301 Redirect from Old Domain to New Domain

[DHS_SH]

I am building a new website and I plan to 301 Redirect my Old Domain (olddomain.com) to a brand new Domain (newdomain.com) in the upcoming months.

To do this I was planning to update the htaccess file on both the old and new domains.

The htaccess file on the old domain would look to 301 redirect all pages on the old domain to the new domain. The htaccess file on the new domain would detail any specific URL redirects I want to implement (ie. olddomain.com/EXAMPLE/TEST will redirect to newdomain/TEST) - this will ensure link equity is retained and bounce rates are kept at a lower level.

Does this sound like the right approach?

Also, what do I need to do with the old domain going forward? Do I need to keep this forever in order for the 301 redirect to work or can I eventually just forward the domain to the new one permanently?

[Chris.Menke]

A page to page redirect from the old site to the new site is the ideal but you might cut corners by just redirecting those pages that are bringing you in search traffic and those that have external links to them.  You don't need to put any redirects on the new site's .htaccess file, though.  The traffic from the old site will already knows which page to request based on your changes to the old site's .htaccess file.

Best practice is to leave your 301 redirect in place is 180 days.

More info on redirects