A faster, calmer home for 1,500 stories — and every ranking you've earned.
A modernization concept for greenbelt.org: move ~2,000 pages off WordPress & WP Engine onto a fast, owned platform your team actually enjoys editing — while preserving every URL, every redirect, and every hard-won position in Google.
Prepared for Daniela Ades & Tallulah Shepard · Greenbelt Alliance, Oakland CA · budgeting for next year
The site today — measured, not guessed
You've built something big. It deserves a foundation that keeps up.
greenbelt.org is a genuinely substantial site — fifteen-plus years of advocacy, research, and reporting. Today it runs on WordPress and WP Engine with Elementor, Divi and a 2020 custom theme layered on top. It works — but every edit fights the page-builder, performance and hosting cost creep, and any big change risks the SEO you've spent years earning. Here's the real footprint we'd be modernizing.
Figures pulled directly from your live Yoast sitemap on 23 Jul 2026. The blog archive alone (post-sitemap 999 + overflow 575) is why SEO preservation is the whole job, not a footnote.
Honest before → after
Same content and URLs. A completely different foundation.
Nothing here is a knock on the current site — it's a good site. This is about what a modern, owned stack buys you: speed, easier editing, lower recurring cost, and accessibility, with none of the migration risk.
The page-builder tax
Astra + Elementor Pro + Divi + a 2020 custom child theme
- –Edits mean wrestling Elementor/Divi; layout and content are tangled together.
- –Heavy plugin stack (WP Rocket, Jetpack, page-builders) to keep the site fast enough.
- –WP Engine hosting is a recurring line item that grows with traffic and storage.
- –Accessibility & Core Web Vitals are fighting the theme, not helped by it.
- –A big redesign here risks the rankings on 1,500+ posts if URLs or meta slip.
Content you own, on the edge
Static-fast pages · a friendly CMS · hosted on Cloudflare
- ✓Editors write in a clean CMS (Sanity) — content and design finally separate.
- ✓No page-builder bloat; pages render near-instantly, mobile-first by default.
- ✓Hosting folds into one flat care plan that replaces the WP Engine bill.
- ✓WCAG 2.2 AA and strong Core Web Vitals built in — better for people and for Google.
- ✓Every URL preserved or 301-redirected, every Yoast meta carried over — zero ranking loss.
The redesign concept · your content, modernized
What a modern greenbelt.org could feel like
Your real brand — leaf green, deep teal, warm cream — carried by full-bleed Bay Area landscapes and a warm editorial typeface. The six work areas, events, and the blog, all faster and easier to run. This is a direction to react to, not a finished design.
The Bay Area isn't ready for climate change. We're changing that.
Since 1958, protecting the lands and communities that make the Bay Area resilient — from wildfire buffers to climate-smart housing.
Our work
Concept layout · real Greenbelt work areas & imagery · open the live homepage →
Not just the homepage — every page type, redesigned
Your site is really a dozen different templates. We built each one as a real, clickable page — the same brand, applied to the page types you actually publish. Open any tile below, or explore the whole thing.
Why this migration is safe
The rankings stay. That's non-negotiable.
A careless migration can drop 30–60% of organic traffic overnight — and clawing it back costs more than the redesign did. Protecting your search presence is engineered into every phase, not bolted on at the end.
↺ Every URL accounted for
We preserve your existing URL structure 1:1 wherever possible, and build a complete, tested 301-redirect map for anything that must change — validated across all ~2,000 URLs before launch.
🏷️ Meta & schema carried over
Every Yoast title, description and canonical migrates intact, plus richer structured data (Organization, Article, Event, Breadcrumb) so you can gain ground, not just hold it.
📈 Watched after launch
Fresh XML sitemaps, a clean robots.txt, a 404 sweep, and two weeks of post-launch rankings + redirect monitoring so nothing slips through on day one.
A feature of your modernized site
Stay in the loop
A fast, accessible newsletter signup — this is a preview of your future site, not a live form.
✓ Thanks — this is a demo preview; on your real site this would join your mailing list.
The budget · confirming what we discussed
Confirmed: $8,000–$12,000, one-time.
You'd asked me to pin down the number for next year's budget. Here it is — as a labeled estimate, broken into fixed-fee phases, and anchored against what agencies actually charge for a job this size.
Fixed fee, phased below. Where you land in the range is driven by one thing: how much of the 1,574-post archive needs hand-reflow versus clean automated import.
