Monolithic CMS architecture has been the standard for years, but companies are now looking for increased security, performance and scalability provided by a headless CMS. Should you adopt this new approach to content management? Or stick with a monolithic system? Let’s dive right in and find out.

So, what is a headless cms? Well, the “head” relates to where your content ends up, and the “body” is where your content is stored and authored. A headless CMS is a type of content management system that provides an alternative to authoring content over a traditional monolithic CMS, the CMS or “body” is decoupled from the presentation layer “head”. Content that is stored in a headless CMS is delivered via APIs and can be displayed across different devices simultaneously. 

A monolithic or traditional CMS has to be self managed, or managed on a server environment. These sort of systems are called monolithic as they pack everything into a single system and only have one context for presenting content, this is usually a webpage; for example, a “What You See Is What You Get” type of interface. 

A Headless CMS can have content displayed across multiple devices and platforms at once, without the functionality and assumptions for how you want to work into a single system; giving you more freedom of choice.

There are so many benefits to choosing a Headless CMS over monolithic, here are a few:

The presentation layer is separated from the content meaning developer tools can be changed at any time, and benefit from sending your content to high-performance cloud-based hosting and build services like Vercel.

As mentioned above, your content is completely separate from the presentation layer so it’s a much smaller area of attack.

As a headless CMS doesn’t come bundled with unnecessary features or a requirement for plugins to do the most simple task, so it’s considerably faster than a monolithic CMS. Another added benefit to headless is the ability to create statically generated websites, meaning all the pages are created at build time; no database requests for visitors!

It's not very well known that Google uses page speed as a ranking factor for both desktop and mobile searches. 

Using the Google PageSpeed Insights tool you can test your website against many parameters including: 

The benefit of using headless CMS is that it would be hard not to score high with page speed providing the code structure and images are optimised correctly. 

Using our own website as an example, with Prismic for content management and React on the front end, our website loads super fast especially as our site is quite image-heavy. 

As content from a headless CMS is served over APIs, developers are not limited to what front end they can use. You can also change stacks completely without affecting the CMS. 


Headless CMSs are best used for websites and web apps, they integrate seamlessly with static-site generators like Gatsby and Next. Headless can also be implemented with eCommerce sites, for example, it’s possible to integrate headless content with Shopify, WooCommerce or SAP Hybris.

Conclusion - should you be using a headless CMS?

So, should you be using a headless CMS? Well, it depends on your project requirements. We’ve found that most websites can use a headless CMS over their current monolithic system, and the results are night and day; we even built our own website this way using Prismic as the CMS, speed, performance and content editing has improved immensely compared to our previous website using WordPress.

If you’re interested in using a headless CMS for your website? Set up a chat with our team today!

A headless CMS is a content management system that organises and manages content without a connected front end, this massively helps improve performance, security and scalability. 

Headless CMS, What is it and should I use it? - Folifi

Headless CMS: What is it and should my business use it? 

CCS Group is a commercial cleaning company focusing on the catering, medical and construction sectors. We provided marketing support, website development and lead generation to take their growth to the next level.

Grow online enquiries through various advertising campaigns.

Due to the number of specialist services that Cater-Clean Solutions provide, we decided to restructure the company into 3 sections, catering & food production, medical & emergency and construction cleaning. This meant we were required to create a sub-brand for each company along with its own website, along with the umbrella brand 'CCS Group'.

This enabled us to create more effective advertising campaigns which would have a higher conversion rate due to each brand being specialists in their own sector.

Our team undertook thorough competitor analysis testing cleaning business websites across a range of different browsers and devices. We then created an outline of the information we wish to present on each page and what key components and functionality will be required. We then presented wireframes for the new websites and group website and once these were approved we created the design for the homepage and internal pages.  

We created a WordPress Multisite network which is a version of WordPress that allows you to run multiple sites off a single installation of WordPress. This allowed us and the client to manage the content plugins and core theme files from a single login. 

We created ad group-specific landing pages with a strong CTA focus, such as positioning forms above the fold, clear contact and call buttons. This increased conversion rates across all ad groups which we ran to each specific service. In total there were 13 landing pages created. 

