The verdict in three sentences
For a 400-employee industrial group in Berlin running three plants, replacing a 2017 WordPress site with a modern corporate website costs between €25,000 and €60,000 excluding VAT in 2026, delivered in 10 to 16 weeks. The budget gap comes mainly from the number of languages, the depth of your employer brand (a careers page connected to your ATS) and editorial governance through a headless CMS with approval workflow. Then plan €600 to €1,500 a month of maintenance: it keeps the site fast, secure and current for five years.
Three project levels for a three-plant group
A mid-sized industrial company's corporate site serves four audiences at once: OEM customers, candidates, financial partners and the communities around each plant. Scope is built around those audiences, not around a page count.
| Criterion | Corporate essential | Corporate advanced | Corporate group |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 budget (excl. VAT) | €25,000 to €35,000 | €36,000 to €48,000 | €49,000 to €60,000 |
| Timeline | 10 to 12 weeks | 12 to 14 weeks | 14 to 16 weeks |
| Languages | DE + EN | DE, EN, FR | DE, EN, FR, PL (4 languages) |
| Pages per plant | 1 summary page | 1 full page per site | Mini-site per plant (news, ESG, local hiring) |
| Careers page | Jobs entered in the CMS | Automatic feed from the ATS | ATS + open applications + video testimonials |
| Editorial workflow | 1 level | Editor, approver | Editor, communications, legal, CEO |
| Core Web Vitals | Green on mobile | Green + monitoring | Green + contractual performance budget |
These figures are a 2026 order of magnitude for a mid-sized agency. A large Berlin network agency will often quote 20 to 30% more for the same scope.
Why a headless CMS rather than a new WordPress
Your 2017 WordPress has probably accumulated 30 to 50 plugins, modified themes and recurring vulnerabilities. A headless CMS (Sanity, Strapi, Contentful) separates content from presentation: the communications team publishes in a clean interface, the site is generated as very fast static pages and the attack surface shrinks sharply.
| Criterion | Rebuilt classic WordPress | Headless CMS + Next.js |
|---|---|---|
| Build cost (excl. VAT) | €20,000 to €40,000 | €25,000 to €60,000 |
| Average mobile load time | 2.5 to 4 s | 0.8 to 1.8 s |
| Multi-level approval workflow | Paid plugin, fragile | Native, with version history |
| Security updates | Weekly (core + plugins) | Rare, controlled dependencies |
| 4-language multilingual | WPML plugin, 2 to 3% annual overhead | Native localised fields |
| Monthly maintenance (excl. VAT) | €500 to €1,200 | €600 to €1,500 |
| Estimated technical lifespan | 4 to 5 years | 6 to 8 years |
The careers page deserves particular care. In manufacturing, maintenance technicians, CNC operators and quality managers remain hard to hire. Connecting the site to your ATS (Personio, SAP SuccessFactors, softgarden) through an API removes double entry and lets you display jobs by plant, with a mobile application flow under three minutes.
Mini case study
Katrin, communications director of a 400-employee precision metalworking group near Berlin, and Stefan, its CEO, compare two quotes. Their choice: corporate advanced at €44,000 excluding VAT, three languages, ATS feed, 13 weeks, €900 a month of maintenance.
The reasoning: the group hires 45 people a year. Each hire through a recruitment agency costs about 15% of annual gross salary, or €6,300 for a €42,000 role. If the new careers page turns 10 extra hires into direct applications, savings reach €63,000 a year. Add the end of emergency WordPress fixes, estimated at €6,000 a year. The project plus its first year of maintenance (€54,800 in total) is covered in about ten months.
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FAQ
What budget should an industrial group in Berlin plan for its corporate website in 2026?
Between €25,000 and €60,000 excluding VAT depending on languages, plant page depth and ATS integration. The sweet spot for a 400-employee company is around €35,000 to €48,000.
How long does the project take?
From 10 to 16 weeks. Scoping workshops and content sign-off by each plant often account for 4 weeks on their own.
Is a headless CMS easy for the communications team?
Yes, the interface is cleaner than WordPress and 2 to 3 hours of training is enough. The workflow can ensure, for example, that no news item goes live without legal approval.
What does €600 to €1,500 a month of maintenance include?
The low end covers monitoring, backups and updates. The high end includes 6 to 10 hours of monthly improvements, Core Web Vitals tracking and a 4-business-hour response time.
Do we need to translate the entire site into four languages?
No, many groups translate 100% into English and 40 to 60% into the other languages (offer, plants, contact). Technical translation costs about €0.12 to €0.18 per word.
Let's scope your project. Tell us your target languages, the number of plants to showcase and your recruitment tool, and we will return a scope, indicative budget and a 10 to 16 week plan. Detailed quote within 48 h. WhatsApp +221 77 596 93 33.
Mohamed Bah
Fondateur, Kolonell
Passionate about digital and entrepreneurship in Africa, Mohamed has been helping Sénégalese businesses with their digital transformation since 2020. Founder of Kolonell, he believes every SME deserves a professional and accessible online présence.
