{"id":642,"slug":"sej-892-migrations-clarification-domain-vs-cms","title":"Clarification: the SEJ 892-migration study explicitly measures domain-to-domain moves, NOT same-domain CMS swaps","kind":"reference","scope":"business","status":"current","audiences":["kevin","smb-owner","candid-team"],"topics":["migration-mechanics","citation-practices"],"reference_body":"**Claim:** Dan Taylor's Search Engine Journal study, *\"How Long Should An SEO Migration Take? [Study Updated]\"* (published Jan 9, 2025; data collated Oct 22, 2024; n=892), explicitly measures **domain-to-domain migrations**.\n\n**Verbatim:** *\"On average, it took 523 days for Domain B to show the same level of organic traffic as Domain A. 17% of domain migrations in the sample didn't see organic traffic return to the same levels after 1,000 days.\"*\n\n**Methodology:** Ahrefs estimated organic traffic comparing Domain B to Domain A.\n\n**Same-domain CMS swaps are not in this dataset.** Citing the 523-day / 17% number to a same-domain client is dishonest; ignoring it for a domain-change client is malpractice.\n\n**Methodology improvement note:** the earlier (n=171) reading of the same study showed 42% of sites never recovering; the n=892 update brought that to 17%. Taylor: *\"17% of migrations did not recover after 1,000 days, though this is an improvement from 42% in the previous study.\"* Industry citations of \"42% never recover\" are now out of date.\n\n**Confidence:** High for the methodology scope; the number itself is verified.\n\nThis entry corrects/refines [[sej-892-migrations-523-day-recovery]] (existing) by emphasizing the domain-vs-CMS scoping.","rationale_body":null,"metadata":null,"links":{"outgoing":[{"slug":"sej-892-migrations-523-day-recovery","title":"Search Engine Journal (Jan 2025): 523-day average recovery from domain migration (n=892); 17% never recover by 1,000 days","kind":"reference","scope":"business","link_type":"supersedes"}],"incoming":[{"slug":"same-domain-migration-recovery-timeline","title":"Same-domain CMS migration with proper 1:1 redirects: 2-4 weeks of crawl turbulence; 4-8 weeks to full stability. The 523-day stat is domain-to-domain.","kind":"reference","scope":"business","link_type":"depends-on"},{"slug":"migration-objection-handling-map","title":"Migration objection-handling map — sourced answers to every common client fear about migrating off WordPress","kind":"reference","scope":"business","link_type":"depends-on"}]},"created_at":"2026-05-22T21:23:33.817Z","updated_at":"2026-05-22T21:23:33.817Z"}