How to build a Content Hub with a headless CMS

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.

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:

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.

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.

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

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

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)

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 👀.

Ok, the quick reminder is done. So let’s go to some practical steps and use cases.

Setting up a content hub with a headless CMS involves several key steps to ensure you manage your content. Below is a detailed guide on how to set up such a system with BCMS:

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.

Design the structure for each content piece with fields that represent different content elements. For example:

Articles:

Crew member

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:

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.

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.

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.

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:

Search functionality in BCMS:

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.

For more info check out:

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.

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.

You've seen the reasons, you learned how to set up BCMS headless 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:

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.