The verdict in three sentences
For an architecture practice in Copenhagen, a WordPress to Next.js migration costs, as a 2026 order of magnitude, between 80,000 and 190,000 DKK (roughly 10,700 to 25,500 EUR) and ships in 6 to 9 weeks. The real risk is SEO rather than code: without an exhaustive 301 redirect plan, a practice can lose 30 to 60 % of its organic traffic within weeks. With a headless CMS and optimised images, LCP drops from 3.5 s to under 1.5 s, which changes how developers and private clients perceive a portfolio browsed on mobile.
Why an architect's portfolio struggles on WordPress
An architecture website is first of all a gallery: 40 to 120 projects, each with 8 to 25 high resolution photos, plans and 3D renderings. On WordPress, a premium theme plus a page builder plus 15 to 30 plugins produces pages of 5 to 9 MB. First paint often exceeds 3.5 s on an average 4G connection, and the mobile PageSpeed score sits between 30 and 55.
Next.js fixes this with static generation of project pages, automatic image resizing (AVIF and WebP depending on the browser) and lazy loaded galleries. Content stays editable by the team through a headless CMS, with no code involved.
| Metric | Typical WordPress (practice) | Next.js + headless CMS |
|---|---|---|
| Project page weight | 5 to 9 MB | 0.8 to 1.8 MB |
| Mobile 4G LCP | 3.5 to 5 s | 0.9 to 1.5 s |
| Mobile PageSpeed score | 30 to 55 | 85 to 98 |
| Plugins to maintain | 15 to 30 | 0 (tracked npm dependencies) |
| Security updates | Weekly | Monthly |
| Hosting | 110 to 450 DKK/month | 0 to 300 DKK/month (Vercel, Netlify) |
| CMS | Included | 0 to 99 EUR/month (Sanity, Storyblok, Payload) |
Detailed migration budget in 2026
The ranges below are market estimates for a Danish practice of 5 to 25 people. They depend on the number of projects to migrate and the level of design required.
| Item | Range (2026 market estimate) | Share of budget |
|---|---|---|
| SEO audit and URL inventory | 8,000 to 19,000 DKK | 10 % |
| UI design of templates (home, project, studio, contact) | 20,000 to 47,000 DKK | 25 % |
| Next.js development and CMS integration | 32,000 to 76,000 DKK | 40 % |
| Content and image migration (80 to 300 URLs) | 10,000 to 25,000 DKK | 13 % |
| 301 redirect plan and SEO QA | 6,000 to 13,000 DKK | 7 % |
| Team CMS training | 4,000 to 10,000 DKK | 5 % |
| Total | 80,000 to 190,000 DKK | 100 % |
For reference, Kolonell's 11/10/2026 grid places a Growth website between 1,830 and 3,050 EUR and a Premium website between 3,050 and 5,340 EUR, with maintenance from 50 EUR per month. The exact scope depends on the volume of projects to migrate.
SEO risks and how to neutralise them
Traffic loss after a migration almost always comes from four mistakes: changed URLs without redirects, lost title and meta tags, renamed images that drop out of Google Images, and broken internal linking. For a practice, Google Images matters a lot: 20 to 40 % of visits can come from searches such as "contemporary villa architect Copenhagen".
The safe method has five steps: export every indexed URL (Search Console, sitemap, Screaming Frog crawl), map each old URL to its new target, keep project slugs where possible, carry over image alt texts, then monitor 404 errors and rankings for the top 30 queries for 8 weeks. A temporary dip of 5 to 15 % for 2 to 4 weeks is normal.
Mini case study
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Mette, partner at a 12 person architecture practice in Copenhagen, gets about 1,800 organic visits a month and 9 qualified enquiries. She migrates 140 URLs for 130,000 DKK. LCP falls from 4.1 s to 1.2 s and the enquiry rate rises from 0.5 % to 0.7 %, about 12.6 enquiries a month. If one commission in 15 enquiries closes at an average fee of 190,000 DKK, the 3.6 extra enquiries are worth around 45,000 DKK of expected fees a month: the migration pays back in about three months. This is an illustrative calculation to redo with your own numbers.
FAQ
How long does a WordPress to Next.js migration take?
Plan 6 to 9 weeks for 80 to 300 URLs, including 1 week of audit and 1 week of SEO QA. A portfolio of more than 150 projects with plans and videos can stretch to 10 or 11 weeks.
Will I lose my Google rankings?
Not if every old URL has a 301 redirect to its equivalent. A 5 to 15 % dip for 2 to 4 weeks is common, then traffic recovers and often grows thanks to the speed gain.
Which headless CMS suits an architecture practice?
Sanity and Storyblok offer free tiers up to 3 to 5 users, then 15 to 99 EUR per month. Payload, self hosted, avoids the subscription but needs 150 to 300 DKK per month of server.
Can we keep the blog and news section?
Yes, posts are imported into the CMS with their URLs, categories and images. An automated import of 50 to 200 posts usually takes 1 to 3 days.
Will the site cost more to maintain?
Usually not: fewer plugins means fewer incidents. Maintenance of 50 to 110 EUR per month covers updates, backups and 404 monitoring.
Let's scope your project. Send us your current site URL and the number of projects to migrate: we will price the scope, the indicative budget and the redirect 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.