- ✓ Full design refresh on your real brand
- ✓ ~2,000 URLs migrated, SEO preserved
- ✓ Friendly CMS your team owns
- ✓ WCAG 2.2 AA + Core Web Vitals
Hosting + CMS + SSL, backups, security & uptime + a monthly block of content edits. Replaces your WP Engine bill — likely a net saving.
- ✓ Cloudflare edge hosting (fast, global)
- ✓ Sanity CMS included
- ✓ Security patches & monitoring
- ✓ Cancel-anytime after year one
| Phase | What it covers | Effort | Fee |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 · Discovery, IA & SEO baseline | Full ~2,000-URL crawl & content inventory; SEO baseline (top pages, rankings, backlinks, meta); redirect-risk audit; information architecture; kickoff. | 14–18 hrs | $1,000–1,400 |
| 2 · Design & brand refresh | Refined system from your real brand, accessibility-first; homepage + ~7 key templates; component library; two review rounds. | 24–34 hrs | $1,800–2,600 |
| 3 · Build + CMS | Next.js front-end; Sanity schemas for 6 custom post types + pages/posts; responsive mega-menu; site search; editor roles. | 40–56 hrs | $2,400–3,400 |
| 4 · Content migration swing factor | Automated import of 1,574 posts + 155 pages + custom types; media pipeline; hand-reflow of priority Elementor/Divi pages; bilingual EN/ES. | 26–44 hrs | $1,500–2,600 |
| 5 · SEO preservation, a11y & QA | 1:1 URLs + full 301 redirect map, tested; meta & schema migration; WCAG 2.2 AA; Core Web Vitals; 404 sweep; analytics. | 18–28 hrs | $1,000–1,600 |
| 6 · Launch, training & handoff | DNS cutover from WP Engine; launch checklist; 2-week post-launch monitoring; CMS training + documentation. | 10–15 hrs | $500–900 |
| Total — confirming the range you budgeted | 132–195 hrs | $8,000–12,000 | |
Optional, when you're ready — none needed for launch
This is a labeled estimate, not an invoice — we confirm the exact figure on a 15-minute scope call once we lock the migration approach and whether the Hotspots map is rebuilt or re-embedded. See how Intense Visions works at intensevisions.com.
Before you approve it · the budgeting questions
The questions to answer before next year's budget is set
Everything you'd need to defend this line item internally — answered straight from the scope, pricing and timeline on this page. Every figure here is a labeled estimate we confirm on a 15-minute call.
Will we keep our Google rankings?
Yes — this is the whole job, not a footnote. A careless migration can drop 30–60% of organic traffic overnight, so ranking protection is engineered into every phase. We preserve your existing URL structure 1:1 wherever possible and build a complete, tested 301-redirect map across all ~2,000 URLs, validated before launch. Every Yoast title, description and canonical migrates intact.
After cutover we ship fresh XML sitemaps, a clean robots.txt, a 404 sweep, and two weeks of post-launch rankings + redirect monitoring so nothing slips on day one. Your 1,574 blog posts — the organic-authority core — are the #1 thing we protect.
Why $8,000–$12,000 — and what drives where we land?
It's a one-time, fixed fee split across the six phases below. Where you land in the range is driven by one thing: how much of the 1,574-post archive needs hand-reflow versus clean automated import — the content-migration swing factor.
For context, this ~2,000-URL bilingual site with six custom post types would run ~$20k+ at a conventional agency (the phase hours alone, 132–195 hrs, bill at $125–175/hr ≈ $16k–34k). The range you budgeted holds.
What are the six phases, and what's fixed-fee vs. variable?
All six are fixed-fee: (1) Discovery, IA & SEO baseline $1,000–1,400 · (2) Design & brand refresh $1,800–2,600 · (3) Build + CMS $2,400–3,400 · (4) Content migration $1,500–2,600 (the swing factor) · (5) SEO preservation, a11y & QA $1,000–1,600 · (6) Launch, training & handoff $500–900. Total $8,000–12,000.
The only variable items are clearly-labeled optional add-ons — rebuilding the Resilience Hotspots map (+$1,500–3,000), a full bilingual site (+$1,500–2,500), donation-platform migration (scope on call), or an ongoing SEO growth retainer. None are needed for launch.
How long does it take?