Prior to working with Folifi CCS Group had tried running Google ad campaigns before but were not seeing a positive ROI. Having a poor account structure, lack of negative keywords and uncontrolled bidding strategy can cost businesses money on irrelevant clicks especially cleaning businesses. 

We first installed conversion tracking across all 4 websites this way we can tracking which ads are leading to contract form submissions, phone calls or call back requests. This also helped us optimise the campaigns by split testing, turning off non-performing keywords and increasing budget in ones that were performing.

We worked on a series of Facebook interest targeting, lookalike and retargeting campaigns for the kitchen extract cleaning side of the business, using well-designed graphics, Facebook built-in lead forms and our conversion landing pages we were able to bring in a high-quality number of leads. 

They have played a pivotal role in the design, build and rollout of the new websites and brand image as well as offering comprehensive back-office support and lead generation.

A large increase in sales pipeline throughout the UK

Sector diversification providing further income streams

CCS Group is a commercial cleaning company focusing on the catering, medical and construction sectors. See how we increased CCS Groups revenue with expert cleaning business marketing.

Cleaning Business Marketing - CCS Group | Folifi

Cleaning Business Marketing for CCS Group

At Folifi we’re constantly helping companies increase their revenue. One of the first objectives we complete with a new client through our PPC & Display Service is to update their website to enhance user experience and increase conversions.

Below are four things your business can benefit from to improve website conversion rates.

No one wants to land on a web page and be presented with a wall of text. To keep users attention, it’s important to look for ways to break up the text in a functional yet aesthetically pleasing manner. This can be done with the use of images, formatting bullet points, titles, and subheadings. 

Websites gain more authority when they reach and impact users. Algorithms measure the engagement of visitors through how long they spend on your website, how often they visit, and which pages are visited most frequently. It’s critical to provide users with a great experience whilst they browse your web pages. It should be easy for users to navigate, read, and most importantly contact you.

Make sure to consistently test all contact points to ensure areas such as chatbots, pop-up offers, and positions of contact forms are working!

Originally websites were designed for a desktop computer without considering display performance on mobile. Smartphones and tablets now account for over half of all Internet traffic, if you’ve set up google analytics you’ll be able to see this growing trend in mobile search.

This is why websites today have an optimised user experience for mobile as well as desktop. This could simply mean increasing readability, considering responsive design, and optimising all the visual elements for faster load times.

If nobody clicks on your call-to-action phrases and buttons, you don’t produce any leads, nor do you generate any revenue. How you shape and use your CTA has a huge impact on how you get results, visitors should never have to think twice about what to do next.

One of the first objectives we complete with a new client through our PPC & Display Service is to discover ways to improve conversion rates across their website.

4 Ways to Improve Website Conversion Rates.

4 Ways to Improve Website Conversion Rates

WordPress powers more than a third of the internet, an impressive statistic when you consider that there are over 1.8 billion live sites as of today. Whilst impressive, it is also somewhat concerning as it means it is far more likely to be exploited.

According to a report on website hack trends published by the security company Sucari, a staggering 90% of all CMS hacks happen to WordPress sites.

According to the report, the leading cause of exploitation was down to “component vulnerabilities” like themes, plugins and extensions that had not been updated; other factors such as a lack of overall security maintenance also played a large part.

If you’re using eCommerce functionality you might want to check up on your site, the report found that eCommerce sites are notorious for not updating their plugins and themes because of the website downtime associated with these updates.

Ecommerce sites are targeted the most due to the valuable data they collect and the more extensions that are needed to support such functionality. The more plugins an eCommerce site has, the more opportunity there is for hackers.

39% of WordPress sites were running out of date core software at the time of an attack, so right away you can see a correlation between getting hacked and using an outdated core.

WordPress as a CMS is not vulnerable, it’s the decisions developers and site owners take that make it vulnerable. Overusing plugins that bloat a site making it difficult to manage, not updating to the latest core, and not updating themes and plugins when a threat is identified; these are a few examples of how a WordPress site is exposed to a possible attack.

