Complete Guide: How to Develop Advanced Headless WordPress Website with React

Posted on September 5, 2022 by Nilesh Pujara

With its simplicity, flexibility, & usability, WordPress has become one of the most sought content management systems. It powers around ⅓ of the world’s websites. According to W3techs, WordPress has acquired a 58.7% market share. In contrast, Joomla with 6.6% & Drupal with 5.0% represents the second & third most popular CMSs, respectively.

The dominance of WordPress in the CMS market

WordPress has the most easy-to-use interface & rich plugin ecosystem. It makes it a common choice among non-technical & technical people for building feature-rich websites. Although it is a popular CMS, it is not the most-loved CMS among developers.

The reason is that WordPress is built as a monolithic platform with the tightly coupled front and back end. Besides, it doesn’t allow multichannel publishing of content. And this makes WordPress unwieldy for developers who want to build bespoke web app solutions without the constraints of its theme-based structure.

However, you can avoid this issue by decoupling WordPress’s front end from its back end. The concept of decoupling or headless CMS unlocks various developmental opportunities. It opens a new door for companies & developers to do Headless WordPress Development using new frameworks, tech stacks, & delivery channels.

After reading this, you might have these questions:

Contents

Well, read this whole article. And we promise you that you will get all the answers to your questions by its end.

What is Headless CMS?

In traditional CMS, you’ll have to deal with both the front end & the back end to create a website.

-The front end is the website’s display(presentation) part that visitors interact with. (Ex. a web page)

-The back end is the logical part of the website that contains storage & managing content. (Ex. files stored on servers like scripts & content databases) With the back end, developers can develop, organize, & manage the content before they publish it to the front end.

However, a headless CMS operates differently than a traditional CMS. As its name suggests, it removes the head(front end) from its body(back end). This means it decoupled front-end tools from the back-end management tools that are on the same installation.

Now come to the next question;

Why Should We Use Headless CMS?

Well, here are some reasons that explain why you should consider adopting headless CMS.

1. It gives freedom from maintaining ‘legacy’ software. And gives a chance to adopt any latest technology for web app development.

2. It will give you the ability to manage content on multiple channels.

3. It helps the developers to build web app solutions that provide improved & bespoke user experience.

4. It will allow you to manage your web app content from a single place/location.

5. It will allow your development team to prototype, test, & develop your web app solution efficiently.

6. It will make web app development easier by using microservices.

7. It will provide you with a web app solution with extra security from cyber attacks.

8. It will significantly speed up your time-to-market

9. It gives you the freedom to scale up your web app solution as high & fast as possible.

After learning about the reason behind choosing headless CMS for your project, let’s go further to the next question.

What is Headless WordPress CMS?

Though WordPress is a monolithic application, it is still one of the most capable Content Management Systems. And using WordPress as a headless CMS is the best solution for dynamic & tailored web app development. Know more about WordPress with our another blog on Why Choose WordPress CMS for Your Website: Top 10 Reasons to Know in 2023

However, what exactly is a headless WordPress?

Headless WordPress means a decoupled WordPress. Here, the back-end(management) part is removed from the front-end(display) part of the WordPress CMS.

You can create & manage the front-end part as a standalone with any front-end framework of your choice. And connect the newly developed front part with the back-end part through WordPress REST API.

Now, to get to know better about WordPress as headless cms, let’s understand its architecture.

The Architecture of Headless WordPress

The architecture of Headless WordPress

The standard WordPress framework we use for web development has a coupled architecture. In that, you manage your website’s properties through the dashboard & control its appearance by using different themes & plugins.

Read More:- WordPress Website Development: Expectations Vs Reality

However, headless WordPress content management tools are still available for web development. But, the front-end features like themes & the block editor get removed from it. Instead, another front-end framework like ReactJS, Angular, VueJS, and NextJS will handle your web app’s appearance using WordPress REST API.

To get a little deeper into the topic, let’s learn what makes headless WordPress different from traditional WordPress.

Headless WordPress CMS Vs. Traditional WordPress CMS

Difference between Headless WordPress Vs. Traditional WordPress

Following are the main points of difference between traditional WordPress & headless WordPress.

[wpdatatable id=3 table_view=regular]

Now, let’s learn the advantages of choosing a headless WordPress for your next project.

Why Should We Use Headless WordPress?

Advantages of Headless WordPress

1. Avoid losing visitors with superfast performance

Your web application’s performance is the significant reason behind its success on SERPs. It will get higher rankings on search engines if it shouldn’t take more than a few seconds to load. But if it takes more time to load, it will lose visitors.

However, with headless WordPress, you can avoid this problem. Here, the front end is removed from WordPress, which you can develop using modern front-end tools. It will enhance the user experience of your web application through its superfast performance.

