301 Redirect Old Established Site to New Business Model Site?

[sunbelt]

I have a client who has a website which is getting fairly descent traffic in the current industry its in. He is launching a new business model, same industry. New domain, new brand etc.

Is it better to keep both entities separate and try growing them both? Or would it be more effective in terms of acquiring ranks and traffic to 301 redirect the old established site to the new site? Transferring all the value from the old and instantly boosting the new model.

Not sure if this ads anything to the topic, the new domain is also an exact domain keyword match for a highly searched term.

[blackballonline]

"I have a client who has a website which is getting fairly descent traffic in the current industry its in. He is launching a new business model, same industry. New domain, new brand etc." Excerpt from question

"If the other site no longer need be used, I see no reason not to redirect."

I would agree, but she says nothing about not using the old site.

That's the issue - the other site already has traffic for more keywords than just the new domain exact match. So why kill all traffic that the client receives from the old domain? - and leave what in it's place? Reliance on Google to catch up?

[j0a0vargas]

Sorry but I have to disagree with you. The 301 at the beginning, it would be great just to decrease the initial work of authority and trust of the domain. Would greatly facilitate the start of work for the new domain. Start with a good 301 is fine. If the other site no longer need be used, I see no reason not to redirect.

[blackballonline]

With fairly decent traffic (and conversions) I'm assuming, I would probably build the new site out and keep them both up until the new site gains some "Trust and Authority" (links and index position) You can leverage the power of the old site to link out to the new site (targeted keywords of course) to expedite the process. I would want to keep the traffic flowing and try to make the transition as painless as possible for the client. After the new site has achieved some credibility in the eyes of the Search Engines, then you may consider your 301 option.

Exact matched domains usually rank very well initially anyway. Hope this helped.

This recommendation is based solely on your question of course. If there are other circumstances at play then my opinion may change.

[j0a0vargas]

Getting SEO in a new domain always requires much effort. A 301 redirect from one domain older, mostly from the same field, is great for the new one.

What should be evaluated:
• The strength of the old domain (PR)
• The amount of backlinks that he already has.
• The key words that he succeeds in the rankings.
• If it's worth keeping it in the air, knowing that if you do the 301, will transfer this relevance to the new domain.

We must remember that the time domain is one of the factors and rankings in theory when you change a site telling Google and following the guides, you transfer this importance.

If you choose to actually do the 301. Be sure to follow the guidelines of google:

https: / / www.google.com/support/webmasters/bin/answer.py?answer=83105&hl=en

Hope this has helped.