The verdict in three sentences
For a New York SMB whose WordPress site with 35 plugins is slow and has already been hacked twice, a migration to Next.js costs EUR 9,000 to 28,000 (about USD 10,000 to 31,000) in 2026, over 8 to 14 weeks. The technical gain is measurable: LCP from 4.2 s to 1.4 s and maintenance cut in half. The only real risk is SEO, and it stays under 10% temporary loss if the 301 redirect plan is exhaustive.
What the migration costs by site size
Budget depends mostly on URL volume, number of templates and how you want to keep editing content (headless CMS or WordPress kept as back office).
| Site profile | URLs to migrate | Budget | Timeline |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brochure site + light blog | 300 to 500 | EUR 9,000 to 13,000 | 8 to 9 weeks |
| SMB site with 6 to 10 templates | 500 to 1,000 | EUR 14,000 to 19,000 | 9 to 11 weeks |
| Rich bilingual site | 1,000 to 2,000 | EUR 20,000 to 28,000 | 12 to 14 weeks |
| Headless WordPress option (keep the editor) | All | -10 to -15% | -1 week |
| New CMS option (Sanity, Strapi, Payload) | All | +EUR 2,000 to 5,000 | +1 to 2 weeks |
| Editor training | All | EUR 600 to 1,200 | 1 to 2 days |
Keeping WordPress only as a back office (headless mode) is often the best compromise: your team keeps its habits, but the public site no longer exposes any plugin to attacks.
Before and after: the numbers that justify the project
| Metric | Current WordPress | Next.js after migration |
|---|---|---|
| Mobile LCP | 4.2 s | 1.4 s |
| Mobile PageSpeed score | 38 / 100 | 92 / 100 |
| Plugins to update | 35 | 0 on the public side |
| Security incidents over 24 months | 2 hacks | No public PHP attack surface |
| Annual maintenance | EUR 4,800 | EUR 2,400 |
| Monthly hosting | EUR 60 to 120 | EUR 20 to 80 (Vercel, Netlify or VPS) |
| Form conversion rate | 1.1% | 1.4 to 1.6% estimated |
The "after" figures are 2026 orders of magnitude seen on comparable migrations. The conversion gain comes from speed: every second saved on mobile reduces abandonment.
Protecting your rankings: a five-step method
A botched migration can lose 30 to 60% of organic traffic for months. A prepared one keeps the dip under 10% for 4 to 8 weeks, after which traffic often exceeds the original level thanks to speed.
- Full crawl of the existing site (Screaming Frog) and export of URLs receiving traffic or links in Search Console.
- 301 redirect table URL by URL, with no redirect chains, tested in staging.
- Keep the tags (title, meta description, headings, structured data) of ranking pages.
- Switch over on a Tuesday morning, never before a trade show or campaign, and submit the new sitemap.
- Daily 404 monitoring for 30 days with fixes within 24 h.
Mini case study
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Kolonell builds websites that attract clients, optimized for the Sénégalese market. Free quote in 2 minutes.
Emily, marketing manager at a 60-employee industrial distribution SMB in Brooklyn, migrates 850 URLs in headless WordPress mode for EUR 16,500, over 10 weeks. Organic traffic dips 7% for 5 weeks, then climbs to +18% by month four. The site generated 40 quote requests a month at 1.1% conversion. At 1.5%, it produces about 55, i.e. 15 more. With a 20% close rate and EUR 1,200 margin per order, that is EUR 3,600 of extra monthly margin, plus EUR 2,400 saved yearly on maintenance. Estimated payback: under 5 months.
FAQ
How much does a WordPress to Next.js migration cost in New York in 2026?
Between EUR 9,000 and 28,000 (about USD 10,000 to 31,000) depending on URLs (300 to 2,000), templates and languages. A typical SMB with 500 to 1,000 URLs lands around EUR 14,000 to 19,000.
Will I lose my rankings?
A temporary dip under 10% for 4 to 8 weeks is normal with a complete 301 plan. Without one, losses can reach 30 to 60%.
Can my team still edit content?
Yes. In headless mode they keep the WordPress editor, or switch to a modern CMS after 1 to 2 days of training.
Will the site really be more secure?
The public site becomes static or server-rendered, with no exposed PHP plugin. The typical hacks on a 35-plugin WordPress come precisely from those extensions.
What timeline should I plan?
From 8 to 14 weeks, including 2 weeks of audit and redirect planning. Avoid switching less than 3 weeks before a peak sales period.
Let's scope your project. Send us your WordPress URL and page volume: we will price the migration between EUR 9,000 and 28,000, 301 redirect plan included, in 8 to 14 weeks. 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.
