Payload CMS development
A CMS that lives in your codebase, and an admin your team will use.
Acasa Labs is a Payload CMS agency. We build Next.js sites and apps with Payload as the CMS and admin, on Postgres, in your own repository. Siona Jewels runs its B2B jewellery catalogue on it: every design, collection, buyer guide, and enquiry lives in Payload, and the sitemap and llms.txt are generated from it.
The problem
Most CMS setups end with a developer doing the publishing.
A hosted CMS bolted onto a site gives the marketing team a form. The moment they need a new field, a new page type, or leads in the same place as the content, someone files a ticket. Payload works differently: the content model is code in your repository, the admin is generated from it, and it runs inside the same Next.js app. That makes it fast to change. It also means the content model has to be designed well at the start, because every page is built on it.
What we build with Payload CMS
- 01
Content models for your real catalogue
Products, collections, guides, and pages modeled with the fields your buyers ask about, so adding an item is filling a form, not building a page.
- 02
Leads in the CMS
Enquiries saved as CMS records with stages, emailed to sales with reply-to set to the buyer, and created only by the server.
- 03
SEO generated from content
Sitemaps, product images for Google Images, structured data, and llms.txt built from what is in the CMS, so new content shows up without a deploy.
- 04
Media in object storage
Uploads stored in Cloudflare R2 or similar, served through a CDN, so large product photos do not slow the site.
From production
How we built Siona Jewels on Payload.
Specs as fields, not paragraphs
Siona JewelsEvery design stores metals, colours, weights, stones with shape, setting, and quality, sizes, MOQ, lead time, and what can be customised as separate fields. Buyers see the same specs in the same place on every page, and the team adds a design by filling in a form.
Leads next to the catalogue
Siona JewelsEach enquiry is saved in Payload and moves through new, contacted, quoted, won, and closed. Sales gets an email with the design numbers in the subject, a link to each design, and reply-to set to the buyer.
Only the server can create an enquiry
Siona JewelsEnquiries are created by a server action behind Turnstile, a honeypot, and a fill-time check. The public API cannot write them. The enquiry is saved before the email goes out, so a failed email is logged, not lost.
The CMS feeds search and AI crawlers
Siona Jewelsllms.txt and the sitemap are generated from Payload, and product photos are listed for Google Images and Lens, so a new design or guide appears in both without a deploy.
Honest trade-offs
When Payload is not the right CMS
If nobody on your side will touch code and you want a hosted editor with no server to run, Sanity or a similar hosted CMS is simpler to live with. If the site is a handful of pages that change twice a year, a CMS may be more than you need at all. And if the content is a gallery with a few fields, a small custom admin can be quicker for your team, which is what we built for The Sharp Interiors.
What we reach for
- Payload CMS
- Next.js App Router
- Postgres
- Cloudflare R2
- Resend
- Cloudflare Turnstile
- Schema.org JSON-LD
Proof
Shipped, not pitched.
01Client work
Siona Jewels
A jewellery manufacturer's catalogue that buyers find on Google and in ChatGPT, and that turns a design number into a lead.
Siona Jewels is a fine jewellery manufacturer in Mumbai selling to retailers and private-label brands in India, the US, Canada, and the UAE. We built their B2B catalogue site, the CMS behind it, the email automation that routes every enquiry to sales, and the search and AI-answer setup that gets them found.
Web · CMS admin
Questions
Payload CMS questions we get asked.
Why Payload instead of WordPress?
Payload runs inside your Next.js app, stores content in Postgres, and defines content in code, so it is versioned, reviewed, and deployed like the rest of the site. There is no plugin stack to patch, and the admin only has the fields you need.
Can our team edit content without a developer?
Yes. That is the point of the build. On Siona Jewels, the team adds designs, collections, and photos in the CMS, and enquiries arrive in the same admin.
Can you migrate our content into Payload?
Yes. We map your current content types to Payload collections, import them with a script, and redirect every old URL so your rankings carry over.
Where does Payload run?
With your Next.js app, in your cloud account, on Postgres. Siona Jewels runs on Firebase App Hosting with media on Cloudflare R2.
Payload or Sanity?
Payload when you want the CMS in your own codebase and database, with custom logic like lead handling in the same place. Sanity when you want a hosted content platform and no backend to run.
Can Payload hold leads, not just content?
Yes. A Payload collection can hold any record. Siona Jewels keeps enquiries in Payload with five stages, so sales and content sit in one admin.
Payload CMS development
Your team should publish without filing a ticket.
A free 30-minute call on your content, your site, and how leads arrive today. You leave with how we would model it in Payload.