Content Modeling Best Practices

1---
2name: content-modeling-best-practices
3description: General principles for structured content modeling that apply across CMSs, with Sanity-specific guidance. Use when designing content schemas, planning content architecture, or evaluating content reuse strategies.
4license: MIT
5metadata:
6  author: sanity
7  version: "1.0.0"
8---
9 
10# Content Modeling Best Practices
11 
12Principles for designing structured content that's flexible, reusable, and maintainable. These concepts apply to any headless CMS but include Sanity-specific implementation notes.
13 
14## When to Apply
15 
16Reference these guidelines when:
17- Starting a new project and designing the content model
18- Evaluating whether content should be structured or free-form
19- Deciding between references and embedded content
20- Planning for multi-channel content delivery
21- Refactoring existing content structures
22 
23## Core Principles
24 
251. **Content is data, not pages** — Structure content for meaning, not presentation
262. **Single source of truth** — Avoid content duplication
273. **Future-proof** — Design for channels that don't exist yet
284. **Editor-centric** — Optimize for the people creating content
29 
30## Resources
31 
32See `resources/` for detailed guidance on specific topics:
33- `resources/separation-of-concerns.md` — Separating content from presentation
34- `resources/reference-vs-embedding.md` — When to use references vs embedded objects
35- `resources/content-reuse.md` — Content reuse patterns and the reuse spectrum
36- `resources/taxonomy-classification.md` — Flat, hierarchical, and faceted classification
37