There are many different ways a hacker can gain access to your site. According to a survey conducted by leading security plugin Wordfence, the top four reasons for vulnerability were:

Plugin - 55% of hacked sites were plugin related.

Brute Force - 16% of hacked sites were due to a brute force attack (weak password).

Core - 5% of hacked sites were due to an outdated core.

Theme - 4% of hacked sites were theme related.

Those are how the hackers gain access, but what do they do when they have access? According to the guys and gals at Sucuri, this is how:

SEO Spam. Hackers target highly ranked website’s SEO to monetise via affiliate marketing, one of the most vulnerable plugins is the popular SEO plugin Yoast.

Malware. One of the most popular forms of exploitation, malware is browser-side code that creates drive-by downloads on your site and was found in over 50% of vulnerable WordPress sites.

Backdoor attacks. These attacks happen when files are used to reinfect a site to retain access.

While there is no way you can make your website 100% secure, there are a few things you can do to help mitigate against the chance of an attack.

Use a super strong password and change it every so often. If you're running a high traffic site, an eCommerce site, or a site with a lot of functionality then we recommend you change it every month. Use a password that has at least 16 characters, use at least one number, one uppercase letter, one lowercase letter and one special symbol.

Install an SSL certificate on your site. An SSL certificate used to encrypt all communication between your website and server. Encrypting this data makes it much harder to intercept and will result in a more secure site, it also benefits your SEO!

Only use plugins and extensions from reputable developers that offer support, and only use plugins if you have to! If you have to use a plugin, be sure to use them from reputable developers with good reviews and a solid record of updates and support.

Keep plugins and themes up to date, but don't set them to auto-update. As outdated plugins are the most common cause of exploitation, you must be sure to keep them up to date as often as you can. Don't just set them to auto-update and think you're good to go, if a plugin is updated that hasn't been thoroughly tested it could end up breaking your site; we've fixed many that this has happened to!

Want to avoid 90% of all hacks & secure your site?

In this article we've covered a few reports from Sucuri and Wordfence, learning that the leading cause of CMS infections is plugin and theme vulnerabilities, followed by misconfiguration and poor security protocols.

If you're ready to take your WordPress website security seriously, it's time to find someone who can manage it 24/7 so you can focus on your business.

As a website owner you will constantly have to find out about new vulnerabilities, make sure everything is updated safely so the site doesn't conflict at the time of an update (believe me, it happens!), consistently monitor all activity, and learn about how to mitigate against attacks. It's tiring, you won't have the time for it and it will lead to vulnerabilities that leave you and your customers at risk.

At Folifi, we manage hundreds of WordPress websites every single day, preventing attacks and securing sites is our forte. Whether you have an eCommerce site or a small blog, your site can and will be attacked at one point or another. Using Folifi as your WordPress Support provider is the safer and more cost-effective choice.

Don’t leave the security of your WordPress site up to chance, get in touch with us today!

90% Of All Hacks Happen to WordPress Sites

This year Google announced another change by eliminating broad modified match type, this is another significant step towards keyword management defaulting to automation. Although it may seem like a big change broad match modified is now being applied to the updated phrase match as the graphic shows below.

To get the best results from your Google Ads campaigns, it’s important to have the right campaign set up for the product or service you are trying to sell. It’s also critical to ensure your campaign type matches the budget you have set aside for your marketing efforts.

Pretty much every time a customer comes to us for help with their campaigns we see the same mistakes over and over again which is not only costing them money but potential revenue as well. So here are a few tips on how to pick the right strategy for your business.

Choosing the best Google Ads bidding strategy for your campaigns is not always an easy decision especially if you don’t have experience using Google Ads. From the outset, it’s important to define the objectives for your campaign.

For example, if you’re a plumber you may have a PPC campaign for boiler and heating installation, you could also have a campaign for brand protection where you’re bidding on your brands’ keywords.

Going back to the plumbing example, you’re a plumber and you want your phone to ring or for customers to complete a contact form. This leaves three bidding strategies.

