Do links that point to an old URL retain value if we have the correct redirects?

[MarbellaSurferDude]

I've recently taken over SEO for my company. There are a lot of old links that point to our old URL (www.examplecountry.com changed to (www.examplewhatwedo.com). We have the correct redirects in place and Open Site Explorer shows many of the links pointing to the old site even though I'm inputting the new URL.

I just want to put my mind at rest that any value these links have doesn't got lost due to the URL change. Unfortunately a lot of them have the old URL as the anchor text....which I guess will decrease their quality?

Thanks!

[Matt-Williamson]

Yes - if you have a 301 redirect in place from your old URL to the new then around 90-99% of the link juice will be passed from the old links pointing at your old domain. Obviously anchor text that is your old domain isn't ideal in terms of targeting a specific keyword for ranking (though post penguin you don't want to over do keyword rich anchor text anyway) but the juice will still be passed in terms of link juice that will help your new sites domain authority and the page authority of the pages that it is being redirected to..

[MarbellaSurferDude]

Yes we have 301 redirects in place so all should be OK.

Thank you for you reply!