New website :301 redirection of a established domain

[ShoutOut]

Hello ,

I am launching a new website which would host user generated content . Based on my brandname i have purchased a new domain . In order to improve SEO  rankings i was considering to purchase a good quality domain (have gr8 link backs)  and then perform 301 redirection of the domain to the new brandname.co.in domain .

Does this work ?  Is there any harm in doing this ? . Does the Link juice pass naturally ?

Warm Rgd

[Marcus_Miller]

Hmm, it's not a simple matter of just buying up domains and you have to consider a bunch of things:

1. are the links to this site relevant to the new site (branded links etc)
2. is the old site a safe bet? Has it got penalties etc
3. if the site is valuable, why is it for sale?

I remembered this article from ages ago but it pretty much hits the nail on the head: 
http://www.seomoz.org/blog/buying-expired-domains-whats-the-best-strategy

Also, are you going to pick apart the old site and do specific redirects to relevant content on the new site or are you just going to funnel everything into the homepage with a catch all redirect rule? Again, if the other site was relevant and you could distribute the juice out to relevant places it would likely herald better results.

I guess the best tip here is to buy a site that is relevant and to not expect miracles! Also, make sure this is done as a complimentary strategy to other promotion and not as a sole approach.

Hope it helps

Marcus

[esendex]

I think if Google realises that the redirect is not helpful to the user you may get punished for it. If it is going to trick a user into visiting your site, then it is frowned upon.

If the domain you buy is highly related to the content on your site, then I would say there is no problem in it. It would almost be helping "users" get from one site to your site for the information they are looking for.

Always keep in mind Google is all about the user satisfaction.

[Gustav-Northclick]

As long as the 301 is from your old site to the new domain I don't see any harm or reason not to do that.

Main take away: do you get better links to the new domain than the previous?

Do the new  domain name makes better sense?

Answer: If above checks out you can do it safely.

Hope I answered your question?

More info:

You say the new domain have a better name then the old? if so use the new domain, it makes the user experience better and people are more likely to remember the site and come back.

It should improve your rankings for a period of time, however the risk is high that after a while your new domain will go back to the same results, perhaps with slightly better results than before but not much.

Remember a 301 is not linkbuilding it's simply a way to tell the searchengines and browsers that your site has moved.

You always loose a little linkjuice when doing a 301.

Also check if the links to the domain is to a subpage or if they're directed to the root.

Good luck! / Gustav