Case study from Made Grand. Project: Made Grand. Outcome: Made Grand retained WordPress content management while gaining a server-rendered frontend, protected legacy addresses and a more dependable technical SEO and analytics foundation.
Headless WordPress
Made Grand
An established WordPress website rebuilt with a modern frontend without abandoning its content, page history or editorial workflow.
A production headless WordPress rebuild that retained the existing content system while introducing a modern server-rendered frontend.
Visit Made Grand →
The Problem
The established WordPress website contained years of content, page addresses and search history that could not simply be discarded.
The existing frontend no longer provided the flexibility needed for Made Grand's changing service and product work.
A modern replacement needed to keep WordPress familiar for content management while giving the public website a separate frontend.
The initial Lovable build relied too heavily on client-side rendering, leaving important content and metadata dependent on JavaScript.
The Challenge
Separate the WordPress content-management system from the frontend without disrupting publishing.
Make page content, metadata and structured data available in the initial server response.
Preserve valuable legacy addresses through direct, controlled redirects.
Keep canonical addresses, sitemap entries and internal links aligned with the new route structure.
Rebuild consent-aware analytics without creating duplicate page views or events.
Test the complete production setup, including hosting, API access, caching and security behaviour.
“A headless rebuild is not only a frontend project. It is a content, migration, search and operational project.”
What we built
Made Grand treated the rebuild as a controlled platform migration rather than only a visual redesign. The content system, frontend, routes, search signals, analytics and production environment were reviewed as one connected system.
- A headless WordPress content system serving Work, Projects and Insights through the WordPress API.
- A modern Lovable and React frontend shaped around Made Grand's revised commercial services.
- TanStack server-side rendering so primary content and metadata appear in the initial HTML.
- A central metadata system covering titles, descriptions, canonical addresses, Open Graph and Twitter cards.
- A connected structured-data system for the organisation, website, services, articles and projects.
- A controlled redirect map preserving important legacy WordPress addresses.
- A canonical sitemap containing the current indexable routes.
- Consent-aware GA4 tracking for page views, service views and important contact actions.
- Production checks covering API responses, caching, hosting and crawler access.
Outcome
The rebuilt website keeps WordPress as a dependable editorial system while using a separate modern frontend. It provides a production example of the technical, search and operational work required for a headless migration.
- Existing CMS content and editorial workflows were retained.
- Important page content and route metadata now appear in the server-rendered HTML.
- Legacy addresses are handled through a controlled redirect structure.
- Canonical addresses, sitemap entries and internal links use the same preferred routes.
- Structured data connects the main website and service entities consistently.
- Analytics and consent handling were rebuilt around meaningful user actions.
- The project gave Made Grand direct evidence for planning and supporting headless WordPress websites.
What This Included
- Retain WordPress as the source of truth for Work, Projects and Insights.
- Build the public interface separately using Lovable and React.
- Move from client-side rendering to TanStack server-side rendering.
- Map the old and new page structures before changing canonical addresses.
- Test the initial server response rather than relying only on the browser-rendered page.
- Use the Made Grand website as the production test case before applying the approach to client work.
Reflection
Headless WordPress is not simply a different way to display content. It changes how the CMS, frontend, hosting, redirects, metadata, analytics and production environment depend on one another. Testing the complete migration on Made Grand's own website exposed the work that is easily missed when attention remains focused on the frontend.
If you're wrestling with a digital idea, an existing platform or a system that's no longer doing its job, we're happy to talk it through.
You don't need a polished brief to get started.
Start a conversation
