The verdict in three sentences
For a 70-person SaaS company in Amsterdam, migrating a WordPress site running 140 plugins to Next.js and a headless CMS costs EUR 30,000 to 70,000 in 2026, over 8 to 14 weeks. The expected gain is concrete: an LCP under 2 s versus 4.8 s today, a far smaller attack surface and product pages published without a developer. The main risk is SEO traffic loss, controlled by a plan of 300 to 600 redirects tested before cutover.
What a migration costs in 2026
The ranges below are 2026 order-of-magnitude figures in the Netherlands for a B2B marketing site, excluding CMS subscription.
| Item | Range (excl. VAT) | Share of budget | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|
| Technical and SEO audit, URL inventory | EUR 3,000 to 6,000 | 10% | 1 to 2 weeks |
| Headless content modelling | EUR 4,000 to 8,000 | 11% | 1 to 2 weeks |
| Design system and Next.js templates | EUR 11,000 to 25,000 | 35% | 3 to 5 weeks |
| Content migration (blog, docs, cases) | EUR 5,000 to 12,000 | 17% | 2 to 3 weeks |
| Redirects, testing, SEO QA | EUR 4,000 to 9,000 | 13% | 1 to 2 weeks |
| Training and editorial autonomy | EUR 1,500 to 4,000 | 6% | 1 week |
| Integrations (CRM, analytics, i18n) | EUR 1,500 to 6,000 | 8% | in parallel |
For a tighter scope, Kolonell's 11/10/2026 grid places a medium-complexity custom web application at 4,000,000 to 7,000,000 FCFA (EUR 6,100 to 10,670), and a Premium website at 2,000,000 to 3,500,000 FCFA (EUR 3,050 to 5,340). These are our prices, compared on actual scope, not market prices.
Before and after: what the CMO gains
The current WordPress stack means weekly updates, plugin conflicts and security alerts. The target changes the marketing team's day-to-day.
| Indicator | Current WordPress | Target Next.js + headless |
|---|---|---|
| Mobile LCP | 4.8 s | under 2 s |
| Plugins to maintain | 140 | 0 on the front end |
| Critical vulnerabilities per year | 4 to 8 alerts | near zero (static front end) |
| Time to publish a landing page | 2 to 3 days with a dev | 2 to 4 hours, self-serve |
| Monthly hosting | EUR 150 to 400 | EUR 20 to 150 |
| Core Web Vitals | red on 60% of pages | green on 90% targeted |
Speed has a direct effect on conversions: a B2B site dropping below 2 s LCP often sees demo requests rise 10 to 25%, an order of magnitude to validate on your own data.
The anti-SEO-loss plan
Migrations rarely fail on engineering, but often on search. The essential steps:
| Step | Deliverable | Check |
|---|---|---|
| Full crawl | List of 300 to 600 URLs with traffic | 16-month Search Console export |
| 1-to-1 mapping | Old URL to new URL file | Zero redirect chains |
| Tag preservation | Titles, meta, H1, structured data | Review of 100 key pages |
| Blocked staging | Test environment | noindex verified |
| Cutover and D+1 to D+60 tracking | 404 error report | Fixed within 48 h |
A temporary 5 to 15% traffic dip for 3 to 6 weeks is common; beyond that, it signals a mapping error.
Need a professional website?
Kolonell builds websites that attract clients, optimized for the Sénégalese market. Free quote in 2 minutes.
Mini case study
Sanne, CMO of a SaaS company in Amsterdam, pays EUR 2,200 a month for WordPress maintenance and fixes, plus EUR 350 for hosting. The migration is quoted at EUR 48,000. After cutover, maintenance and hosting drop to EUR 800 a month, a EUR 1,750 monthly saving. If demo requests rise 12% on 80 a month, or 10 extra demos, with a 15% close rate and an average annual contract of EUR 12,000, the gain reaches EUR 18,000 of new revenue per month. Estimated payback in under 3 months.
FAQ
Which headless CMS should we pick?
Sanity, Storyblok and Strapi are the most common. Subscriptions range from EUR 0 to 400 a month depending on editors and locales.
Will the marketing team lose autonomy?
Not if content modelling includes reusable blocks. After a one-day training, a landing page takes 2 to 4 hours to assemble.
Should we migrate the whole blog?
Migrate posts that bring traffic or links, often 40 to 60% of the archive. Redirect the rest to topic pages.
How long should redirects stay in place?
At least 12 months, ideally permanently. Their server cost is negligible.
Can we migrate in stages?
Yes, starting with the blog or product pages behind a proxy. It adds 2 to 4 weeks but lowers risk.
Let's scope your project. Share your Search Console export and plugin list: we will price the migration, the redirect plan and the cutover schedule. 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.
