Recovering SEO Traffic After a Website Migration | Migration Study Breakdown

How long should it take to recover SEO traffic after a migration? In this video, SEO veteran Charles Taylor breaks down the latest migration study by Dan Taylor (no relation) from Search Engine Journal. With over a decade of Enterprise SEO experience, Charles reviews a comprehensive analysis of 892 domain migrations and what it really takes to recover SEO traffic after a migration — and how long it should (and shouldn’t) take.

This CTO Migrations session offers expert commentary on a common pain point for websites: traffic drops after a site or domain change. Charles covers the dangers of poor planning, the shocking stats from the updated migration study, and most importantly — how to recover SEO traffic after a migration faster and more effectively.

SUMMARY:

• The average time to recover SEO traffic after a migration? A shocking 523 days, according to the
• 2024 migration study.
• Best-case scenarios show full recovery in just 19–33 days.
• 17% of domains never recovered even after 1,000 days.
• Learn how CTO Migrations helps brands avoid disaster and reclaim traffic in as little as 30–45 days.
• Charles Taylor explains why it doesn't have to take months (or years!) to recover SEO traffic after a migration.
  
  EXPLAINER:
  If you're wondering how long to recover SEO traffic after a migration, this is your essential guide. Informed by hard data from Dan Taylor’s massive migration study, this video shows how many businesses unknowingly sabotage their rankings — and how to avoid it. From planning and redirects to link equity and crawl lag, Charles Taylor shares actionable insights on how to make your next website migration a success.
  🔹 Whether you're a CTO, marketer, or SEO lead, you'll come away knowing:
  🔹 What to expect from third-party traffic tools post-migration
  🔹 How long SEO recovery typically takes — and why it varies
  🔹 Proven tactics to recover SEO traffic after a migration quickly
  🔹 The role CTO Migrations plays in ensuring smooth transitions
  
  TRANSCRIPT:
  Clients often ask me: How long does it take to recover SEO traffic after a migration? The answer is... it depends — but a recent migration study from December 2024 by Dan Taylor (no relation) gives us real data.
  
  Dan updated a previous study from 2023. The original had 171 migrations; this one analyzed nearly 900 domain migrations. The goal was to see how long it takes for Domain B (the new site) to regain the organic traffic levels of Domain A (the old site).
  
  The average? 523 days.
  
  That’s not a migration — that’s a loss followed by a very slow recovery. It should never take that long. In fact, the fastest recoveries were just 19, 22, 23, and 33 days — exactly where we want to be. Ideally, you should recover SEO traffic after a migration in 30 to 45 days, not over a year.
  
  Even more concerning: 17% of sites never recovered traffic levels even after 1,000 days. That’s nearly three years. In the real world, very few businesses can survive that kind of drop without impact.
  
  At CTO Migrations, our mission is to prevent exactly that. With the right planning, monitoring, and experience, you can avoid becoming another data point in a negative case study.
  
  Don’t let your site sit in SEO limbo for years. Charles Taylor and CTO Migrations help you make strategic website moves that recover traffic fast — not in 500 days, but in weeks.
  
  TOPICS COVERED:
  migration study, how long to recover SEO traffic after a migration, how to recover SEO traffic after a migration, recover SEO traffic after a migration, CTO Migrations, Charles Taylor SEO