RULE: Lead WordPress migration sales with a $1,250 fixed-price Migration Audit. Quote the build fixed-price only after the audit completes.

Rule: Every Candid Creative WordPress migration engagement begins with a paid Migration Audit & Risk Register at $1,250 fixed.

Audit deliverables (all in one document):

1. Full URL inventory with GSC traffic + Ahrefs/Semrush backlink overlay.
2. Redirect map skeleton — CSV: old URL → new URL → notes. Includes attachment pages, pagination, archives, feeds.
3. Page-builder / ACF complexity scorecard — count of Elementor/Divi/WPBakery pages, ACF field groups, custom post types, custom plugins.
4. Recommended target stack with rationale, anchored on RULE: Default stack for new marketing-site work is Astro 5/6 + Tailwind v4 on Cloudflare Pages unless a flip condition applies.
5. Fixed-fee quote for the build.
6. "Do not migrate" verdict where appropriate (see When NOT to migrate a client off WordPress — the honest counter-cases Candid Creative will refuse).

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.

T&M is appropriate only when: the source site is a known black box (acquired site, no original developer, undocumented custom plugins).

Threshold to standardize further: once 5 paid audits are closed, normalize the template and offer at the same price.