2. Efficient web app management & customization with granular control

You can gain more control over your web application by using headless WordPress. With a headless approach, you can easily control design layout and content presentation. Plus, it also provides you control over how users interact with the front end of your web application.

Other than this, in headless WordPress, you can access your back-end content from a central location. And this makes a web application lightweight & easier to manage.

Besides, its REST API calls provide more freedom to make customized designs for the front end. Plus, there is also an advantage of using modern web tools & deploy them on the front-end development.

3. Open a door of expansion with increased scalability

With WordPress, the web application doesn’t have much chance to scale. The reason is that a developer is required to have complete control over all components & codes of WordPress.

However, decoupling WordPress makes it easy to scale up your web application. Because now, you can effortlessly identify which part of the web app needs more scaling. And you can scale that part in isolation.

4. Save your web app solution from hackers with its robust security

Data security is a vital aspect of any online service. With headless WordPress, you don’t need to take stress about your web application’s security.

The reason is the architecture of decoupled WordPress provides more security against hackers & DDoS attacks. It’s separate from your front end, which makes it difficult to hack your sensitive back-end data.

5. Faster development process with code reusability

When you use headless WordPress for web app development you can leverage APIs to communicate with your back-end. Therefore, once your content has been written & published in WordPress, it can be delivered to different front-ends.

Additionally, headless WordPress allows you to use modular frameworks. It will enable you to reuse code from other projects without involving changes on your backend.

6. Freedom to display content on any platform with Multichannel content publishing

The decoupled WordPress has an API-based system. It allows you to publish content on multiple platforms, like mobile, tablet, & computer.

Besides this, you can also display your API-based content through augmented/virtual reality & IoT devices. It will enhance the accessibility of your web application & gives you better reach among the younger audience.

Now that we have learned why we should go for Headless WordPress Development. Let’s know its drawbacks.

Why Headless WordPress isn’t the Best Option?

Though headless WordPress is a remarkable innovation with numerous benefits, it also contains a few drawbacks. Thus, consider them before making a decision on whether to use headless WordPress or not.

Disadvantages of Headless WordPress

1. A compulsion to hire skilled developers

If you wish to utilize headless WordPress fully, you’ll need the services of a skilled team of developers. The reason is headless WordPress requires advanced frameworks for smooth functioning. And for that advanced coding knowledge is a fundamental requirement. Hence, a non-technical person would never help you with it. You need to Hire WordPress Developers for this job.

2. A tedious process of maintenance

Managing multiple web application instances would be more difficult with the front-end and back-end separated. And that makes the process of maintaining headless WordPress tedious & little expensive.

3. Doesn’t support some significant features of WordPress

Indeed, headless WordPress doesn’t support some significant features of WordPress. For example, famous WordPress features like WYSIWYG editor & live preview won’t work when you use a separate front-end.

4. Required to make a significant investment

Setting up a web application through headless WordPress requires significant investment. Because its implementation, management, & maintenance is complex & would need additional members on your team. And this would make headless WordPress web app development a little more costly than standard WordPress.

These disadvantages of headless WordPress made us understand when we shouldn’t use it. Now, let’s move forward with the next question.

Who Should use Headless WordPress?

Headless WordPress has many benefits & usages. And this makes it a suitable development platform for every type of business. We have named some of the business types below that can get benefited from using headless WordPress.

1. Enterprise business

2. E-Commerce business

3. Consultancy service provider business

4. Media companies

5. Startups

6. Small & Medium size businesses

7. Freelancers

After this, we’ll know about the types of business websites that you can build using headless WordPress.

Which Types of Business Websites We can Build with Headless WordPress?

With headless WordPress, you can build various types of websites and applications. This will give you the freedom to create a variety of web app solutions in terms of design, UX/UI, and animation.

1. Blogs

2. One-Page web solutions

3. E-Commerce websites

4. Brochure websites

5. Custom web applications

6. Native applications for iOS & Android

7. Documentation websites, etc.

Name of Some Famous Websites Built Using Headless WordPress

Inspiring Headless WordPress Examples

1. TechCrunch

2. The Guggenheim Museum

3. Frontity

4. usTwo

5. Beachbody on Demand

6. Facebook Brand Resource Center

7. Uber Brand Experience

8. Fairfax Media

9. Hillary Clinton

Now comes one of the important questions.

Who Should Avoid Using Headless WordPress?

Business enterprises can avoid using Headless WordPress in the following circumstances.

Do not want to invest a significant amount in the front-end development of their web app.
Do not desire to follow the tedious & costly process of managing & maintaining two sub-systems.
If they aren’t interested in cross-platform publishing.
If they want to use WordPress visual editor and WordPress themes.
If they don’t want to configure & optimize the API

We hope now you gain adequate knowledge regarding headless WordPress. So, let’s move further with how to connect Headless WordPress with react.

