Headless CMS: Intranet reimagined

Highlights

You’ll learn about streamlining your intranet with headless CMS for better productivity.

• Enhance collaboration: Get your teams on the same page.
• Technology flexibility: Integrate with any intranet CMS for better coordination.
• Future-proof technology: A headless CMS enables you to integrate with new technologies.
• Accelerated content creation: Marketers create and manage content with greater speed.

Transform your internal communications and get your workers on the same page. Discover how headless CMS can enhance your intranet — Request a demo to see how it works!

Keep reading to learn more!

According to a Trade Press Services report, effective internal communications increase employee engagement by 85%. Another report states that 57% of internal communications experts are focused on developing better internal communications systems. A headless CMS benefits the corporate intranet in many ways. It improves productivity and employee engagement—but what is a headless CMS?

What is a headless CMS?

A headless CMS is a CMS that separates the back-end content hub from the front-end presentation layer. It is back-end-only and API-first, enabling content delivery across multiple devices.

A headless CMS is also flexible and adaptable. It is suitable for managing voice content and works with IoT devices, social media, websites, mobile apps, Etc.

Headless CMS and intranet/international communications

An intranet is one of many devices that a headless CMS can work with. The headless CMS provides content infrastructure that enables the intranet to deliver content for internal communications.

You can update and distribute internal communications with ease. You can also deliver communication simultaneously across multiple intranet platforms and internal communication channels.

The power of headless CMS in internal communications

Effective internal communications improves knowledge sharing within the workplace. It also promotes company culture and makes it easier for HR personnel to obtain employee feedback. So, integrating internal communication tools with headless CMS will harmonize your internal communications strategy. It will save you time and help you maintain messaging consistency.

Yet, most organizations still use a traditional CMS to manage intranets and internal communications. That is not an ideal situation because conventional CMSes are neither flexible nor scalable. They are restrictive and lack integration capabilities, making it almost impossible to pair them with modern internal communication tools. 

A headless CMS offers limitless integration capabilities, helping to overcome those challenges. Its API-first architecture and central content repository help you create a unified internal communications platform. It is also cloud-based, so your workers can access information on the go.

Case studies

Berlitz

How do you solve the growing pain from 145 years of expansion? That was the puzzle leaders at Berlitz had to solve.

With Contentstack’s headless CMS, Berlitz resolved their disjointed marketing efforts. The centralized system enabled them to coordinate better, customize workflows and harmonize internal communications. Their page load speed has also increased by 133% and they launched 16 times more websites than the previous year.

“Being headless, we’ve been able to build really fast websites, and our Web Vitals are really good,” Gorman explained.

Read more about how Berlitz and Contentstack solved the pain of 145-plus years of expansion.

Icelandair

Working with VYRE Unify web CMS and dotCMS systems limited Icelandair’s ability to deliver omnichannel and personalized content. So, they knew they needed to change the system.

After deciding to go headless, they chose Contentstack’s headless CMS. After implementation, their automation and workflow improved, and their delivery rate increased by 70%. They reduced the time to push out promotions by 96% while harmonizing their team of content creators and developers.

Listen to what Hallur fiór Halldórsson had to say, "I don't have to depend on the developers to do everything. I can go in and make the changes instead of them having to do all the work. Simplicity in the UI, both for content editors and technically savvy people, has helped us."

Read more about Icelandair’s success story after switching to a headless CMS.

Understanding the features of CMS intranet

So, what is CMS intranet? A CMS Intranet is a CMS platform that facilitates operations, organizational communications and employee engagement. It is intuitive and provides many features that help you manage various aspects of your business. Here are some essential features of a CMS intranet.

Integrated timesheet system

With an integrated timesheet, employees can log, track and manage work hours. It also enables project teams to monitor the progress of work. That way, they can allocate resources properly, save time and reduce waste.

Interactive dashboards

An interactive dashboard collects and displays analytics. These analytics provide insight in real-time, enabling decision-makers to monitor and make data-driven decisions.

Search functionality

A typical large organization has loads of data, and sifting through them can be challenging. The search feature makes it easy for workers to locate specific information or documents. It also indexes content and supports knowledge management.

Other features of a CMS intranet scrum boards for project management and internal communication tools for emails, chat and knowledge sharing. A CMS intranet should also have a simple and responsive design that anybody can use.

The benefits of CMS intranets

A CMS intranet streamlines workflow and optimizes productivity. It also enables work teams to collaborate better. With CMS intranet, an organization can keep its workers informed about updates, new policies or any development within the industry.

It also eases internal communications and provides an avenue to collect employee feedback. A CMS intranet also empowers employees to make data-driven decisions, which drives productivity. 

Headless CMS for corporate intranet

A headless CMS stores content like documents, company policies, and even standard operating procedures. These are all essential documents for any organization. That data can be published on intranet portals or digital displays through API calls.

The flexibility of a headless CMS is a big win for businesses because it offers unlimited integration capabilities. You can also customize your internal communications by department. Once the content is all stored in the content hub, you can display it on multiple digital devices. Think of it like a single source of truth that adapts to different formats and screens.

A headless CMS also supports cloud-based solutions and omnichannel strategies. It is reliable, secure, scalable, and accessible, making it an ideal choice for a digital workplace. You get more efficiency, quicker updates, and a smoother user experience. 

How to choose the best open-source intranet software

A good intranet software centralizes internal communications and enhances employee engagement. It allows your workers to collaborate well and provides easy access to relevant content.

Consider your business needs and internal communications strategy and look for an intranet solution that fits them. You also need a budget and a list of must-have requirements. Although each solution may offer something different, here are some features you must consider.

• Collaboration and social features.
• File management capabilities.
• An intuitive user interface.
• Responsive technical support.
• Analytics.

Many solutions offer the above-stated features. Some popular ones include WordPress, Drupal, Plone, Bitrix24, Joomla, and Liferay. While WordPress, Joomla and Drupal are best known for their CMS, they also offer rich features for intranet needs. 

Plone is suitable for internal websites, has good security features, and many government and educational institutions use it. Bitrix24 offers extra features like social and collaboration tools and an on-premise version of its CMS that you can use as an intranet. Liferay is also similar, offering collaboration tools, web publishing and document management.

Ensure that whichever option you choose ticks the right boxes, which are the essential features, your business needs and integration capabilities. With the right open-source intranet software, you can start hitting your internal communications goals.

FAQ section

What is the role of API calls in a headless CMS?

An API call connects a headless CMS and the front-end device it is integrated with. The headless CMS’s primary job is to store content. For developers to access the content for display on any front-end device, they must use APIs.

How does a headless CMS support an omnichannel strategy?

A headless CMS supports omnichannel strategy through its content modeling feature. Content modeling structures your content, making it consistent and reusable. The headless CMS then serves as a single source of truth to distribute the content, ensuring it is targeted and personalized.

Can a headless CMS improve employee engagement?

Yes. Through its central content repository, it manages and organizes internal communications, ensuring consistency. Workers use that connection to share content as soon as they are available.

What makes a headless CMS a good choice for a digital workplace?

It works with modern technology, be it mobile apps, IoT devices or digital signage. A headless CMS is also future-proof, supports remote work and makes content available on-demand.

How does content management work in a headless CMS?

A headless CMS decouples content creation from its presentation. Hence, it holds content that can only be retrieved through API calls. It structured content through the content modeling feature, making it easy to deliver targeted content to your audience.

Learn more

A well-engaged workforce leads to higher productivity and success. A headless CMS and intranet create a platform for consistent internal communications. Headless CMS and intranet software support knowledge management, internal communication and remote work.

You can start to reap the benefits of these systems today. Request our free demo to see how it works.