Services

Headless CMS Integration and Operational Debugging for Next.js

Start here when the overall headless architecture is already set, but preview, revalidation, or editor workflows are now the part causing release friction.

Choose the right CMS operations fix when preview, freshness, or editorial performance has stopped being trustworthy.

Common situations

  • Broken preview and draft‑mode behaviour for editors.
  • Stale content, failing webhook triggers, or unreliable cache invalidation.
  • Slow or fragile editorial experiences in Contentful and similar stacks.

Choose the operational content problem that matches the current CMS setup.

Choose the closest scenario

  1. Scenario

    Next.js Draft Mode Preview Fix

    Restore reliable draft mode and CMS preview flows so editors can review unpublished content without fighting cookies, auth, or iframe failures.

  2. Scenario

    Headless CMS SEO Gaps

    Fix the missing metadata, canonicals, sitemaps, schema, and internal‑link controls that often get left out of a headless CMS build.

Related consulting support

  1. Capability

    Headless Architecture Consulting

    Bring in headless CMS consulting when CMS architecture, SEO controls, preview trust, or revalidation decisions are about to lock in operational pain.

  2. Capability

    Technical SEO for JavaScript Applications

    Bring in engineering‑led SEO help when Google is not indexing important JavaScript pages because rendering, crawlability, metadata, or migration changes are getting in the way.

  3. Capability

    Next.js Platform Consulting

    Bring in senior Next.js architecture support when a legacy platform, older front end, or hard‑to‑maintain site needs migration planning, platform rescue, and clearer delivery direction.

Related project experience

  1. Nando’s

    Senior software engineer on the UK and Ireland replatform, migrating Nando’s customer‑facing websites from legacy Drupal to a unified headless platform built with Next.js and Storyblok, with a focus on performance, accessibility, and SEO.

    Screenshot of the Nando’s website; part of John Kavanagh's development portfolio.

  2. IMG
    Licensing

    An all‑new identity and website. Making careful use of their extensive library of client imagery, this was a ground‑up build using Gatsby, Contentful, and Netlify for this world‑leading licensing company.

    Screenshot of the IMG Licensing website; part of John Kavanagh's development portfolio.

  3. Red
    Central

    A bold, media‑led website to bring the passion and personality of this digital design studio online. Built using Gatsby, TypeScript, GraphQL, and Contentful.

    Screenshot of the Red Central website; part of John Kavanagh's development portfolio.

  4. ToyBoxX

    'The Jewel of the North', ToyBoxX is a hyper‑creative recording studio that needed a hyper‑creative website to attract talent to their state‑of‑the‑art recording facility.

    Screenshot of the ToyBoxX website; part of John Kavanagh's development portfolio.

  5. Wreel
    Agency

    Technical director and lead developer for this digital‑centric design agency. A vibrant, animated, and engaging website developed using Gatsby, React, TypeScript, and Contentful.

    Screenshot of the Wreel Agency website; part of John Kavanagh's development portfolio.

Supporting technical articles

  • Building a Headless CMS-Powered Site with Next.js

    01 September 2025

    Build a headless CMS-powered Next.js site with stronger content modelling, preview support, and data boundaries that scale well.

  • Preview Mode in Next.js with a Headless CMS

    15 March 2021

    Preview Mode in Next.js explained with a headless CMS, draft content workflows, preview cookies, and how editors can see unpublished pages safely.

  • All about headless CMSes

    24 October 2021

    Websites have not been set-and-forget for a long time now, and without the technical know-how to update a static site, CMSes are a key part of web development.

Send me the details

Send me the affected page or route, point me at the code if that helps, and tell me what you expected to happen versus what is happening now. If this connects to a Next.js migration, technical SEO drop, performance issue, launch, or platform move, include that context too. I'll come back with the clearest next step.

Send the details
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