Headless WordPress keeps the editor your team knows and replaces the theme with a separate front end, usually built with Next.js or Astro. Done well, it gives you fast pages, content you can reuse in apps and other channels, and a WordPress admin that is hidden from the public. Done for the wrong reasons, it doubles your maintenance and breaks the plugins you rely on.
Our headless WordPress development work starts with a plain question: is it right for you? We look at your site, your team and your plans first. If headless fits, we build the back end, the API and the front end, and launch without losing search traffic. If it does not, we tell you what will get the result you want for less. It is for product teams adding an app, publishers with high traffic, and companies with front-end developers who want to stop working in PHP themes.
What’s included
- Fit check of your goals, content, plugins and team, with a clear recommendation: headless, partly headless or traditional. Our guide to headless WordPress pros, cons and setup explains the questions we ask.
- Content modeling with custom post types and fields, so the API returns clean, structured data instead of page-builder markup.
- API setup with WPGraphQL or the WordPress REST API, including custom fields, menus, global settings and access control.
- Front-end build in Next.js, Astro or the framework your team already uses, with static generation where possible and server rendering where needed.
- SEO carried over: titles, meta tags, canonical URLs, structured data, sitemaps and redirects.
- Plugin features rebuilt, such as forms, search and related content, using each plugin’s API or a better-suited service.
- Editor workflow: draft previews, publish webhooks and cache clearing, tested with your editors.
- Hosting and security for both sides, with the WordPress admin restricted and the API locked down.
- Automated tests with Playwright for key pages, forms and journeys, plus k6 load tests on the API.
How it works
- Assess. We review the site, its plugins and integrations, and what you want headless to achieve.
- Fixed quote. You receive a fixed price for the fit check, then for the build if you go ahead.
- Model and connect. We structure the content in WordPress and expose it through the API.
- Build. We build the front end template by template, with previews and webhooks in place early so editors can test as we go.
- Rehearse the launch. We compare the old and new sites for URLs, titles and redirects, and run end-to-end and load tests on staging. Our WordPress migration SEO checklist shows what we check.
- Launch and hand over. We switch at a low-traffic time, watch logs and search reports, and document how publishing and releases work.
What you get
- A written recommendation on whether headless fits, with the costs and trade-offs in plain language.
- A WordPress back end set up for content only, with a clean content model and a secured admin.
- A fast front end in a modern framework, in your own Git repository.
- Working previews and publishing that your editors have tested.
- SEO parity with your old site, checked before and after launch.
- Tests and a deployment pipeline for both applications, so future changes are safe. See WordPress CI/CD with GitHub Actions.
- Documentation for developers and editors.
Why Verma IT
Most headless agencies are front-end agencies. They build a beautiful front end and treat WordPress as a black box. We know WordPress from the inside. Our founder, Ajay Verma, has been writing WordPress code since 2010 and is a WordPress core contributor, so we understand how the data, the editor and the plugins really behave, and where a headless build will run into trouble.
We are also willing to say no. If a performance review or server tuning would make your current site fast enough, we will tell you before you spend money on a rebuild. And after launch, we can keep both sides healthy through WordPress maintenance and server management.
Request a fit check
Contact us with your site address, what you hope to gain from going headless and who will work on the front end. We will assess the site and send you a fixed quote for the fit check.
Frequently asked questions
- Do I need headless WordPress?
- Most business websites do not. Headless makes sense when you publish to several channels, have front-end developers, or need an app-like front end. We start every project with a fit check and will tell you if a traditional site is the better choice.
- Which front-end frameworks do you use?
- Usually Next.js or Astro, with WPGraphQL or the WordPress REST API. If your team already works in another framework, such as Nuxt or SvelteKit, we can build in that so your developers can maintain it.
- Will we lose our SEO by going headless?
- Not if the move is planned like a migration. We carry over titles, meta tags, canonical URLs, structured data, sitemaps and redirects, and compare the old and new sites before launch.
- Can our editors still preview drafts?
- Yes. We build a preview route on the front end that loads drafts securely from WordPress, and set up webhooks so published changes appear on the live site quickly.
- Can you take over an existing headless site?
- Yes. We review the code, hosting and editor workflow, fix the urgent problems first, and then maintain both the WordPress back end and the front end.
- How much does a headless WordPress project cost?
- It depends on the number of templates, integrations and plugin features to rebuild. We start with a paid fit check and then give you a fixed quote for the build.