How to Create a Headless WordPress Site With React.js

Introduction

In today’s fast-paced web development world, combining the robust content management power of WordPress with the flexibility and speed of React.js offers the best of both worlds. This approach, known as headless WordPress, separates the frontend and backend, giving developers complete control over the website’s look, feel, and performance.

In this guide, you’ll learn how to create a modern headless WordPress site using React.js – step by step.

🧠 What Is a Headless WordPress Site?

A headless CMS means the content management (WordPress) is “decoupled” from the frontend. You manage your content in WordPress, but use a separate frontend framework like React.js to display it using APIs.

🔑 Key Benefits:

Blazing-fast performance
Fully customizable frontend
Better developer experience
Scalable and future-proof architecture

🛠️ Prerequisites

Before you start, ensure you have:

A WordPress site set up (self-hosted or local)
Node.js and npm installed
Basic knowledge of React.js
Code editor like VS Code

Step 1: Set Up WordPress Backend

Install WordPress and ensure the REST API is enabled by default. Optionally, install these helpful plugins:

Advanced Custom Fields (ACF) – for custom content
WPGraphQL – if using GraphQL instead of REST
CORS plugin – to avoid cross-origin issues

Get Blog Posts via REST API:

Step 2: Create Your React Frontend

Initialize the React App:

Step 3: Fetch WordPress Data in React

Use the REST API to get your blog posts:

import React, { useEffect, useState } from "react";

function Blog() {
const [posts, setPosts] = useState([]);

useEffect(() => {
fetch(“https://yourdomain.com/wp-json/wp/v2/posts”)
.then((res) => res.json())
.then((data) => setPosts(data));
}, []);

return (
<div>
<h1>Latest Posts</h1>
{posts.map((post) => (
<div key={post.id}>
<h2 dangerouslySetInnerHTML={{ __html: post.title.rendered }} />
<div dangerouslySetInnerHTML={{ __html: post.excerpt.rendered }} />
</div>
))}
</div>
);
}

export default Blog;

Step 4: Display Full Post Details

You can display a single post using React Router or dynamic routing if using Next.js.

Example:

Step 5: Optional – Use GraphQL (Advanced)

Install WPGraphQL and query your WordPress backend with more precision:

Use Apollo Client in React to make GraphQL queries.

Step 6: Style and Optimize the Frontend

Use frameworks like Tailwind CSS or Bootstrap
Implement lazy loading and image optimization
Use Helmet for meta tags and SEO

Step 7: Deploy

Frontend: Deploy your React app on Vercel, Netlify, or GitHub Pages
Backend: Host WordPress on Hostinger, SiteGround, or any PHP-supported server

🚦 Tips for a Production-Ready Site

Use caching and CDN (e.g., Cloudflare)
Secure API endpoints
Handle pagination, categories, and tags
Enable SSL (HTTPS)

✅ Final Thoughts

Using WordPress as a headless CMS with React gives you a powerful, flexible, and modern web development workflow. You get the convenience of WordPress content editing with the performance and scalability of React.

Whether you’re building a blog, portfolio, or eCommerce store, headless WordPress + React is a winning combo.

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