Launching a new website, whether it’s a redesign, replatform, or full CMS migration , is often treated as a milestone for a business. But for SEO teams, it can quickly become a high-risk transition. Even migrations that appear technical sound at launch can trigger significant visibility and traffic declines in the months that follow. In more severe cases, the impact of an “SEO migration hangover” can persist for 12 to 18 months, impacting rankings, organic revenue, and overall search performance long after the new site deploys. What Is A Migration Hangover? A SEO migration hangover is the prolonged, significant, and often avoidable drop in organic traffic that follows a website migration. A migration hangover is a long-term loss of authority and traffic following a poorly executed domain move. Normal volatility differs significantly from a hangover. Normal volatility is only a temporary website migration traffic drop, with less fluctuation as Google recrawls, reprocesses, and re-evaluates changed content.…