WordPress to Next.js Migration

Short answer: when a move from WordPress to Next.js is worth it

Usually, fixing the WordPress site is cheaper and enough. A move to Next.js earns its cost when the site behaves like a product (interactive, personalised or app-like), when you need a front end your developers can build and test like software, or when you have outgrown what a theme can do. I build both WordPress and Next.js (with WordPress or Sanity as the CMS), so the advice does not depend on which one I would rather sell.

Signs you have outgrown a WordPress front end

• Performance work keeps getting undone by plugin updates or new marketing scripts.
• The front end is a patchwork of page-builder layouts that nobody wants to touch.
• You need interactive features, dashboards or logged-in experiences the theme fights against.
• Your developers want a normal component-based codebase with tests and a deploy pipeline.

Three paths, and what each costs you

1. Optimise WordPress. Lowest cost and risk. Often the right first move; start with a technical assessment.
2. Headless WordPress. Editors keep WordPress; a Next.js app renders the site. Better front-end speed and control, with more to run (hosting, preview, builds).
3. Full replatform. Next.js with a different CMS, such as Sanity. Most flexibility, most change for editors, and the largest migration effort.

What I look at first

• The URL inventory: every public address, including old ones that still receive links and traffic.
• What plugins do on the front end: forms, search, filters, redirects and structured data are often produced by plugins and must be rebuilt, not forgotten.
• The editorial workflow: how drafts, preview, scheduling and roles work today and how they will work after.
• Rendered HTML: titles, canonicals, headings and schema as search engines see them, compared old against new.
• Integrations: CRM, payments, analytics, consent and anything that talks to the site.

What changes for your editors

Headless WordPress keeps the familiar admin, but previewing a page needs a preview route in the Next.js app and publishing triggers a rebuild or revalidation. With Sanity as the CMS, editors work in a new studio that I set up around your content types. Either way I include editor training and written guides, and I plan the content model with the people who will use it.

What can go wrong, and how I prevent it

• Lost rankings from missing redirects or changed URLs: prevented by the inventory and redirect map, and caught by monitoring.
• Missing metadata or schema: prevented by comparing rendered HTML page by page.
• Broken forms and tracking: prevented by a launch-day checklist.
• Slow builds and stale content: prevented by choosing the right rendering strategy (static, incremental or server-rendered) for each page type.
• A site only one person can maintain: prevented by documentation and a standard, widely used stack.

How the migration runs without losing SEO

1. Inventory. Every URL, template, form, redirect, metadata field and plugin that produces public output.
2. Map. A redirect and canonical map, content parity rules and the editorial workflow (including preview) agreed before building.
3. Build on staging. Pages are compared against the old site as rendered HTML, not just visually.
4. Launch checklist. Redirects, sitemap, structured data, analytics, forms, robots and speed verified on launch day.
5. Monitor. Search Console and analytics watched for 30 days, with fixes for anything that slips.

What it costs and how it starts

Migrations and headless builds start at $4,900 and are scoped after an assessment, from $750, which is credited against the project. You get a fixed quote, a timeline and a clear list of what changes for your editors. For the wider picture see Next.js and React development and technical SEO for migrations.