The key to smart bidding campaigns is you need volume if your campaign is restricted by budget or you’re only getting a few conversions a day. Smart bidding won’t work as Google needs data volume to make good decisions in order to optimise and automate your campaigns. That’s why Manual CPC is always a good start. 

So what do you pick if you’re not budget-restricted or are generating enough conversions for Google to optimise your bidding strategy?

Target CPA gives you more comfort due to the ability to set a target cost per acquisition – in terms of how much you are willing to pay per lead giving you control and flexibility to make sure your leads come in at a certain price. 

But say you’re a business such as a call centre with no budget restrictions and need the phones to be ringing then maximise conversions could be better for you. Google will optimise your campaign to find the maximum conversions for your budget which can make it more expensive per conversion but your overall conversion volume should be higher.

For a sales strategy, manual CPC is used in the same way that I’ve described in the lead strategy. 

If your budget is fixed and you want to ensure you don’t go outside of your fixed budget then Target ROAS is the best strategy for you.

Maximise conversion requires a lot of conversion data to be optimised efficiently for your campaign – meaning if you have the data and are not restricted on budget giving google free reign to optimise your campaigns could be the best option. 

What we tend to do with our clients is start the campaigns on a fixed target advertising spend and as we generate conversion data is to run split experiments to see what Google can do with the data. 

To ensure a certain amount of impressions and to maximise impression share for your brand’s terms. Then target impression share could be quite useful.

Another example is some breaking news within your niche and you want to capitalise from people looking for this story you can then bid on this particular term to generate traffic. 

Choosing the right bidding strategy isn't easy. With many options to pick from it can be quite overwhelming for users new to the platform. Before selecting your bidding strategy make sure to assess your campaign goals, this will make it easier in picking which setup to go for. 

To get the best results from your Google Ads campaigns, it’s important to have the right campaign set up for the product or service you are trying to sell. Find out How to Pick the Right Bidding Strategy for Google Ads.

How to Pick the Right Bidding Strategy for Google Ads

As you've probably noticed over the past year, chat widgets seem to be popping up on websites all over the place and for good reason.

Over half of consumers are more likely to purchase from a company that offers live chat support.

So good news, we've got a list of our favourite WordPress chat plugins ready to install on your website.

We like Tidio's friendly user feel, optional chatbots, desktop and phone application making replying to customers easy no matter where you are. Tidio also offers a generous free version which makes it great for businesses who are just getting started.

Tidio can easily be installed using the WordPress plugin and then follow the steps from there to create an account.

Easy to customise chat widget to fit your brand

Cost: Tidio split their costing depending on which feature you require such as chatbots, communication and email marketing. Each start at €18 with the email marketing starting at €10.

Drift offers sales teams with an easy to use chat feature along with the high tier plans providing optional chatbots, meeting schedules, and a unique client prospector. Drift aims at established businesses with a higher amount of website traffic.

Cost: Drift offers a free tier for the "basic" chat feature. For the unique features, plans start from $40 a month.

What Zendesk does well is the integration of the live chat with their sales CRM, meaning the sales team can switch easily between the other tools on their platform. 

If you're looking for something a bit more advanced, this is good to try.

Cost: Zendesk starts at $14 for just the basic chat feature and some trigger options. For the full support suite, this starts at $89 per user.

Probably the most aesthetically pleasing out of our list of WordPress chat plugins. Intercom is packed with features to help you get the most out of conversational messaging. Technically, Intercom takes some playing about with but once integrated it can significantly help your business capture lead data, generate sales, and provide support to your customers.

Cost: Starting at $39 for the basic plan. To get access to all the features, this could cost $100+/month.

If you want to test a chat widget on your website, Jivo chat offers a basic free version. The Pro tier's priced at $13 a month. Jivo chat offers a range of features and isn't exactly expensive which makes it a great option for small businesses.

Cost: Jivochat has a basic free version with the professional being a reasonable $13.

Crisp is a simple well-designed chat plugin that offers a bunch of other sales features. A well built CRM, chatbots and email campaigns make it the perfect tool to start with. We also really like the visitor location map.

