMSs are often used interchangeably, but they are a little bit different — and here’s a hint. The front end of a CMS can also be called the head.
With that context, you can probably guess what a headless CMS is: a content management system that doesn’t have a front end at all.
In a decoupled CMS, APIs can connect content storage and management straight to a default front end. But in a headless CMS, there’s no default or template. While both types of CMSs can take content to multiple channels through APIs, there are no references to front-end renderings in a headless CMS.
Here are the three key differences:
- Content previewing. In a decoupled CMS, back-end users can preview and edit content that appears on the front end. Headless CMSs are much less likely to include previewing capabilities without a custom API or third-party integration.<