New Domain name vs Low Ranked Existing Site

[Reportcard]

I am going to build a new site. I could hang it off an existing site with similar content or buy a new keyword rich domain and start over. The existing site does not have much trust or authority beyond the domain being registered for 5 plus years.

I would prefer to start over and build linksfrom scratch but I realize we are starting at the bottom. The keywords we will be competing against are not super competetive so I think we can get ranking within 6 months or so.

These post Panda days I am rethinking everything so any input is appreciated. I did a similar niche site a few years ago and found the site ranked well fairly quickly for its little nice. Today though it may be different.

I have no experience in buying domains and would have no idea where to start there.

New or existing?

Thanks for any input.

[avassa]

Unless your old site is penalized for some reason, I don't see any reason you should go for a new domain within the same traffic segment. With 5 years of domain age, chances are that your efforts will take less time on the old domain to bring results. With a new domain, things won't be as simple as they look. I would have taken age of the site as a big advantage and stuck to old domain. Overall costs would be lower for the results to be achieved in case of old domain.

Now, if for some reason the old domain or site was penalized, then that is a different matter altogether.

Thanks,
Rajesh Dhawan