It starts slowly. A plugin update breaks the contact form. Load time creeps past 4 seconds. A security patch demands PHP 8.2, but the hosting only supports 7.4. WordPress was once the right decision — until the business outgrows what the website can handle.
That's exactly what happened to Wilk, an established printing and packaging company. Their WordPress site was technically outdated, visually behind the times, and unable to display product data from the ERP system automatically. Manually maintaining over 100 products consumed hours every week — hours better spent on core business.
This article explains why WordPress becomes a dead end for growing B2B companies — and how a modern tech stack solves these problems permanently.
The WordPress Dilemma: Where Businesses Hit the Wall
WordPress dominates the web with over 40% market share. For blogs and small business sites, it remains a solid choice. But as requirements grow — ERP connectivity, product catalogs, performance targets, accessibility — it becomes clear why 43% of WordPress sites run on outdated versions.
Security: A Race Without a Finish Line
In the first half of 2025 alone, over 6,700 new WordPress security vulnerabilities were reported — a 34% increase year-over-year. The cause rarely lies in WordPress core itself, but in the plugin landscape: 92% of all successful attacks exploit vulnerabilities in plugins or themes.
For businesses, this means: every installed plugin is a potential entry point. And the alternative — going without plugins — restricts functionality so severely that WordPress loses its greatest advantage.
Performance: Death by a Thousand Plugins
A typical business WordPress site loads 15-30 plugins. Each plugin adds HTTP requests, JavaScript files, and database queries. The result: load times that Google penalizes and visitors abandon.
Maintenance Costs: The Hidden Price Driver
WordPress is free — maintenance isn't. Professional maintenance contracts cost 59-249 EUR monthly. Add premium plugins (often 50-200 EUR/year each), hosting upgrades as traffic grows, and agency hours for updates that go wrong. Over three years, this adds up to an amount that could finance a complete relaunch.
The Wilk Case: From WordPress to Next.js
Wilk chose a clean break: instead of patching the existing WordPress site, the entire web presence was rebuilt on modern architecture.
The Requirements
- Synchronize over 100 products automatically from the ERP system
- Premium visuals with animations matching the brand quality
- Editorial content manageable without developers
- GDPR-compliant with granular cookie management
- Long-term low maintenance and future-proof
The Technical Solution
The new stack: Next.js as the frontend framework, Sanity CMS as the headless content management system, and a Python middleware for ERP connectivity. Hosted on Vercel with edge delivery for minimal load times worldwide.
Why Next.js Instead of WordPress?
Next.js generates HTML at build time (Static Site Generation) or on-demand (Incremental Static Regeneration). The result is pre-rendered pages served directly from the CDN — no PHP processes, no database queries, no plugin overhead. Load time for a typical business page drops from 3-5 seconds to under 1 second.
Add React Server Components: only 8 out of 45+ components in the Wilk project require client-side JavaScript. The rest is rendered entirely on the server and delivered as HTML. Less JavaScript means faster interactivity — especially on mobile devices.
Why Sanity CMS Instead of the WordPress Backend?
Sanity is a headless CMS that manages content as structured data — not as HTML blobs in a MySQL database. The Wilk team manages content through an embedded Sanity Studio directly on the website with 18+ reusable content blocks and drag-and-drop assembly.
The decisive advantage: content and presentation are separated. A redesign requires no content migration. A new page is created by assembling blocks, not by installing plugins.
ERP Integration: Automating Product Data Synchronization
The feature that makes the biggest difference for Wilk is invisible to visitors: automated ERP product synchronization.
How the Sync Pipeline Works
A Python-based middleware is triggered daily at 03:00 UTC via GitHub Actions:
- Fetch products — Paginated API call to the ERP system
- Group variants — Products with the same name are merged into families
- Detect changes — SHA-256 hashes compare current state with stored state
- Update selectively — Only changed products are written to Sanity
- Protect enrichment — Marketing copy and additional images survive every sync
- Update the website — Webhook triggers ISR rebuild of affected pages
The result: zero manual data entry. When a product is updated in the ERP, the change appears on the website by the next morning at the latest.
Why This Pattern Matters for Other Businesses
The ERP-to-website bridge isn't a Wilk-specific feature — it's an architectural pattern that any manufacturing company with an ERP system can adopt. The prerequisites:
- An ERP system with API access (REST or SOAP)
- A headless CMS as the data layer between ERP and website
- Sync logic that protects enrichment data
Whether machine manufacturer, food producer, or printing company: anyone manually synchronizing product data between systems is wasting resources that an automated pipeline recoups within hours.
Micro-Interactions: Why Animations Are More Than Decoration
A common misconception: animations are nice-to-have. In reality, they measurably impact user experience and conversion rates. For the Wilk website, we developed a fully CSS-based animation system — without Framer Motion or other heavy libraries.
WilkSquares: Brand Identity in Motion
The WilkSquares animation translates the brand mark into interactive motion: two squares in red and black that magnetically attract, overlap, and pulse. A single component with 6 variants, 4 sizes, and 3 speeds — used as preloader, hover effect, and section reveal.
