Hi, Let's say we want to make a new website. We can place the website on one of these three domains: 1) A brand new domain 2) An old domain with zero/few existing links (poor links) 3) An old domain with lots of existing links (quality/trusted links) The links to both old domains are not relevant to the subject of our new website (i.e. wrong anchortexts, coming from sites about something completely different, etc.) I have been going for option 3 for a long time, but I'm not sure it's the best option. I often have problems ranking with them, maybe because they are polluted by lots of non-relevant links. So what would you choose? And why? Thanks, Mads
If the new content on the old domain isn't relevant to the backlinks (i.e. the anchor text), I would never use the old domain. Not only doesn't it make sense from a SEO standpoint, but from a user experience it's horrible too. After all, if I see an anchor link for "best dog food" and it takes me to a site about water polo, I'm going to be like, "WTF???" I would only use an old domain if the name fit the content and the backlinks to it were relevant. Travis
If you are using a new domain some other business concept then your old domain, then it's never a good idea to use the old domain links, linking to your new domain. It is as simple as if you are into a business and want to go for a totally new business, which is not a tall relevant to your old business then you can not use the same vendors for the new business , with whom you were working for your old business.
Using such domains for subjects that are nowhere to original subject of domain won't get you real or any benefit. If the links are quality ones then run the site along the lines of original subject, use some other domain for new subject.
Concerning 3: Wouldn't the trust from the existing quality/trusted links give me a benefit? Even though they aren't relevant to the new site content.
Sadly speaking, if they are not relevant to the new subject then you won't get any/much help. Even change of whois and nameserver information can raise flag. If I remember correctly, there are quite a few interesting posts on SearchEngineJournal.com for this topic