# A Sanity development agency that designs the editing experience. > A UK Sanity development agency building custom Sanity Studios and headless-CMS front-ends — the same setup behind our own Awwwards-listed site. Sanity developers who design the editing experience, not just the code. URL: https://www.smartastudio.com/services/sanity-development **Sanity Development** We build custom Sanity Studios and headless front-ends on Next.js — content your team actually enjoys editing, on a stack we run ourselves. Sanity is the headless CMS we trust for real projects: a fully customisable Studio, structured content, and real-time collaboration, decoupled from a fast Next.js front-end. We model the content around how your team works — then wire it to a site that scores in the 90s on Core Web Vitals. _Our own Awwwards-listed site is a Sanity + Next.js build._ - **Custom Studio** — Tailored to how your team edits - **Headless** — Content decoupled from the front-end - **Next.js** — The fast front-end we pair it with ## Three ways we work with Sanity. From a first headless build, to moving off a rigid CMS, to running a Sanity project properly — this is where we come in. - Build — custom Sanity Studios and headless Next.js front-ends - Migrate — move off WordPress or a rigid legacy CMS into structured content - Optimise & run — refactor schemas, tidy the Studio, and maintain it ## We use Sanity on our own work — including this site. - **We design the editing experience** — A Studio is a product for your team. We treat it like one — considered fields, previews and validation, not a wall of generic defaults. - **Structured content, done right** — We model content so it is reusable across the site and future channels — the whole point of going headless, done deliberately. - **Paired with a fast front-end** — Sanity plus Next.js is our house stack. Green Core Web Vitals and art-directed design come as standard, not as an upsell. - **A small, senior team** — You work with the people building it. No hand-off to juniors, no offshoring, no account-management layer between you and the work. ## A Sanity build that respects your editors. The tangible things you keep from every engagement. - **A content model that fits your business** — Structured schemas designed around how your team actually works — reusable, not a pile of one-off page fields. - **A tailored Sanity Studio** — Custom document types, sensible field groups, previews and validation — an editing experience people are glad to use. - **A fast headless front-end** — A bespoke Next.js site wired to Sanity via GROQ, built to 90+ Core Web Vitals as standard. - **Live preview and collaboration** — Editors see changes in context and work together in real time — Sanity’s collaboration, set up properly. - **SEO and structured data in the model** — Metadata, Open Graph and JSON-LD handled at the content layer, so every page ships search- and AI-ready. - **Documentation and training** — A clear handover and a session with your team, so the Studio is owned by you — not dependent on us. ## How we work: Audit, Design, Build, Run. A clear path from content chaos to a Studio your team owns — the same method behind every SmartaStudio build. ### Audit Duration: Week 1 - We learn what content you have, how your editors work, and what the front-end needs to do. - For migrations: we map the existing content and URLs so structure and rankings carry across. You get: A content model plan and a clear scope. ### Design Duration: Weeks 2–4 - Structured schemas and a bespoke design system in Figma — the content model and the design agreed together. You get: Schemas and art-directed designs, signed off. ### Build Duration: Weeks 4–10 - A tailored Sanity Studio and a typed Next.js front-end, wired with GROQ and measured on performance. You get: A working Studio and a fast headless site. ### Run Duration: Ongoing - We hand over, train your team, and keep improving the build on retainer. You get: A trained team and a partner on tap. ## Sanity development at a glance. - **Category:** Sanity development agency (headless CMS) - **Best for:** Teams that publish a lot, want structured reusable content, and need an editing experience that fits how they work. - **Typical work:** Custom Sanity Studios, headless websites, content models, WordPress → Sanity migrations, Studio refactors. - **Stack:** Sanity (Studio, GROQ, Portable Text), Next.js front-end, TypeScript, Tailwind CSS, GSAP, deployed on Vercel. - **Proof:** Our own Awwwards-listed site is a Sanity + Next.js build; we build to 90+ Core Web Vitals as standard. - **Engagement:** Fixed-scope projects (typically 10–12 weeks) or ongoing build & design on retainer. Based in Nantwich, UK; £ GBP. ## Sanity development, answered. ### The basics **What is Sanity and what is a headless CMS?** Sanity is a headless CMS: it manages your content and hands it to any front-end via an API, rather than being tied to one theme. That means structured, reusable content and a fully customisable editing app — the Studio. We pair it with a fast Next.js front-end. **What is Sanity Studio, and can it be customised?** Sanity Studio is the editing application your team logs into. It is fully customisable — we tailor document types, fields, previews and validation to how you actually work, so editing feels considered rather than generic. **Do you build the front-end too, or just the CMS?** Both. Sanity plus a bespoke Next.js front-end is our house stack. You get the content model, the Studio and the site as one considered build — not a CMS handed off to someone else. ### Working with us **Can you migrate our WordPress content into Sanity?** Yes. We migrate content into a clean, structured model — turning a tangle of pages into reusable content — and set up the front-end so URLs and rankings carry across. We train your team so they land running. **Why Sanity over other headless CMSs?** The Studio is genuinely customisable, the content is properly structured, real-time collaboration is built in, and GROQ makes querying a pleasure. It fits how we build — bespoke, structured, fast. For your specific case, our Build Spec tool can sanity-check the choice. **How much does a Sanity project cost?** It depends on how much content modelling and front-end work is involved. Marketing sites typically start around £4,000–£8,000 +VAT; larger structured builds run higher. We scope properly before quoting. All prices in £ GBP. ## Thinking about Sanity? Tell us how your team publishes today. We will tell you whether Sanity is the right fit — and how we would model it.