A detailed ~10–12 week path, laid out as relative phases so you can slot it into a fiscal quarter — no fixed calendar date until we pick a kickoff together. Content migration overlaps the build to compress the schedule.
The biggest lever on the timeline is your approval turnaround on the two gates — design sign-off (end of Week 4) and redirect-map approval. Reserve a ~3-month runway, and avoid launching during the year-end giving appeal or an active election window.
What happens to our current WP Engine site during the migration?
It stays live and untouched. The new site is built in parallel, and you review the whole thing on a private staging URL (Weeks 10–11) before anything changes. The only switch is the DNS cutover from WP Engine at launch (Week 12).
A short ~1-week content freeze near migration keeps reconciliation — and cost — down. We just need WP Engine, analytics and donation-platform access at the start to capture the baseline.
What does the $99/mo care plan cover — and does it replace WP Engine?
Yes, it replaces your WP Engine bill — likely a net saving. The flat $99/mo is all-in: Cloudflare edge hosting, the Sanity CMS, SSL, backups, security patches and uptime monitoring, plus a monthly block of content edits.
It's the one required recurring plan, and it's cancel-anytime after year one.
Do we own the result?
Yes. The site is built on an owned Next.js + Sanity platform — content and design finally live separately, and your team edits everything in a friendly CMS you own. No page-builder lock-in, and the care plan is cancel-anytime after year one.
What do you need from us?
Three things move the project: access (WP Engine, analytics and donation-platform at kickoff; DNS at launch), timely approvals on the two gates (design sign-off, redirect map), and two early decisions — whether the Resilience Hotspots map is rebuilt or re-embedded, and how far the bilingual EN/ES scope extends.
Beyond that: your brand assets, a stakeholder review round on staging, and a ~1-week content-freeze window near migration.
These answers reflect the scope, pricing and timeline on this page — every figure is a labeled estimate, confirmed on a 15-minute scope call. A question I didn't cover? Email Chad Warner · chad.warner@intensevisions.com.
The plan · what happens after "yes"
A detailed ~10–12 week path, built for budgeting.
Since you're planning for next year, here's the whole sequence as relative phases with the real dependencies named — so you can slot it into a fiscal quarter with confidence. No fixed calendar date until we pick a kickoff together.
Discovery, IA & SEO baseline
Inventory every URL, capture the search baseline, and agree the sitemap & content model.
needs: WP Engine + analytics + donation-platform accessDesign & brand refresh
Homepage + key templates on your real brand, one review round, then a sign-off gate.
gate: design sign-off (end W4) · needs brand assetsBuild + CMS
Front-end and Sanity schemas for pages, posts and all six custom post types.
starts on design sign-offContent migration (overlaps build)
Automated import of the full archive + media; hand-reflow of priority pages.
needs: content-freeze decision + EN/ES scopeSEO preservation, accessibility & QA
Redirect map tested across all URLs, schema, WCAG 2.2 AA, performance, 404 sweep.
gate: redirect-map approvalYour review on staging
Full stakeholder review on a private staging URL; redirect and content spot-checks.
needs: stakeholder review roundLaunch, monitoring & training
DNS cutover, two weeks of watch on rankings & redirects, and CMS training for your team.
needs: DNS access + launch-window pickBudgeting guidance for next year
Reserve $8–12k one-time + $99/mo in the fiscal year you choose. Pick a kickoff quarter that leaves a ~3-month runway and avoids launching during the year-end giving appeal or an active election window (your Voter Guide traffic spike). A ~1-week content freeze near migration keeps reconciliation — and cost — down. Approval turnaround on the two gates (design, redirect map) is the biggest lever on the schedule.
Next step — one low-friction thing
- Book a 15-minute scope call so we can confirm the exact figure in the $8–12k range and pick a target quarter.
- We lock two decisions: Hotspots map (rebuild vs. re-embed) and bilingual scope — the two things that move the number.
- You get a one-page written estimate to drop straight into next year's budget.
The design system · here's what we'd build you
Your brand, refined into a system
Not a new identity — a disciplined version of the one you already have, tuned for contrast, speed, and a warm, credible voice.
Palette · from your real brand globals
Type · Lora + a clean system sans
Components & motif
Full-bleed landscape scenes, soft-edged cards, pill CTAs, and a signature topographic contour motif drawn from the land you protect — used sparingly as the one moment of delight.
Voice
