Rebranding/Changing the name of an established domain in order to target a bigger market?

[benjonson]

So let's say I have a site called "ToyotaParts.com" that has good SEO metrics and is ranking highly for keywords like "toyota tires", "toyota battery", etc....

What if I decide that I wanna target other cars as well with my site and keywords like "mazda tires", yet still want to take advantage of my domain's existing authority...

Can I do something like get a new domain like "carparts.com" and redirect the old domain to it and then continue to create new pages that would target new keywords, or would I risk losing my current domain's authority or running into other seo issues?

Thanks a lot

[JarnoNijzing]

Tom,

I do get what you are going for. I also understand what Ray is saying and I do think he has some good points. I would also start by looking at multiple options. The options I see are this:

1. Keep the current domain and expend it like Ray suggested (/mazda=tires/ etc).
2. Start a new domain (carparts.com) and redirecting your current pages to the new domain (carports.com/toyota-parts/)
3. Keep the current domain and create a new domain for your expansion and linking them all together. So you get toyotaparts.com, mazdaparts.com, hondaparts.com etc.

Every option has a few pro's and cons speaking for it. The domain you currently own and use also has an age factor in its favor. By redirecting it to a new domain you may pass on the authority but you won't pass on the age of the domain. Though new websites tend to rank well in the beginnen, then start dropping some and then settle down it's still a risk factor. Ever more in a very competitive niche.

Maybe the real answer is somewhere in between the options. You could also keep what you have right now, and expend by creating both carparts.com and mazdaparts.com. What you then could do is build something on carparts.com and from there refer to each individual site (toyotaparts.com/mazdaparts.com etc). And you expend by creating new fresh sites and by creating your own high quality new fresh content that's unique and refer it to your other content on the other websites. That way you get a spider web with carports in the center of it and the other sites at the far end, linking it all together to one giant network. Some SEO's might have to say something about this too but I'm just giving you my piece of mind and my thoughts on this subject.

Hope this helps you some.

Regards

Jarno

[Ray-pp]

Generally speaking, a 301 redirect transfers 98%+ of the authority when implemented properly. However, I would do a complete evaluation to see if a new domain is the strategy you want to move forward with. Even though Toyota may be narrowly targeted, can you create subdirectories (toyotaparts.com/maza-tires) that are intuitive? If so, it may be more effective to keep the original domain intact.

Also, since you have an authority website, creating content on both and intelligently linking from the old domain to the new domain (creating quality content on both site and linking from toyotaparts.com to mazdatires.com) may also be immediately effective for certain keywords.