Modular CMS: How to use CMS in your modular content strategy

The core of the modular content strategy is reusability. You’ll need a tool that supports modular content creation to make it possible. This is where a modular CMS comes into play, enabling you to create, manage, and distribute content in smaller, reusable blocks. Integrating this modular content management approach ensures consistency across various channels and allows for rapid content updates and personalized user experiences.

This guide will delve into the benefits of a modular CMS, and best practices for assembling content modules into functional workflow.

Modular content vs traditional content

Before going deeper into making modular content the difference between traditional and modular content should be established.

Traditional content follows a linear narrative and is designed to be consumed in its entirety. On the other hand, modular content involves creating smaller, reusable blocks or modules of content. These modules can be combined in various ways to create different content pieces tailored to diverse audiences and channels, offering more flexibility and efficiency.

Here are all the differences:

How to choose Modular CMS to create modular content

First of all, a CMS platform needs to support structured content principles so you can be able to accomplish the following steps:

• Define content types for modules
• Develop templates and components
• Create and manage content types and template
• Establish a connection between different independent components

Learn more: Content Structures: A guide to Content Modeling basics

Another thing that matters is infrastructure, so you need a CMS that can manage content pieces in a composable architecture environment that enables dynamic assembly of content, allowing you to mix and match different modules to create varied and engaging content without starting from scratch each time.

To accomplish this, you need specific CMS features. So, here’s a brief list of features.

Modular CMS features:

• Headless CMS architecture: Decouples the backend from the frontend presentation layer, allowing content to be delivered across multiple channels via APIs.
• API-first approach: Prioritizes API development to facilitate seamless integration with various services, applications, and devices.
• Built-in SEO features: Includes features to manage SEO settings and metadata for content, helping improve search engine visibility and content discoverability.
• Centralized content repository: CMS should work as a Content Hub, allowing easy access, organization, content reuse, and distribution of content across multiple channels and platforms.
• Frontend agnostic: Supports delivery of content to any frontend framework or device, whether it's a web application, mobile app, or IoT device. This ensures that content can be presented consistently across different platforms without being tied to a specific front-end technology, allowing developers to choose their front-end development tools.

Modular CMS example: How BCMS approaches modular content

BCMS is designed to streamline the creation and management of modular content. Here's how BCMS leverages its core features to support a modular content approach:

BCMS Templates

Templates in BCMS serve as predefined content structures that act as the foundation for various content types such as articles, blog posts, galleries, and so on. Each template consists of multiple fields, which are modular pieces of content that can be reused across different entries.

Example fields:

• Headline: This can be reused to power the SEO title, ensuring consistency and efficiency.
• Subheadline
• Author
• Body

These fields can be easily configured and reused, providing a flexible and modular approach to content management.

Reusable Content with BCMS Widgets

In addition to the structured fields in templates, BCMS allows for rich customization within the content area of entries. The system's enhancements, such as widgets, offer further modularity.

Widgets: Widgets like CTA, images, or galleries can be embedded within the content area as "single-use" assets or created as "reusable" assets. This means that any other editor can find and reuse a specific widget in future content.

For example*,* a call-to-action button can be created once as a widget and used across multiple pages, not just within a single blog post.

This modular approach ensures that content elements are not only consistent but also easily accessible for reuse, promoting efficiency and coherence across your content.

Learn more: BCMS Widgets - Reusable structured content

Modular Content example in BCMS

Here's a practical example of how BCMS templates enable modular content:

Article Template:

• Headline: Automatically reused as the SEO title.
• Subheadline: Provides additional context and can be reused across multiple articles.
• Author: Ensures consistent attribution across content.
• Body: Rich text area where enhancements (widgets) can be embedded.

Enhancements within the body:

Reusable Widgets: Embed social media posts, images, or galleries as widgets within the body. These widgets can be created as reusable assets, allowing other editors to find and use them in future content.

By using templates and widgets, BCMS facilitates a modular content approach, enabling efficient content handling.

For more detailed information on each feature, refer to the BCMS documentation.