Cost: Crisp offers a basic free version with just their chat feature. On the pro plan at $25, you can get access to more features such as chatbots, Slack and Facebook integration, email and more customisation options.

Are you looking for a native WordPress plugin? Support Board is accessible right in the WordPress dashboard that you can also link to Slack and reply from there.

Cost: The benefit of "Support Board" is that it comes with a one-time fee, so you only have to pay $59 once instead of a recurring monthly fee most live chat plugins charge.

So, which of these WordPress chat plugins is best for you?

As there are quite a lot to choose from we will split these into three categories.

If you're on a budget then we'd say give Tidio a try, you'll get a free trial with chatbots so you can then decide if this would be worth an investment depending on how it works for your business. The other alternative is Crisp's free plan for limited chat support. We like their simple design which makes setting up relatively easy.

If you want something with more features to engage your customers, then Drift, Tidio or Crisp (paid plans) are probably the best options.

Finally, if you have a dedicated sales team and need to implement chatbots, a CRM and more advanced features, then Zendesk or Intercom is worth a try.

A major part of improving lead generation is staying on top of your WordPress performance and SEO. At Folifi, we offer performance services that streamline these tasks for you so it’s never a concern.

See our list of our favourite website chat plugins ready to install on your website.

Improve your organic growth locally and nationwide.

Your potential customers are always searching online, but are they finding you? With more search features than ever, including maps, knowledge panes, PAAs, hotel booking forms, carousels and rich snippets; knowing how to optimise your site for organic search is a minefield.

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A Leading Supplier in Hygienic Walls and Ceiling Linings.

The most cost effective way to win online is through an effective organic search engine optimisation strategy.

Organic growth provides lasting and more stable results, it should not be neglected. With relevant and quality content, organic SEO will generate more clicks and ultimately, more customers.

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Not just a pretty face, our bespoke websites are designed with functionality in mind that delivers results.

We use well-esteemed development software and technologies to build successful products from scratch or increase the performance of an existing one. With the right technology solutions, we build a secure, stable platform that delivers exceptional user experience to a client and their customers.

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We’re committed to using industry leading tools and technologies to create meaningful products for our clients. By being mindful at every step, we climb the slope of progress.

The pursuit of constant improvement becomes reality through a rich toolkit of design systems that we have used for mobile apps, web platforms and embedded systems.

With the latest technologies alongside high quality coding standards, we craft memorable website experiences that transform perception, strengthen bonds, and drive change.

Headless Website Development Agency | Folifi

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The design team to make your website stand out on the market.

User Interface Design (or UI Design for short) is the visual style and layout of the various elements that make up what a user can see on a screen at a given moment. This can be anything from a website, a mobile app, the screen of an ATM, or a complex medical device.

The goal of a user interface is not only aesthetic but also functional. It must be created with all the key use cases in mind, and avoid the typical clutter that one often expects.

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Always human-centred, our UI/UX design team weave user needs and business goals into effortless, effective interfaces.

Having built websites for more than 10 years, our team understands that multi-device design, and a clear interface, is key to a unique user experience.

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Make your product stand out on the market.

We have a proven track record in bespoke PPC search & display campaigns delivering monthly increases in leads and sales. Strategic PPC campaigns provide the perfect opportunity for more traffic, leads and customers instantly. With the right campaign and website setup, you could be generating customers and a positive ROAS in no time.

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Running paid traffic successfully takes a multi-faceted approach. At the core, paid traffic requires knowing your numbers, but also takes strategy, creativity, and a high level of knowledge of the ad platform.

We have a proven track record in bespoke PPC search & display campaigns delivering monthly increases in leads and sales.

Our expert marketing team have a proven track record in bespoke PPC search & display campaigns delivering monthly increases in leads and sales.

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News

Headless CMS: What is it and should my business use it?

Cleaning Business Marketing for CCS Group

4 Ways to Improve Website Conversion Rates

90% Of All Hacks Happen to WordPress Sites

How to Pick the Right Bidding Strategy for Google Ads

Top 7 Website Chat Plugins 2021

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