How to Connect ReactJS with Headless WordPress?

ReactJS is one of the famous open-source front-end JavaScript libraries. It is maintained by Meta & a vast community of developers. ReactJS helps in building robust, fast, & dynamic web applications. And combining headless WordPress react will provide you with multiple benefits.

Read More:- Master to Build an Amazing WordPress Website with 10 Simple Steps

Besides, building a web application using React is not so difficult once your WordPress is set up. However, to connect ReactJS(front-end) with WordPress(back-end), you need to install the following on your computer.

A text editor ( For example, Visual Studio Code)
ReactJS & NPM
And Git for version control

Once you set up the environment, follow these below-mentioned steps to build a web app using ReactJS.

First, open the command line. After that, run the code to build a project.
Once you complete that, install the Axios package for API calls & open the folder inside the text editor.
At last, launch the web application with the appropriate command. And you’ll be all set to build a custom web application.

Combining WordPress back-end(built using Gutenberg page builder) with ReactJS is the most logical option. As Gutenberg’s page builder plugin supports ReactJS and helps to build bespoke web apps with a better user experience. Know more about WordPress Page Builder Plugin by following our exclusive blog on 10 Best Drag and Drop WordPress Page Builders Plugins Comparison

However, if you find any difficulty setting up react headless WordPress, kindly Hire a Headless WordPress Developer.

Conclusion

We hope our article has provided all the answers to your questions. And now, you don’t have any doubts regarding headless WordPress CMS. Decoupling your web app’s front-end from its back-end elevates your web app’s speed, performance, & security.

However, as we have mentioned before, developing a web app with headless WordPress can be complicated & confusing. And if you are not a seasoned developer then building a web app using headless CMS on your own is difficult.

Fortunately, there are many experienced WordPress developers in the market who can help you to make your project succeed. And if you’re looking for a competent WordPress Development Company for your project, then connect with us.

At Windzoon, we have a talented team of WordPress & ReactJS developers who can build industry-specified custom web app solutions. To avail of our developers’ services or to know about our WordPress Web Development Packages, kindly visit wzadmin.windzoon.in/ to get a quote.

WordPress Website Development: Expectations Vs Reality

Posted on March 15, 2022May 25, 2026 by Nilesh Pujara

Websites dominate the digital world, and it has become a crucial tool for businesses to prosper. They help businesses function in many ways, especially by providing them with a platform to grow their customer base by adapting to modern practices.

Contents

Behind a functional website is a team of web developers who not only create it but also actively maintain it to make sure it works seamlessly. That being said, web developer employment is expected to increase 13 percent over the next decade, outpacing the average for all other professions.

WordPress web development makes it really easy to create a website from scratch and keep it updated with quality content. There are few Content Management Systems (CMS) that can compete with WordPress in terms of ease of use for website development.

WordPress Market Position

According to the W3Techs Sources, more than 64.1% of websites are built with WordPress Content Management System. It is 43.0% of all websites on the internet. WordPress proudly holds 42.9% of the market share in the field of web development. The latest version of WordPress 6.0 has been downloaded more than 35.6 million times.

Difference Between Web Development and Web Design

Web designers take a concept and transform it into an aesthetically pleasing design, and use their layout to build the user experience across the website. They create the look and feel of the website.

As an architect would create a layout for your house before beginning construction, a web designer would model the structure of your website before a web developer can start developing it.

Web development services, on the other hand, convert the designs into live websites. Website developers use web languages and software tools to create the functionality of a website. Back-end developers are in control of the server’s data and requests, while front-end developers take the data from the back-end and develop user-facing features.

Advanced web developers may choose to use WordPress to streamline development and provide clients with a simple way to manage and update their websites.

What is WordPress?

WordPress controls more than 40 percent of all websites on the Internet. One out of every four websites you visit is powered by WordPress. It is the most basic and widely used platform for creating your own website or blog.

WordPress is a free, open-source platform for building websites. It is a PHP-based Content Management System (CMS) that uses a MySQL database. WordPress powers both the back-end and the front-end of the website.

Before hiring custom WordPress development services for your business, inquire about basic information such as how long it will take to create a site and why every business needs a website.

There are several common misconceptions when it comes to truly understanding and appreciating WordPress web development. Here’s a reality check in response to some of the most common expectations.

WordPress Website Design & Development: Expectations Vs Reality

Expectation 1: I can do it on my own; it is so easy

You may have read or heard about how people personally create websites on WordPress for their business. All the features are right there, and we believe with a few tips and techniques, we can master web development.

Reality 1: It is best to leave the job to the professionals

There is no denying that WordPress is easy. But if you are not experienced or trained in web development, then it is not that easy for you. WordPress developers have in-depth knowledge of how custom designing works and can counter any problems that come their way.

