The verdict in three sentences
For an SME whose WordPress site has plateaued (mobile score of 35 to 55, 25 plugins), a migration to Next.js of 40 pages costs EUR 9,000 to 22,000 excl. VAT in 2026. The performance gain is real and measurable: LCP typically drops from 3.8 s to 1.6 s, which lifts conversion and rankings. The only real risk is SEO: an incomplete 301 redirect plan loses 5 to 15 % of traffic for several months, while a rigorous migration stabilises it within 4 to 8 weeks.
Why your WordPress site has plateaued
An SME WordPress site that is five to eight years old piles up layers: a multipurpose premium theme, a page builder, plugins for forms, caching, SEO, security and sliders. Each plugin adds JavaScript and requests. The result is a slow mobile site, risky updates and a rising maintenance bill.
| Indicator | Typical SME WordPress (2026 finding) | Next.js after migration |
|---|---|---|
| Mobile Lighthouse score | 35 to 55 | 85 to 98 |
| Mobile LCP | 3.8 s (2.9 to 6 s) | 1.6 s (1.1 to 2.2 s) |
| Average page weight | 3 to 6 MB | 0.8 to 1.5 MB |
| Active plugins | 20 to 35 | 0 (native features) |
| Security updates | 4 to 8 per month | Quarterly dependencies |
| Monthly maintenance excl. VAT | EUR 150 to 400 | EUR 100 to 300 |
| Monthly hosting | EUR 15 to 60 | EUR 0 to 40 (serverless plans) |
Next.js is not mandatory. If your site has fewer than 15 pages and converts well, a WordPress clean-up at EUR 1,500 to 3,000 may be enough. Migration makes sense when slowness costs leads or when the team wants a simpler headless CMS.
What the migration costs in 2026
In regional Western European markets, a specialist Next.js agency or studio charges EUR 500 to 680 per day; Amsterdam studios often sit at EUR 650 to 850. The budget depends mostly on the number of templates, content volume and CMS choice.
| Scenario | Pages | What is included | Budget excl. VAT | Timeline |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Like-for-like migration | 40 | Design kept, content migrated by script | EUR 9,000 to 12,000 | 5 to 7 weeks |
| Migration + headless CMS | 40 | Sanity or Strapi, editor training | EUR 12,000 to 16,000 | 6 to 8 weeks |
| Migration + light redesign | 40 | New templates, design system | EUR 15,000 to 19,000 | 8 to 10 weeks |
| Migration + 200-post blog | 40 + 200 | Automated import, categories, authors | EUR 17,000 to 22,000 | 8 to 11 weeks |
| Pre-migration SEO audit (alone) | Crawl, URL export, rankings | EUR 900 to 2,000 | 1 week |
The line never to remove from the quote is the 301 redirect plan covering 100 % of URLs, including category pages, PDFs and legacy URLs with parameters. It takes 1 to 2 days of work, i.e. EUR 600 to 1,300.
The anti-traffic-loss plan
Migrations that sink traffic almost always share the same cause: forgotten URLs, title tags rewritten carelessly, no sitemap on launch day. Here is the checklist to require from your provider, with the observed impact when a step is skipped.
| SEO step | When | Risk if skipped |
|---|---|---|
| Full crawl and export of indexed URLs | Before | Orphan pages, mass 404s |
| 301 mapping old URL to new URL | Before | 5 to 15 % traffic loss |
| Keep high-performing titles and meta descriptions | During | Ranking drops on key queries |
| Structured data (Organization, LocalBusiness) | During | Loss of rich snippets |
| XML sitemap and Search Console submission | Launch day | Indexing delayed by 2 to 4 weeks |
| Monitor 404s and rankings for 60 days | After | Issues detected too late |
With this plan, an SME usually recovers its traffic in 4 to 8 weeks, then exceeds it by 10 to 25 % over six months thanks to speed gains.
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Mini case study
Daan, managing director of a 22-employee professional kitchen equipment SME near Amsterdam, gets 1,800 organic visits a month with a 1.2 % conversion rate, i.e. 22 quote requests. His average signed deal is EUR 6,500 with a 20 % close rate. After a EUR 14,500 migration (headless CMS included), LCP drops from 4.1 s to 1.5 s and conversion rises to 1.6 %. At constant traffic, he gets 29 requests, 7 more per month and 1.4 extra sales. Estimated additional revenue: EUR 9,100 per month. The investment is covered by less than two months of margin, even with a temporary 5 % traffic dip in the first month.
FAQ
How much does a WordPress to Next.js migration cost for an SME?
Budget EUR 9,000 to 22,000 excl. VAT for 40 pages depending on the CMS and content volume. A blog with more than 100 posts adds EUR 2,000 to 5,000 for import.
Will I lose my rankings?
Not if every URL is 301-redirected and high-performing tags are kept. A rushed migration loses 5 to 15 % of traffic, a rigorous one recovers it within 4 to 8 weeks.
What performance gain should I expect?
Mobile LCP typically drops from 3.8 s to 1.6 s and the Lighthouse score rises from 35 to 55 to 85 to 98. Page weight is divided by 3 to 4.
Can my team edit the site on its own?
Yes, with a headless CMS such as Sanity or Strapi, often simpler than a WordPress page builder. A 2 to 3 hour training session is usually enough.
How long does the migration take?
5 to 11 weeks depending on the scenario. The SEO audit takes one week and must come before any development.
Let's scope your project. Send us your WordPress site URL: we will run a performance and SEO pre-audit, then price the Next.js migration with an indicative budget, redirect plan and timeline. 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.
