{"id":408,"slug":"rule-prefer-headless-astro-for-content-heavy-seo-critical-clients","title":"RULE: For content-heavy SEO/AI-critical clients (~$10k+ budget), default proposal is headless WordPress + Astro on Cloudflare Pages","kind":"rule","scope":"business","status":"current","audiences":["claude-code","dev","candid-team"],"topics":["core-web-vitals","tech-stack","agency-methodology","page-builders"],"reference_body":"**Rule:** For Candid Creative clients in the **content-heavy, SEO-critical, AI-citation-sensitive** tier (typically $10k+ budget — Use Case C in [[page-builder-migration-by-use-case]]), the default proposal is **headless WordPress (WPGraphQL) + Astro on Cloudflare Pages**, not WordPress + page builder, not Next.js SSR.\n\n**Why:**\n- Performance: Astro ships ~90% less JS than Next.js for static content ([[astro-vs-nextjs-40pct-faster-90pct-less-js]])\n- Cost: ~$0/month on Cloudflare Pages vs $20-200/month for Next.js SSR ([[astro-cloudflare-pages-zero-cost-vs-nextjs]])\n- SMB migration: $1.5k-$5k from WordPress to Astro; ongoing $700-2,100/yr → <$200/yr (Web Aloha agency)\n- AI extractability: pre-rendered HTML, server-render-first, no JS hydration needed for content reads — see [[ai-crawlers-do-not-execute-js]]\n- Practitioner satisfaction: State of JS 2025 — Astro 39-point satisfaction lead over Next.js ([[astro-cloudflare-pages-zero-cost-vs-nextjs]])\n\n**How to apply:**\n- For Use Case C clients (content-heavy, SEO-critical, AI-sensitive): lead the proposal with Astro headless. The page-builder + WordPress comparison is presented as \"the old way.\"\n- Use Case D (web app, authenticated flows): Next.js is still right — Astro is for content sites.\n- The Stage 4 pilot client in [[candid-page-builder-roadmap-stages-1-4]] is the first Astro production reference; document the build hours and case-study results before quoting the same approach to Client #2.\n- WordPress remains the authoring layer (clients edit in wp-admin); Astro renders the public site.","rationale_body":null,"metadata":null,"links":{"outgoing":[{"slug":"astro-cloudflare-pages-zero-cost-vs-nextjs","title":"Astro on Cloudflare Pages: ~$0/month vs Next.js SSR ~$20-200/month (Bobes 2026 benchmark)","kind":"reference","scope":"business","link_type":"depends-on"},{"slug":"astro-vs-nextjs-40pct-faster-90pct-less-js","title":"Astro vs Next.js (eastondev benchmark, Dec 2025): ~40% faster, ~90% less JS for static content","kind":"reference","scope":"business","link_type":"depends-on"},{"slug":"ai-crawlers-do-not-execute-js","title":"AI crawlers (GPTBot, ClaudeBot, PerplexityBot) generally do not execute JavaScript — client-side React/Vue without SSR is invisible","kind":"reference","scope":"business","link_type":"depends-on"},{"slug":"page-builder-migration-by-use-case","title":"Reference: alternative-stack recommendations by use case and budget (Candid 6-tier framework)","kind":"reference","scope":"business","link_type":"depends-on"}],"incoming":[{"slug":"research-brief-case-against-page-builders","title":"Research brief: The Case Against Page Builders (piece 10 of 15)","kind":"reference","scope":"business","link_type":"relates-to"},{"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"}]},"created_at":"2026-05-22T20:21:39.909Z","updated_at":"2026-05-22T20:21:39.909Z"}