Is it a good idea to make 301 from a site which you know google has banned certain keywords for to a new site with similar content

[Kofoed]

Here is a short question re. 301. I read Dovers article on how to move an old domain to a new one. Say you have been a little inexperienced regarding linkbuilding and used some cheap service in the past and you have steadily seen that certain keywords have been depreciating in the SERP - however the PR is still 3 for the domain - now the qustion is should you rediect with a 301 in .htaccess to a new domain when you know that google does not like certain keywords with respect to the old site. Will the doom and gloom carry over to the new site?

[USHoleInOne]

Tough call but I think I would pass on the 301 re-direct. If google doesn't like the links what advantages would it to add it. I would start fresh and build your new site with good quality links and forget all the bad ones from your old site.

[SimonCullum]

Hi there,

From how you've described it, the risk isn't worth it.  If the current site/domain is associated with unethical linking practices and has received a penalty in the past, which is likely from what you've said, then you'd be associating the negativity of that site with the new one.

I'd suggest rectifying the current site, improving the quality and making it a site that Google would want to include in it's index and rank for certain terms, then 301 that newly improved site rather than doing so in its current state.

(Public PR is only updated 3 or 4 times per year usually and is a not even worth bothering taking any notice of, the various stats in SEOmoz Pro tools such as Domain Authority and Page Authority, plus MozTrust are much more meaningful figures of which to take notice of).

Hope that helps,

Regards

Simon