Headless WordPress Architecture
We rebuilt thelan.gr as a decoupled architecture — WordPress as a headless CMS, Next.js as the frontend, hosted on Vercel. This is a working case study of the stack we recommend to clients, built and maintained by us in production.
Decoupled Architecture
Multilingual
Vercel Hosted
The Challenge
Modern Performance Without Abandoning WordPress
We wanted a frontend that delivered sub-second load times and top Core Web Vitals scores — without giving up WordPress as a content management backend that's familiar and flexible. The challenge was decoupling the two cleanly, with particular complexity around multilingual routing and contact form handling in a stateless architecture.
- Multilingual routing with WPML in a decoupled context
- Contact form handling without native WordPress form plugins
- Two separate deployment environments requiring coordinated releases
- Maintaining WordPress editorial workflow while serving a Next.js frontend
Our Approach
WordPress as an API, Next.js as the Experience Layer
WordPress serves content exclusively via the REST API and GraphQL — editors work in the familiar WP admin, while the Next.js frontend handles all rendering, routing, and performance optimisation. The frontend is deployed independently to Vercel, with environment variables managing the connection between the two layers.
- Multilingual routing handled at the Next.js layer
- Contact forms handled via API endpoint — no WordPress form plugins
- Independent deployments — WP changes don't require a frontend rebuild
Technology Stack
Built with the same modern stack we recommend to clients.
Next.js
WordPress
Vercel
REST API