From Legacy ASP to Modern Payload CMS: How Top Grass Transformed Their Online Presence

When Top Grass, a Bristol-based landscaping company, approached me about their website, they were stuck with a Classic ASP site that was holding their business back. Now they're about to launch a modern Progressive Web App with perfect performance scores, ready to dominate local search rankings.

Here's exactly what we're building and the results we're expecting based on development benchmarks.

The Problem: A Legacy Website Holding Back Growth

Top Grass had been running their business on a Classic ASP website for years. While it had served them well initially, the limitations were becoming impossible to ignore:

Performance issues:

Page load times averaging 6-8 seconds
Lighthouse performance score of around 35/100
Mobile experience was particularly poor
No caching or optimisation capabilities

Content management frustrations:

Almost no customisation options
Updating content required technical knowledge
No ability to showcase their portfolio properly
Adding new services meant contacting a developer

SEO struggles:

Failing to rank for local landscaping keywords
Poor Core Web Vitals hurting search visibility
No structured data or modern SEO features
Competitors were outranking them consistently

Business impact:

Field teams couldn't access the site reliably on mobile
Enquiry form was basic and unreliable
No way to track what was working
The site simply didn't reflect the quality of their work

Why We Chose Payload CMS + Next.js

After discussing their needs, it was clear they needed more than a WordPress site. Here's why Payload CMS paired with Next.js was the right choice:

1. Performance by Default

Top Grass needed a fast site without ongoing performance maintenance. Next.js with static generation delivers sub-second load times out of the box, no caching plugins or optimisation work required.

2. Complete Content Control

With Payload CMS, we could build exactly the content structures Top Grass needed:

Service pages with custom fields for pricing, features, and galleries
Portfolio system with project categories and filtering
Testimonial management
Team member profiles
Service area coverage

No plugins, no workarounds, just the exact features they needed.

3. Future-Proof Architecture

The headless approach means the content isn't locked into one presentation. If Top Grass wants a mobile app in the future, the content API is already there.

4. PWA Capabilities

Their field teams needed offline access. Next.js made it straightforward to add Progressive Web App features so the site works even without an internet connection.

The Migration Process

Discovery and Planning

We started with a thorough audit of their existing site:

Identified all existing content that needed migrating
Mapped out the new content structure
Conducted keyword research for local landscaping terms
Planned the information architecture

Design and Development

The build focused on:

Mobile-first design (most of their traffic is mobile)
Clean, professional aesthetic matching their brand
Fast, intuitive navigation
Clear calls-to-action for enquiries

Content Migration and SEO

Rather than just copying content across, we:

Rewrote key pages targeting researched keywords
Added proper heading structure and meta data
Implemented structured data for local business
Set up proper redirects from old URLs

Training and Handover

The one adjustment period was getting used to Payload's admin interface. Coming from a system with almost no content management, there was a learning curve. But within a couple of sessions, the team was confidently managing their own content.

The trade-off is worth it: the flexibility Payload offers for custom fields, content relationships, and workflows is leagues ahead of what they had before.

The Results (So Far)

The development benchmarks show a dramatic transformation:

Performance

Metric	Before (ASP)	After (Payload + Next.js)
Lighthouse Performance	~35/100	100/100
Page Load Time	6-8 seconds	Under 1 second
First Contentful Paint	~4.2s	0.6s
Time to Interactive	~8.5s	0.9s
Core Web Vitals	Failing	All passing

Expected SEO Impact

Based on similar migrations, we're targeting:

First-page rankings for primary service keywords within 8-12 weeks
Significant increase in organic search impressions
Featured in local pack for "landscaping Bristol" searches
Improved click-through rates from better Core Web Vitals

Business Benefits Ready at Launch

Modern enquiry form with better conversion potential
PWA functionality for field team access
Content updates taking minutes instead of developer involvement
A site that finally reflects the quality of their work

I'll update this case study with actual post-launch results once the site goes live.

Key Takeaways

When Legacy Migration Makes Sense

This project reinforces when moving to Payload CMS is the right call:

Your current platform is limiting growth - Top Grass couldn't compete online with their old site
You need custom functionality - Their portfolio system, service areas, and enquiry routing needed bespoke solutions
Performance is business-critical - Slow sites lose customers, especially on mobile
You want long-term cost stability - No annual plugin renewals or escalating hosting costs

The Payload Advantage for Migrations

Migrating from legacy systems to Payload offers specific benefits:

Clean slate architecture - No legacy baggage or plugin conflicts
Type-safe content - TypeScript throughout means fewer bugs
Developer experience - Faster to build and maintain than traditional CMS platforms
Modern hosting - Deploy on Vercel or similar for automatic scaling and global CDN

Would This Work for Your Project?

If you're running a legacy website (ASP, old PHP, outdated CMS) and recognise these problems, a similar transformation is possible.

The key factors that made Top Grass successful:

Clear business goals (better rankings, more enquiries)
Willingness to invest in a proper solution
Content that needed custom structure
Long-term thinking about costs and maintenance

Not every project needs Payload CMS. For simpler sites, WordPress might be more appropriate. But for businesses that have outgrown their current platform and need something custom, the results speak for themselves.

Considering a similar migration? Get in touch and I'll give you an honest assessment of whether Payload CMS is right for your situation.

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