Expectation 2: It is probably low quality because it is free

People are perplexed as to why developers would devote their best efforts to free software. Many believe they will not get the best outcome from a web developer in WordPress, as compared to those that use other CMS platforms.

Reality 2: WordPress is popular for the best reasons

WordPress is not created by a single individual or a small group of people. Thousands of developers work on it, and millions of websites depend on it. WordPress development company Ireland explains that anyone can translate, scrutinize, and examine the code for quality since it is open source. WordPress is so widely used and outperforms any other CMS platform in the world for this reason.

Expectation 3: It doesn’t take time to build

A lot of the ads we see online make us believe that websites can be created in under an hour. Many times, promotional ads also show web developers telling us how they have built a website in a day or less than a week. If you have the technical know-how to manage the different hosting platforms and Content Management systems, you will not encounter any difficulties in developing the website.

Reality 3: Website building can be a tedious process

Even the simplest single-page website takes a lot of time and decision-making to create, including choosing the right domain, theme, content, hosting service, and template. According to WordPress development Dublin, if you are attempting to create a custom design choice website, your capabilities will be restricted by the template you choose.

Expectation 3: The website is built, the work is done

We all tend to believe once something like a house, institution, or even a website is built, the difficult part is over. People don’t believe that anything can go wrong with a website because it was built by professionals. They also don’t value the importance of regularly checking the website for issues.

Reality 3: Website development is a continuous process

Websites like automobiles need routine maintenance for best performance. WordPress development Ireland suggests that websites must be reviewed regularly to keep up with the new internet protocols, regulations, trends, and advancements. Regular updates also have an impact on the website’s search engine ranking. It assists search engines in identifying if the website is active and relevant to users.

Expectation 4: The website will get the optimal traffic once it gets finished

It is natural to expect that the website we had built with so much effort will host a significant number of interested visitors soon after its launch. But, unfortunately, it’s just a bubble of your rosy expectation which is destined to break. Now let’s learn about reality.

Reality 4: You can’t get the optimal traffic soon after your website launch

Without harboring any high expectations, all the websites need to be indexed with Google to be found as a search result. Despite the best effort you make to create an SEO-friendly website, you may not receive the appropriate traffic before the waiting period ends.

Expectation 5: Web designing is all about a good website appearance

Many web designers have this misconception that only the outer appearance of the website holds importance because it is seen by the website visitors. Whatever the process they do on the backend of the site won’t make any impact on the website, because it’s not seen by the website users. Now let’s learn about the reality of this claim.

Reality 5: Poor and incompetent web design adversely affects the speed of the website and SEO

Every little thing matters when it comes to website speed and SEO. Everything counts whether it is videos and animation on the website or the plugins you have used on your website. The reason behind this is the things you have used to make the website might hurt the speed and SEO of the website.

So, you need to ensure that you consider the outcomes before using or adding anything for Web designing because even a small change to your text holds the capability to impact your Website’s SEO ranking.

Expectations 6: The security of the WordPress website doesn’t hold my concerns

Many web developers have this misperception that the security of their website does not hold that much importance for them or that it’s none of their business. Due to this disbelief, they often neglect the important security measures and constant vigilance they need to keep their website safe & secure.

Reality 6: Web security is one of the important measures behind the success of any website

The safety & security of your WordPress website holds so much importance, and it’s up to you to build a well-built security system for your website.

Third-party plugins and apps, which you use to create your website, often have security updates. Even if you miss those updates by a day, your site will be vulnerable to hackers and attackers during that period.

So the only option you have is either you will leave all the tasks at hand and manage your WordPress website full-time or leave it exposed to potential hacking or cyber-attacks.

Let’s rewind what we have learned about the WordPress

1. The first thing first, that WordPress is a simple and easy-to-use website builder for those who possess adequate skills and knowledge of web development.

2. WordPress usually offers options that can be thoroughly optimized only with the proper guidance and constant support.

3. WordPress is not entirely cost-free. But you can easily cover that cost if you can utilize the potential of WordPress.

4. WordPress website is secure if you don’t let down your guards.

5. In WordPress SEO is a separate task. To make proper justice to this task, you need to invest your time, money, and human resources to make your WordPress website SEO friendly.

Conclusion

After reading this blog you might think that WordPress is not entirely like what you have expected. Because it contains much more than you ever expected. WordPress is full of surprises and exciting features, and to take the maximum benefit of these features you need to take help from a team of competent WordPress developers.

Taking the services from the WordPress development Service provider is not a waste of money but a thoughtful investment. Availing of the services from Windzoon Technologies, which is the best WordPress Development Company in Ahmedabad helps you to have a well-built, secure, scalable, and SEO-friendly WordPress website for your business. Contact us at [email protected] to know more about our services or to get a quote.