Headless CMS Development & Management
Platform selection, content modeling, Next.js integration, migrations, and the ongoing management that keeps structured content structured — across five platforms, chosen for your content rather than ours.
What Is a Headless CMS?
A headless CMS is a content management system that stores content as structured data behind an API instead of rendering web pages itself — the "head" (your website or app frontend) is built separately and pulls content from the CMS, so the same content can feed any number of channels. The practical consequences: your frontend stack is a free choice (we build in Next.js), rendering and metadata are code you control, and content modeled as typed entities maps directly onto schema.org markup — the machine-legible layer that traditional search engines and AI answer engines both consume.
We build and manage on five platforms, each linked below with our platform-specific service: Sanity, Strapi, Directus, Craft CMS, and Framer. Webvello is an independent development partner and is not affiliated with any of these platform vendors — which is exactly why our platform recommendations can be honest. For the full plain-language explainer, read What Is a Headless CMS?
Five Platforms, One Selection Discipline
The platform is a consequence of your content model — not the other way around
| Platform | Architecture | Best Fit |
|---|---|---|
| Sanity We run a custom Sanity Studio in our own production stack sanity.io | Document store + customizable React Studio | Deeply customized editorial tooling and structured content operations |
| Strapi Content-type builder and role-based permissions strapi.io | Open-source Node.js, self-hosted or cloud | Full data ownership with REST and GraphQL out of the box |
| Directus The database remains the source of truth directus.io | Database-first — wraps your SQL database | Existing SQL databases that must stay clean and portable |
| Craft CMS Matrix fields for flexible structured content craftcms.com | Content-first PHP CMS, Twig or headless GraphQL | Editorial teams that want refined authoring control |
| Framer Right tool for marketing sites, not large content operations framer.com | Design-first hosted builder with CMS collections | High-fidelity marketing sites shipped fast |
What the Engagement Covers
From platform selection through launch and into ongoing operations
Platform Selection
A recommendation grounded in your content inventory, editorial workflow, and infrastructure — not in whichever platform is fashionable.
- Content and URL inventory first
- Editorial workflow requirements
- Hosting and ownership constraints
- Written recommendation with reasoning
Content Modeling
The decisions everything else depends on: what your documents are, how they reference each other, and how they map to schema.org entities.
- Entity-first schema design
- Reference relationships
- Validation and required fields
- Schema.org alignment for AI search
Implementation & Integration
CMS configuration and a Next.js frontend built together, so editors and the rendered site stay in sync from the first commit.
- Studio/admin configuration
- Next.js App Router frontends
- Static generation and ISR strategies
- Programmatic page generation
Migrations
Scripted moves between platforms — WordPress, Contentful, Markdown, databases — verified against a documented baseline before cutover.
- Baseline documentation
- Scripted transforms, not hand-copying
- URL and redirect mapping
- Side-by-side parity verification
Ongoing Management
Schema evolution, editor roles, upgrades, and content governance after launch — the work that keeps structured content structured.
- Schema and content-type evolution
- Editorial roles and workflow
- Platform and dependency upgrades
- Content governance discipline
Structured Content for AI Search
Content architecture designed so entities are machine-legible — the connection between headless CMS work and our AI search specialty.
- Schema.org markup from documents
- Entity signals for answer engines
- Index governance over generated pages
- Multi-channel content reuse
Delivered Through a Documented Process
Every headless CMS engagement — new build, migration, or takeover of an existing installation — runs through the same process we publish in our methodology: a documented baseline of the current content and URLs before work begins, side-by-side parity verification before any cutover, and an instrumented launch so results are measured rather than assumed.
Platform Services
Sanity Development
Custom Studio, schema architecture, and migrations
Strapi Development
Open-source headless CMS builds and integrations
Directus Development
Database-first headless CMS integrations
Craft CMS Development
Content-first Craft builds and migrations
Framer Development
High-fidelity marketing sites built in Framer
Web Development
Custom React and Next.js development
Not Sure Which Platform Fits?
Send us what your content looks like today. We'll map the content model first and recommend the platform second — in writing, with reasoning.