As aspiring developers, an exceptional portfolio website is our gateway to leaving a lasting impression on potential employers. This site is built with a combination of headless CMS and Next.js. Today, I will discuss how this approach can enhance our portfolio sites and showcase our skills in the job market.

What is a Headless CMS and why is it popular?

A Headless CMS is a content management solution that decouples the content creation and storage from its presentation layer(the “head”), allowing content to be used seamlessly across different platforms. This separation provides numerous benefits, including increased flexibility, faster and easier content distribution, and enhanced performance.

In 2024, Headless CMS has gained significant popularity. This system enables administrators and creators to manage content seamlessly through a user-friendly dedicated back-end, freeing them from front-end design considerations. It's the go-to solution for companies aiming to deliver uniform and captivating content across diverse channels and devices.

Now let’s pair Headless CMS with Next.js

Next.js, a React framework, stands out for its built-in support for Server-Side Rendering (SSR), a feature that significantly enhances website performance. SSR accomplishes this by pre-rendering pages on the server, serving static HTML to the client. This not only leads to faster page load times but also boosts SEO rankings, ensuring better visibility in search engine results.

If you're looking to create a portfolio website, then integrating SSR with the flexibility of a headless CMS is a great way to ensure a fast and optimized user experience right from the start. And the best part? Improved SEO, thanks to SSR, can help boost your online visibility and attract potential clients or employers.

In addition, using a Headless CMS, we can quickly update and modify our portfolio as it grows. This means we can spend more time improving the website's features and making it more enjoyable for our users, without worrying about maintenance issues.

How might this help us in our careers?

With Next.js and a Headless CMS, our portfolio not only showcases our projects and skills – it also highlights our knack for embracing modern web development practices.

Here's the rundown:

• We're proficient at using cutting-edge web development stacks to craft dynamic and high-performance websites.

• Seamlessly integrating diverse content types into web applications? No sweat.

• React expertise? Yep, we've got that covered too.

• When it comes to SEO optimization, we know how to make our sites shine in search engine results.

But that's not all! This combo isn't just about tech prowess – it's also about streamlining our freelance web development workflow. Picture this:

• Clients can easily manage and update content without needing technical know-how.

• With streamlined content approval and an agile development approach, collaboration is smooth sailing.

So, we're not only building awesome websites but also setting the stage for a more efficient freelance experience.

Here’s what I did

I created this site using Next.js, with my content managed by Storyblok, a user-friendly and robust headless CMS. Adapting to the setup took me some time, particularly getting accustomed to the structure both in Storyblok's backend data and Next.js's file organization. As a beginner, I often questioned whether I was adhering to best practices.

If you're ready to dive in, Vercel offers a helpful repository to kickstart your journey. Keep in mind that this example utilizes Pages Router. If you're using App Router, you may encounter some methods that aren't applicable.

Have fun fetching!