For years the default for any local business site was spinning up another WordPress install, throwing 10 plugins at it, and charging a monthly retainer just to keep Elementor and Contact Form 7 from breaking.

Now that Claude Code and Cursor can build a clean Astro site in a couple hours, WordPress feels like way too much overhead for a 5 to 20 page business site.

Here is the workflow we switched to for migrating client sites off WordPress:

1. Map the old URLs first

The main way agencies mess up a WordPress to Astro migration is breaking old URLs that already rank on Google. Before building anything, have your agent pull their sitemap and generate a /_redirects file so every old /wp-content/ link or weird trailing slash 301s cleanly.

2. Skip the headless CMS for small clients

Most local business owners log into wp-admin twice a year to change their opening hours or update a price list.…