Headless WordPress development.
Keep the editor your team knows. Replace the front end with something fast.
Headless WordPress is worth doing for one specific reason: your content team is productive in the WordPress editor and you do not want to retrain them, but the themed front end is slow, hard to change and full of plugin markup you do not control. Decoupling lets you keep the first and fix the second. It is not automatically the right answer, and I will say so if it is not.
What’s included
- WordPress as a content API via REST or GraphQL
- Custom front end built for speed and control
- Custom post types and fields modelled around your content
- Preview so editors can see drafts before publishing
- Caching and revalidation strategy
- Migration from an existing themed WordPress site
- Deployment and hosting for both halves
When headless is worth it
It makes sense when the front end needs to be genuinely fast, when you want full control of markup, or when the same content feeds more than one destination — a site and an app, for example. It makes less sense for a small brochure site, where you are adding architecture without solving a real problem.
What you give up
Live preview, some plugins that assume they control rendering, and simplicity. Preview is solvable with work. Plugins that inject front-end markup generally will not work, so any that matter need replacing deliberately. Worth knowing before you commit, not after.
Caching is the whole game
The performance win comes from not asking WordPress for content on every request. That means a caching layer with a clear invalidation strategy so an editor's change appears promptly without every visitor hitting the API.
Common questions
Will our editors notice a difference?
In the admin, very little — that is the point. The main change is preview, which I set up so drafts can be reviewed before publishing.
Can we keep our existing content?
Yes. Content stays in WordPress, so nothing is migrated. What changes is how it is rendered.
Is headless always faster?
Not automatically. A well-optimised conventional WordPress site can be very fast. Headless gives you more control and a higher ceiling, but it is not a free win.
What if we want to go back?
Your content is untouched in WordPress, so reverting to a themed front end is always possible.
Have a project in mind?
Tell me what you're building and roughly when you need it. I reply to every genuine enquiry within one working day.