Contentful Implementation Pitfalls: How to Avoid Common Mistakes

Contentful is a popular headless CMS that allows you to manage content separately from the presentation layer. This decoupled approach provides more flexibility and enables omnichannel content delivery. However, implementing Contentful can be tricky if you don't know some of the common pitfalls to avoid. In this post, I'll share some best practices to help your Contentful implementation go more smoothly.

Not Planning Your Content Model Thoroughly

One of the biggest mistakes is not properly planning out your content model upfront. Your content model is the structure and organization of how content types relate to each other.

Without thoughtful information architecture, you may end up having to rework significant portions of your model later on. This can mean going back to update templates, entries, and other connected systems.

Take the time early on to map out your content domains, entry types, and fields. Think through exactly what content you need to manage and how it naturally relates. Doing so will save you hassles down the road.

Not Considering Localization from the Start

Localization is easier to build into your Contentful implementation from the beginning instead of bolting it on later.

Consider whether you will need to support multiple languages or regional variants of content. Factor this into your content modeling, workflows, and entry creation right away.

If you only consider localization as an afterthought, you are likely to end up having to re-architect significant parts of your Contentful setup.

Not Setting Up Collaboration Workflows

Contentful provides collaboration features like drafts, permissions, and workflows out of the box. However, many teams do not take full advantage of these capabilities when working with Contentful.

Clearly define your editorial workflow including roles, steps in the content lifecycle, and review/approval procedures. Set up custom roles and permissions in Contentful to match your workflow needs.

Having a streamlined collaboration process will improve efficiency and let you track changes. Don't ignore the workflow features as getting alignment later can be difficult.

Trying to Recreate Existing Systems

Some teams go into Contentful trying to recreate all the exact functionality of another CMS or system. While you may gain some familiarity this way, you end up losing many of the benefits of Contentful.

Embrace the headless and API-first nature of the platform instead of trying to shape it into something familiar. Be willing to question existing assumptions and processes to take advantage of Contentful's flexibility.

Avoid over-customization like building complex workflows on the client side. Make sure to use native Contentful features where possible before extending functionality yourself.

Not Budgeting for Custom Development

While Contentful handles a lot out of the box, most projects will require at least some customization whether front or backend. However, teams often underestimate how much effort this takes.

Make sure to properly budget and plan for any custom components, integrations, or extensions you will need for your Contentful project. This may include React components, custom widgets, backend services, or data migrations.

Not accounting for integration needs is one of the most common budget pitfalls with Contentful. Building in buffer for unexpected customizations will also help prevent later scope creep.

The key is avoiding these common pitfalls upfront. Planning your content model thoughtfully, embracing localization and collaboration features, avoiding over-customization, and budgeting for integration needs will help your Contentful rollout go much more smoothly and prevent significant rework.