Comparison
Your site is probably on WordPress. That is part of the problem.
WordPress powers roughly 40% of the web, including most of the outdated professional sites we see. The problem is not WordPress itself. It is what accumulates on top of it: plugins, theme debt, security patches, and a codebase nobody on your team fully understands.
What a typical outdated WP site looks like
A theme purchased in 2016 with 400 bundled plugins
Elementor or Divi as the page builder, both unmaintained
3 security patches pending, none applied
PageSpeed score below 50 on mobile
The developer who built it is unreachable
Every edit requires a plugin or a developer
| WordPress | Zombie Rebuild | |
|---|---|---|
| Ongoing cost | Plugins, themes, hosting, dev time | One-time fixed price, host anywhere |
| Security patches | Weekly plugin updates, breach risk | No CMS to patch. Static output. |
| Page speed | Plugin bloat, server rendering | Next.js, optimized at build time |
| Codebase you own | Locked into WP ecosystem | Production Next.js. Host anywhere. |
| ADA / WCAG 2.1 | Page builders break accessibility by default | AA compliant. Built in. |
| Content work | Copy/paste into block editor | Zero. We use what you have. |
| Theme fingerprint | Divi, Avada, Elementor — visible | Custom to your content |
| Timeline | 4–12 weeks for a WP refresh | 3–5 business days |
| Who manages it | You or a WP developer monthly | Clean repo, update when you want |
WordPress page builders fail ADA compliance by default
Elementor, Divi, and Avada generate non-semantic HTML that breaks screen readers, missing ARIA roles, incorrect heading hierarchy, poor keyboard navigation, and color contrast violations baked into theme defaults. The WebAIM Million report consistently finds WordPress sites among the most accessibility-impaired on the web.
ADA website lawsuits are real and increasingly target professional services firms. A refreshed site built on Next.js with proper semantic structure meets WCAG 2.1 AA by default. No accessibility plugin required. No remediation audit after launch.
The real cost of staying on WordPress
Refreshing a WordPress site usually means still having a WordPress site.
A WP developer can update your theme, swap your page builder, or install a new template. But you still end up with WordPress, its plugin overhead, and its security surface. The delivery is slower, the cost is comparable, and the result is a slightly newer-looking version of the same technical debt.
You are paying a monthly tax on a platform you do not control.
Between hosting, security plugins, premium themes, and the occasional developer invoice to fix something that broke after an update, WordPress is not cheap to maintain. Our output is a static Next.js codebase. No CMS to maintain. No plugins to patch. Host it on Vercel or any other platform for a few dollars a month.
WordPress themes have a recognizable look.
Divi, Avada, and Elementor sites share visual patterns that experienced buyers recognize instantly. Not because they look terrible. Because they look like everyone else who picked the same theme. Your refreshed site is built from your content outward, not a template inward.
When staying on WordPress makes sense
- You have a large team of editors who live inside the WP admin daily
- You run a high-volume publication that requires a full CMS workflow
- Your site has deeply custom WooCommerce or membership functionality that cannot be extracted
- You have a dedicated WP developer on retainer who actively maintains it
If you are a professional services firm with 5 to 50 pages and no dedicated web team, none of those apply to you.
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