Next.js Consulting: Architecture, Performance, SEO Audits

Here's what a typical engagement actually covers. We dig into your architecture -- routing structure, data fetching patterns, rendering strategy across your route tree. We run a full performance audit using Lighthouse and Core Web Vitals, plus bundle analysis to find what's actually bloating your JS payload. On the SEO side, we check metadata rendering, structured data, sitemap configuration, and hreflang if you're running multiple locales. You get a prioritized action plan at the end -- not a list of 60 vague recommendations, but specific fixes ranked by impact with estimated effort attached. All of it delivered within 5-10 business days.

A code review catches syntax problems, style inconsistencies, obvious bugs. That's useful. But it's not the same thing. What we're looking at is the system design -- are you on the right rendering strategy for each route? Is your data fetching pattern creating waterfalls that add 800ms to your TTFB? Are your SEO foundations actually solid or just technically present? Pretty straightforward distinction in theory, but in practice most teams don't have someone asking these questions regularly. And honestly, the issues we find are almost always architectural. Not typos. Not missing semicolons. Decisions made six months ago that made sense at the time but are quietly causing problems now.

Yes -- and we've done it enough times to have a real process around it. The approach is route-by-route migration, which means your existing Pages Router functionality stays intact while we progressively bring routes over to App Router. Server components, streaming, the new metadata API -- all adopted incrementally rather than in one terrifying big-bang cutover. Zero-downtime migration isn't a nice-to-have, it's just the standard. You stay live throughout, and your team isn't blocked from shipping other work while the migration happens alongside normal development.

Both options are available. One-off audits -- covering architecture, performance, and SEO -- start at £3,000. That's a fixed scope, fixed deliverable, done in under two weeks. Retained consulting runs £2,000-5,000/month depending on scope, and covers ongoing architecture guidance, PR reviews, and performance monitoring. Most clients honestly start with the audit. It scopes the real problems clearly, and a lot of them convert to retained after that because they want someone in their corner long-term. Either way, the audit is a sensible starting point.

Social Animal isn't just a consulting shop -- we're a full-service development agency. So when the audit surfaces priorities and you need someone to actually implement the fixes, our engineering team can take that on directly. You don't have to hand a 40-page recommendations doc to your own team and wish them luck. A lot of clients use the consulting engagement as the scoping phase for a larger build project. It's a pretty natural progression -- we find what's broken, we agree on what matters most, and then we build it.