Why our Jamstack developers like Storyblok - Part two

The Benefits of Using Storyblok in Jamstack Projects

Before you keep going, make sure you already read the first part in which we analyze the benefits of using Jamstack!

We’re Naturaily, a Jamstack & headless eCommerce agency, that loves to work with Storyblok. Here’s why!

Our Jamstack developers have found Storyblok to be an exceptional tool that made their work quite comfortable and efficient. The developer experience is definitely a pro – we simply love using tools we like to work with and it’s always an important factor. Yet, it’s not the only argument we take into consideration when starting a web development project.

At Naturaily, we don’t create websites just for our pleasure – we do it because we want to deliver a platform that makes content management easier, with drastically improved website performance at the same time. We’re focused on the real value that can be delivered to the client.

If there’s a tool that applies to both developer experience and business value, why not go for it?

Let’s now take a look at the list!

Providing perfect experience for clients with the Visual Editor

Storyblok offers a unique solution with its visual editor and real-time in-context preview.

When well-implemented by developers, Storyblok can serve as a page builder. It means users can store, create, manage, and edit content according to their needs within the Visual Editor. With a few clicks. In the headless CMS world, it’s a game-changer!

Furthermore, the content can be delivered to any device. This powerful feature enables content creators and marketers to propose engaging omnichannel experiences without requiring coding skills.

Marketers can add simple changes without much developer assistance, saving time and effort and making cooperation between marketing and IT departments easier and smoother.

Intuitiveness of the Tool

Our developers are also happy with Storyblok’s Visual Editor for another reason.

One of the greatest challenges we sometimes face is tackling proper and unbiased communication between developers and non-technical people.
At Naturaily, we always do our best to facilitate the communication aspect. The interface of Storyblok makes it easier for our developers to communicate project needs, requirements, or challenges to clients who can simply see everything in an intuitive environment.

Also, clients acknowledge Storyblok’s approach to content structure, content types, or components’ composition. There are less abstract notions (like the need to understand the content databases’ types), and more practical implementations (like you simply create and use the components to apply designs).

Component-based approach & multi-layer components flexibility

We love giving our clients as much flexibility as we can. Storyblok fully supports the atomic design approach, which allows content creators to reuse and edit their well-structured, component-based content and design elements.

This is a common feature in headless CMSs but what’s distinctive about Storyblok’s approach is there are absolutely no limits to the number of embedded component levels allowed. 

This multi-layer component-based approach allows for flexible changing of components and creating multiple variations, which gives content marketers great freedom to build and design the pages.

Nesting components without limitations

Marketers can create and nest components without limits, fill them with content and customize them as needed. This means you can identify similar sections and break them down into smaller parts, to the smallest unit (e.g. headline or image), which you can reuse across templates and types of pages. Essentially, you create a toolbox of elements that can be used to create endless variations via the visual editor.

It means less work during the maintenance phase and streamlined cooperation between marketing and development teams. 

Broad extendibility thanks to several plugins and integrations

Another reason why we like Storyblok is because of its broad extendibility. Storyblok offers a vast array of extensions that can be used to enhance the functionality and design of Jamstack websites. With three different types of plugins, developers can add new tools to the Visual e

Editor, create new content types, and even develop custom applications that integrate with other services.

Tool Plugins are a great way to improve productivity and make working with the visual editor more efficient.
Field-Type Plugins, on the other hand, add new content types, such as Google Maps locations or video players. This allows for more varied and diverse content, which can be important for certain websites.

Finally, Custom Applications are the most extensive of all plugin types, allowing developers to create fully custom functionality and integrations with other services. This is a great option if you need to extend Storyblok with complex functionality, such as a custom dashboard.

These plugins allow developers to integrate any third-party platforms, build custom applications within Storyblok, deliver custom content structures via the API, and enhance the editor experience.

Helping teams with infrastructure setup

You can’t create any website without safe, predictable, and reliable IT infrastructure. Its proper configuration is an important aspect of assuring the continuity of the website’s presence. It always takes time and effort to do it properly.

Being a cloud-based solution, Storyblok cuts off this responsibility from our developers’ backs, leading to lowering the time needed to configure the environment and, ultimately, finish the project. It also streamlines the work of a distributed development team, in which tasks are done simultaneously by a few members.

Component assets cached on Content Delivery Networks

Additionally, Storyblok handles database configuration and component assets like images and videos, which are cached on a CDN (Content Delivery Network). This gives another great plus: websites are way more rapid than in the case of those hosted on traditional single-located servers.

Full Jamstack compatibility

We developed dozens of Jamstack projects and tested out many headless CMSs during the discovery phase. It’s only natural for our developers to have compared them, and come to the following conclusion: Storyblok is perfectly fitted for Jamstack projects.

It was made to be Jamstack-ready as it works perfectly with all the powerful JavaScript frameworks and libraries like Next.js, Vue.js, and Gatsby.js that fuel up the websites’ front ends and allow for pixel-perfect customization of the website’s visual layer.

Storyblok is suitable for revolutionary ways of building websites, like Incremental Static Regeneration in Next or Deferred Static Generation in Gatsby. Both are examples of hybrid page rendering that allow for rapid speed of statically generated sites and smooth interaction offered by handling the client and connecting to the server on demand.

It ultimately leads to amazingly better performance and, consequently, better SEO strategy implementation.

What’s also important for developers, the Storyblok team prepared nice guides and tutorials for developing websites and apps with the use of Storyblok’s API and typical Jamstack frameworks.

Build Great Websites with Storyblok & Naturaily

Each of the benefits above already gives great value separately.

But if you combine them, Storyblok becomes definitely one of the best headless CMSs out there to use in various Jamstack projects – and that’s why we at Naturaily happily recommend it to clients.

One thing to remember: to fully benefit from Storyblok in the Jamstack approach, you’ll need to develop your website properly, and being a Certified Storyblok Partner, we can definitely help you out!