{"id":23040,"date":"2023-09-13T06:03:51","date_gmt":"2023-09-13T06:03:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.searchenginejournal.com\/study-how-long-should-seo-migration-take\/492050\/"},"modified":"2023-09-13T06:03:51","modified_gmt":"2023-09-13T06:03:51","slug":"how-long-should-an-seo-migration-take-study-via-sejournal-taylordanrw","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/marketingnewsbox.com\/?p=23040","title":{"rendered":"How Long Should An SEO Migration Take? [Study] via @sejournal, @TaylorDanRW"},"content":{"rendered":"

Website migrations<\/a>, specifically domain migrations<\/a>, are often seen as one of the more complex parts of SEO<\/a>.<\/p>\n

As SEO pros, we are tasked with mitigating as many risks and variables as possible so that the business doesn\u2019t see organic performance issues<\/a> \u2013 either at all or for a longer than necessary period of time.<\/p>\n

Over the years, I\u2019ve sat in a number of pitch meetings for migration projects, and I\u2019ve heard the words:<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cThe other agency said there should be no traffic loss at all, it will be like a light switch.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

More often than not, the prospect has gone with the salesperson\u2019s pitch, and monitoring the website in Ahrefs and other tools, you see situations like this:<\/p>\n

\"domainImage created by Dan Taylor, July 2023<\/span>\"domain<\/div>\n

A domain migration that hasn\u2019t recovered organic traffic more than two years after migration.<\/p>\n

Most businesses can\u2019t sustain an organic traffic drop of that magnitude for that length of time and not feel a serious impact on business operations.<\/p>\n

So this leads us back to the question we\u2019re asked by stakeholders when scoping and pitching for SEO migration projects:<\/p>\n

How long should an SEO migration take?<\/p>\n

Study Methodology<\/h2>\n

The aim of this study is to research and provide a data-led answer to \u201cHow long should an SEO migration take,\u201d to help both in-house SEO pros and SEO consultants provide better estimations and communications with non-SEO stakeholders of their migration projects.<\/p>\n

To answer this, we took a sample of 171 domain migrations (data provided by Ahrefs, supplemented by migration examples provided by other SEOs, as well as our own work history). We measured, using third-party tools, the number of days that it took Domain B (the new domain) to achieve the same estimated organic traffic volume as Domain A (the old domain).<\/p>\n

Helping me process this data was my colleague and fellow Search Engine Journal author Alireza Esmikhani<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Bias Factors<\/h3>\n

Bias in a quantitative study refers to systematic errors that can significantly skew the results, leading to incorrect conclusions.<\/p>\n

These biases can arise at any stage of the research process, such as in the design, data collection, analysis, and interpretation stages.<\/p>\n

Bias undermines the validity and reliability of the study\u2019s results and can lead to misleading conclusions.<\/p>\n

Where possible, we have taken steps to mitigate any bias from impacting the study.<\/p>\n