Buying existing domain: 301 or keep site?

[Geordieromer]

I have the opportunity to buy a domain in the same vertical as my own (real estate) which has a decent link profile and good SERPs.

What are the pros and cons of keeping the existing domain and tweaking the content versus 301ing the domain to my existing domain or a page on my domain?

[irvingw]

interlinking different domains targeting the same keyword universe can get you penalized, so if you're going to play the "more than one horse in the race" game keep them as independent as possible and know what you're doing and understand the risks.

[Geordieromer]

Thanks for your thoughts Adam.

1. This other site doesn't have great content. It has a lot of links from pages with decent authority, but it didn't earn these links because of great content.

We are a small shop and creating content is a challenge just for one site. 301ing would certainly be easier.

2. This other domain has a focus on a nearby town that really isn't our area of focus. I think we could get lots of leads by getting this site up and running, but we really don't have the staff to handle this new geographic area.

From a keyword perspective, there is an interesting overlap. The subject domain focuses on Wenatchee Washington. Our site is about Leavenworth Washington, which includes Lake Wenatchee (which is an hour from Wenatchee, but shares the Wenatchee keyword.)

Geordie

[JFritton]

Keep in mind however that links and rankings can degrade over time.  If you aren't building new content on the new domain then the advantage may begin to fade after a while.  It can be difficult to develop unique, fresh content for both domains.

It depends on how close your branding of each will be and if it's meant to drive sales leads then you also have to make sure to focus on the user experience for both.

-Jason

[Adam.Whittles]

I'm massively in favour of keeping these domains rather than using a 301 redirect. Although you can gain some short term benefits from the link juice passed on with a 301 redirect, you are much better off in the long term by keeping the domain and creating links to your site from the domain. Here's why:

1. If you 301 redirect the domain, no new content will be created on that domain and in all likelihood, no new links will be created for that domain and you may even lose links. Whereas if you keep the domain, you can continue to build new content that attract more links.

2. If the domain is in the same industry and has good rankings in search engines then why not capitalise on that opportunity? Now you can have two sites that rank well generating more sales/conversions for your single business.

That's my thoughts,

Adam.