{"id":683,"slug":"rule-lead-with-paid-migration-audit","title":"RULE: Lead WordPress migration sales with a $1,250 fixed-price Migration Audit. Quote the build fixed-price only after the audit completes.","kind":"rule","scope":"business","status":"current","audiences":["kevin","candid-team"],"topics":["agency-methodology","migration-mechanics","pricing-models"],"reference_body":"**Rule:** Every Candid Creative WordPress migration engagement begins with a paid Migration Audit & Risk Register at **$1,250 fixed**.\n\n**Audit deliverables (all in one document):**\n\n1. **Full URL inventory** with GSC traffic + Ahrefs/Semrush backlink overlay.\n2. **Redirect map skeleton** — CSV: old URL → new URL → notes. Includes attachment pages, pagination, archives, feeds.\n3. **Page-builder / ACF complexity scorecard** — count of Elementor/Divi/WPBakery pages, ACF field groups, custom post types, custom plugins.\n4. **Recommended target stack** with rationale, anchored on [[rule-prefer-astro-cloudflare-default-marketing-site]] unless a flip condition applies.\n5. **Fixed-fee quote** for the build.\n6. **\"Do not migrate\" verdict** where appropriate (see [[when-not-to-migrate-counter-cases]]).\n\n**Why:** the audit is the marketing wedge. It's the artifact prospective clients can show their stakeholders. It converts hand-wavy fear into a one-page risk register and gives Candid a profitable, low-risk entry point.\n\n**T&M is appropriate only when:** the source site is a known black box (acquired site, no original developer, undocumented custom plugins).\n\n**Threshold to standardize further:** once 5 paid audits are closed, normalize the template and offer at the same price.","rationale_body":null,"metadata":null,"links":{"outgoing":[{"slug":"rule-prefer-astro-cloudflare-default-marketing-site","title":"RULE: Default stack for new marketing-site work is Astro 5/6 + Tailwind v4 on Cloudflare Pages","kind":"rule","scope":"business","link_type":"relates-to"},{"slug":"when-not-to-migrate-counter-cases","title":"When NOT to migrate a client off WordPress — the honest counter-cases Candid Creative will refuse","kind":"reference","scope":"business","link_type":"relates-to"},{"slug":"migration-pricing-bands-2026","title":"Candid migration pricing bands 2026: $3.5-7K brochure / $8-18K 50-page+100-post / $20-45K 200-page content-heavy; ACF/Elementor/WooCommerce multipliers","kind":"reference","scope":"business","link_type":"depends-on"}],"incoming":[{"slug":"research-brief-wp-migration-playbook","title":"Research brief: The Candid Creative WordPress Migration Playbook (piece 19)","kind":"reference","scope":"business","link_type":"depends-on"},{"slug":"migration-pricing-bands-2026","title":"Candid migration pricing bands 2026: $3.5-7K brochure / $8-18K 50-page+100-post / $20-45K 200-page content-heavy; ACF/Elementor/WooCommerce multipliers","kind":"reference","scope":"business","link_type":"depends-on"}]},"created_at":"2026-05-22T21:24:18.405Z","updated_at":"2026-05-22T21:24:18.405Z"}