How I Built a High-Converting B2B Lead Funnel Using Growth Hacking Principles
September 25, 2025Build Your Own Affiliate Marketing Dashboard: Track Conversions, Visualize Data, and Boost Revenue
September 25, 2025
Headless CMS is changing how we build websites, and frankly, it’s about time. Let me walk you through how to create your own using Contentful, Strapi, or Sanity.io—no jargon, just real developer talk.
Why Headless CMS is Winning
After years wrestling with clunky traditional CMS platforms, I’ve seen the light. Headless CMS separates content storage from presentation, giving developers freedom while keeping content teams happy. Want to use React? Go for it. Need to push content to smart fridges? No problem. That’s the beauty of API-first content.
The Nuts and Bolts
Think of a headless CMS like a content warehouse. Your data sits neatly organized inside, ready to ship anywhere via REST or GraphQL APIs. Websites, apps, even voice assistants—they all tap into the same content pool.
Picking Your Headless CMS: The Big Three
I’ve worked with all three major players. Here’s the real scoop:
Contentful: The Premium Option
Contentful feels like driving a luxury car—smooth, powerful, and packed with features. Their content modeling tools are top-notch. I recently used it for an e-commerce site, and the way it handled thousands of products with Next.js was pure magic.
// Example: Fetching entries from Contentful using GraphQL
const query = `
{
productCollection(where: { category: "electronics" }) {
items {
title
description
price
image {
url
}
}
}
}
`;
Strapi: The DIY Champion
Love open-source? Strapi is your best friend. I deployed it on Kubernetes for a client who needed full control. The admin panel customization saved us weeks of development time.
// Strapi content type definition example
module.exports = {
kind: 'collectionType',
collectionName: 'articles',
attributes: {
title: { type: 'string' },
content: { type: 'richtext' },
publishedAt: { type: 'datetime' }
}
};
Sanity.io: For Content-Heavy Projects
Sanity’s real-time editing and GROQ language make it perfect for news sites. We built a live blog that updated instantly across all devices—editors loved it.
// GROQ query example from Sanity
*[_type == "post" && publishedAt < now()] | order(publishedAt desc) [0...10] {
_id,
title,
"slug": slug.current,
publishedAt
}
Making It Fly with Jamstack
Pair your headless CMS with Next.js or Gatsby, and you've got a rocket ship. The pre-rendering plus API content is a killer combo.
Next.js + Headless CMS = ❤️
Here's how I set up a corporate blog with Strapi. The static generation keeps it fast, while the API keeps it fresh.
// pages/blog/[slug].js in Next.js
export async function getStaticProps({ params }) {
const post = await fetchStrapiPost(params.slug);
return { props: { post } };
}
export async function getStaticPaths() {
const posts = await fetchAllStrapiPosts();
const paths = posts.map(post => ({
params: { slug: post.slug },
}));
return { paths, fallback: false };
}
Gatsby's Speed Secret
With Contentful powering a Gatsby site, we cut load times by 60%. The build-time content fetching makes pages load before you can blink.
Pro Tips for Your Headless CMS
1. Plan Your Content Structure First: Trust me, reorganizing later hurts.
2. API Choice Matters: GraphQL for complex data, REST for simpler needs.
3. Webhooks Are Magic: Auto-update your site when content changes.
4. Don't Forget SEO: Use server-side rendering and structured data.
5. Lock It Down: API keys are like house keys—keep them safe.
The Bottom Line
Headless CMS isn't the future—it's here. Whether you choose Contentful's polish, Strapi's flexibility, or Sanity's real-time magic, you're building something that can grow and adapt. And that's what modern web development should be about.
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