Tool Spotlight: Using Headless CMS with Static Sites — A Practical Guide

Headless CMS platforms combined with static site generators give content teams autonomy while keeping sites fast and secure. This article walks through choices, workflows, and a minimal architecture you can implement in a weekend.

Why headless + static?

Static sites are fast and resilient; a headless CMS provides the editing experience non-technical contributors expect. When paired, you get performance without sacrificing content workflow.

Common stacks

• CMS: Contentful, Sanity, Strapi, or a git-based CMS like Netlify CMS.
• SSG: Next.js (static export), Astro, or Eleventy.
• Hosting: Vercel, Netlify, or static object storage with CDN.

Architecture overview

Content is authored in the CMS and pulled at build time by the SSG via APIs or webhooks. For frequently changing content, use incremental builds or preview sessions backed by serverless functions.

Practical workflow

1. Model content in the CMS with reusable blocks and references.
2. Set up webhooks to trigger builds on publish events.
3. Use preview APIs for editorial preview environments.
4. Store media in a CDN and reference it via the CMS to avoid large builds.

Performance tips

• Use incremental builds or on-demand revalidation to avoid full-site rebuilds for small changes.
• Cache API responses during build and invalidate caches selectively.
• Optimize images at build time using an image pipeline.

Security considerations

Limit API keys to read-only for build processes, and avoid embedding admin keys in client bundles. Use serverless proxies for any private API operations.

Example: Quick implementation

Choose an SSG (Astro) and a CMS (Sanity). Model blog posts with title, slug, content blocks, and hero image. Configure a webhook so that publishing a post triggers a Vercel build. Enable preview by passing a preview token to a serverless function that fetches draft content and returns it to the SSG preview endpoint.

When not to use static + headless

If your site needs low-latency real-time updates for many users or requires complex personalization per request, consider a hybrid approach or server-side rendering with caching.

Conclusion: For most marketing sites, documentation, and blogs, headless CMS with static generation hits the sweet spot: performance, maintainability, and a pleasant editorial experience.