Magnetic CTA Button
Call-to-action buttons follow the cursor with a subtle magnetic effect. The calculation uses mouse position relative to the button and applies physics-based easing. The result: an organic feel that invites clicks without being intrusive.
Performance-Conscious Animation
All animations run on CSS keyframes and animation-timeline — GPU-accelerated with zero JavaScript thread blocking. On devices with prefers-reduced-motion, animations are automatically disabled. On touch devices, parallax is disabled to protect scroll performance.
Practical Tip: CSS vs. JavaScript Animations
CSS animations aren't just more performant than JavaScript-based libraries — they also significantly reduce bundle size. The WilkSquares animation with 288 possible configurations weighs only 12.5 KB as a CSS file. A comparable Framer Motion implementation would add 20-40 KB of JavaScript to the bundle.
Cost Comparison: WordPress vs. Next.js — An Honest Look
The most common question with a relaunch: is the investment worth it? The honest answer: it depends.
WordPress isn't expensive to run. Managed hosting costs 20-50 EUR/month, premium plugins 200-500 EUR/year, and many businesses get by without an external maintenance contract. The running costs of a well-maintained WordPress site are 1,000-2,500 EUR per year — that's fair.
The problem lies elsewhere: Not in hosting costs, but in hidden time costs. Plugin updates that need testing. Security patches that cause compatibility issues. Features that require yet another plugin, which in turn affects other plugins. These costs don't appear on any invoice, but they tie up internal staff.
Next.js isn't free to run either. Vercel Hosting (Pro) costs ~20 USD/month, Sanity can reach 99 USD/month on the Growth tier, and updates require a developer rather than a page builder. Running costs are 500-2,000 EUR per year — similar to WordPress.
The real difference is the initial investment. A Next.js project costs significantly more to build than a WordPress theme setup. This additional investment pays off when the website needs to do more than display content — such as synchronizing ERP data, providing custom interactions, or serving as a platform for future features.
In short: WordPress is the cheaper choice for simple websites. Next.js is the better investment when requirements go beyond standard CMS functionality.
WordPress vs. Next.js: Direct Comparison
Data based on IJONIS project experience and industry benchmarks 2025/2026.
When a WordPress Relaunch Makes Sense — and When It Doesn't
A relaunch isn't always the right answer. WordPress remains a good choice for:
- Blogs and content portals that primarily publish text
- Small business sites without complex data integrations
- Teams without technical know-how that rely on the WordPress ecosystem
A relaunch to modern technology becomes relevant when:
- ERP or PIM systems need to be connected
- Performance is a ranking factor (Core Web Vitals)
- Security requirements go beyond plugin updates
- The design needs to stand out from template aesthetics
- Long-term maintenance costs exceed the initial relaunch investment
ERP and CRM Integration After the Relaunch
A modern website relaunch opens the door for seamless ERP and CRM integration. Next.js-based websites communicate via REST and GraphQL APIs directly with SAP, Salesforce, or HubSpot — without WordPress plugin dependencies. At IJONIS in Hamburg, we implemented this architecture for Wilk with automated ERP synchronization processing over 100 products daily.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does a WordPress to Next.js migration cost?
A professional relaunch from WordPress to Next.js typically costs between 8,000 and 25,000 EUR, depending on scope and system integrations. At IJONIS, the investment typically pays for itself through reduced maintenance costs and eliminated manual data management within 12-18 months.
How long does a website relaunch take?
The migration typically takes 6-12 weeks from concept to go-live. At IJONIS in Hamburg, we plan 2 weeks for concept, 4-6 weeks for development, and 2 weeks for testing and launch. Existing content is migrated automatically, so no manual copying is required.
Will I lose my Google rankings during a relaunch?
No — with proper execution, Google rankings are maintained or even improve. The key lies in 301 redirects for all existing URLs, a clean XML sitemap, and maintaining the content structure. The significantly improved load time after the relaunch typically has a positive effect on Core Web Vitals and therefore on rankings.
What is the best WordPress alternative for growing businesses?
For B2B companies with ERP connectivity and performance requirements, IJONIS recommends combining Next.js as the frontend framework with a headless CMS like Sanity or Strapi. This architecture enables native API integration, Lighthouse scores above 95, and lower long-term maintenance costs than WordPress.
Can I keep my existing content during migration?
Yes, all existing content can be automatically migrated to a headless CMS. Texts, images, and metadata are exported via script and transferred to the new structure. The IJONIS team has successfully completed this process for projects with over 500 pages — without any manual content transfer.
Conclusion: The Website as Growth Infrastructure
The Wilk website isn't an isolated redesign — it's an example of how modern web architecture becomes a competitive advantage. Automated ERP synchronization saves hours of work weekly. Static generation delivers load times that Google rewards. And the separation of content and presentation ensures the website is just as adaptable in five years as it is today.
For businesses that experience their WordPress site as a bottleneck, the question isn't whether to relaunch, but when. The technology is mature. The costs pay for themselves. And the difference between a 2019 WordPress site and a modern web presence is immediately noticeable to customers.
Learn more: See the Wilk project in detail or read about how we integrate AI into existing IT systems. If you're considering a relaunch, get in touch — we'll analyze your current website and show you concrete optimization potential.
