Next.js vs WordPress for SEO: Which Platform Ranks Better?

Next.js 13+ App Router uses the Metadata API: export async function generateMetadata() returning title, description, openGraph, alternates.canonical, and robots objects. JSON-LD schema is added via <script type="application/ld+json"> tags. Dynamic metadata per page is handled in each page.tsx file's generateMetadata function — giving full, code-level control over every SEO element.

Core Web Vitals are Google's page experience metrics that are ranking factors: (1) LCP (Largest Contentful Paint) — measures load time of the largest visible element, target under 2.5 seconds, (2) INP (Interaction to Next Paint, replaced FID) — measures responsiveness to user interactions, target under 200ms, (3) CLS (Cumulative Layout Shift) — measures visual stability (elements jumping around), target under 0.1. Pages meeting all three thresholds are considered "Good" and receive a ranking boost over pages in the Poor or Needs Improvement range.

Webflow sits between WordPress and Next.js: cleaner code than WordPress (better Core Web Vitals by default) and easier for designers than Next.js (no code required). Webflow generates clean HTML/CSS with good default SEO structure. Its limitations: less flexible than Next.js for programmatic SEO at scale, and less content management flexibility than WordPress for complex blogs. For design-led agencies and marketing teams wanting good performance without developers, Webflow is an excellent middle ground.

WordPress to Next.js migration checklist: (1) Export all existing URLs and content from WordPress, (2) Map all old URLs to new URLs and configure 301 redirects in Next.js middleware, (3) Recreate all metadata (title, description, canonical, OG tags) in the Metadata API, (4) Migrate XML sitemap and robots.txt, (5) Re-implement all schema markup (JSON-LD), (6) Submit new sitemap to Google Search Console immediately post-launch, (7) Monitor Search Console for crawl errors and ranking changes for 60 days. Critical: do not launch without all redirects in place — URL changes without redirects will lose accumulated SEO authority.

For Next.js: Vercel (created by the Next.js team) is the reference deployment platform — zero-config CDN, edge functions, and automatic performance optimisations. Alternative: Netlify provides similar CDN and serverless function support. For self-hosted deployments: AWS Amplify or Cloudflare Pages. All deliver globally distributed CDN essential for Core Web Vitals performance. Vercel's free tier covers most startup and small business needs; Pro plan ($20/month) required for team collaboration and higher usage limits.