Business Acquisition: Balancing SEO and Customer Awareness

[MRCSearch]

I'm looking for opinions on the following scenario:

SuperWidgets buys GreatWidgets. That business acquisition involves the purchase of GreatWidgets.com, a standard but well-established website with some nice backlinks. The business acquisition is communicated to previous customers of GreatWidgets through the normal channels.

What should be done with GreatWidgets.com. Re-direct to a splash page informing visitors of the acquisition? 301 page-to-page for directly relevant content? If a splash page, how long would you keep it up?

Also, any opinions on how to handle any non-claimed local listings for the now-acquired business? Claimed ones will of course be handled, but what about the non-claimed and unclaimable?

[RobertFisher]

Good question Nicholas,

What we have done in the past and (I believe is a best practice) is to 301 url to url wherever possible. I would not do a splash page, on your pages if you added something in the header of SuperWidgets: Welcome GreatWidgets members, two great companies have now become one greater company, etc. The 301 gets you the juice infusion, GW customers are not freaking out is great too.

On the local, it really will be around what other assets. Brick and mortar, staying open or closing, etc. You won't be able to use a 301'd url in Places, but the others will still resolve. As to unclaimed, I would claim and then use that for as long as it is good.

Best,

[EGOL]

Thumbs down from me on that splash page.

301 page-to-page for directly relevant content?  YES, unite the clans.