How do the powerful links of an old domain help my new domain?

[ninel_P]

I recently purchased a domain with over twenty years age, a few .gov links and A LOT of .edu links. Of course, the domain is relevant to my site's content. I'm hosting the domain on my shared server and have setup 301 redirects for each page that had external links pointing to it via the htaccess file within the domain's root directory.

These 301 redirects, of course, point to my new domain, which is on a dedicated server. Specifically, they point to a directory on my new domain.

I've also verified the purchased domain and my new domain on Google Search Console/Webmaster Tools. Finally, I've completed a google site change request for the old site to point to my new site.

My questions:

• Should I also list my old domain on the dedicated server over the shared server or does it matter?

• Will the backlinks of the old site show up in my new site's links via Google's search console, Open Site Explorer, etc.?

• Will the backlinks of the old site improve the authority of my domain? Also, keep in mind that I have the 301 redirects pointing to a directory on my new site, not the root page of the new domain.

• Will the backlinks of the old site help my new domain's authority?

• In the eyes of Moz I've read, NO. I understand it's just a MOZ metric but from what I understand it also correlates with Google's actual 'authority' metric/method of giving value to a particular domain over another based on the backlinks.

• How exactly do the backlinks of the old domain benefit my new domain and is there a way to measure this/see the relationship?

Thank you for any help you're willing to give!

[eyepaq]

Those things still work - in some extent. Google however will drop some/most of the links but some do stick. if you can diversify the target it will help even more.

If there is no relevancy though  (between the links, old domain and the new domain/pages) - you won't feel anything.

[ninel_P]

Hi, sorry, I'm still unclear what specifically you mean based on my original questions. It seems that you're saying that google won't give much value from the old links. That doesn't seem right.

The new content is 100% relevant so no worries there.

[ChrisAshton]

Hi Christopher,

Thankfully this sort of scenario is pretty straight forward these days. I've answered each question below but let me know if you have any other questions.

Should I also list my old domain on the dedicated server over the shared server or does it matter? It won't make a difference. Google does look at some sever-related info (IP/subnet, location etc) but whether you're on a shared or dedicated server won't alter your rankings.

Even if both sites share the same IP/subnet, it's really not an issue unless you've purchased a volume of domains to do this with.

Will the backlinks of the old site show up in my new site's links via Google's search console, Open Site Explorer, etc.?

You know what? I've actually never thought about this. I doubt they will but either way, it doesn't really matter. You don't lose any strength via 301 redirects these days so whether Google shows them in GSC or not, you're getting that strength.

Will the backlinks of the old site improve the authority of my domain? Also, keep in mind that I have the 301 redirects pointing to a directory on my new site, not the root page of the new domain.

Theoretically yes, though this is another situation I've never tried or seen tested. Is there a particular reason you haven't pointed them to a specific page on the site?

Will the backlinks of the old site help my new domain's authority?

Sure will. As I touched on above, a 301 redirect now passes 100% of that strength (PageRank). While PR is no longer visible to us, Google continues to use it internally and that metric is mostly what we're talking about here.

Cyrus covered the whole topic very nicely last year, it's worth having a read.

Whether or not Moz's metrics will demonstrate this I'm not too sure but ultimately, Google/Bing are the ones we're interested in when it comes to acheiving rankings/traffic.

How exactly do the backlinks of the old domain benefit my new domain and is there a way to measure this/see the relationship?

Also something I touched on above. The theory here is that Google is still using PageRank internally and 301s pass 100% of PR. Assuming this is all accurate (we can't possibly know for sure), then 100% of the PR from the old site will be getting pushed through to your new one.

An important point that Cyrus raised in the post above is that PR isn't everything when it comes to links. If the old site was still receiving traffic, keep an eye on how that redirected traffic is engaging. While the link strength is nice, you want to capitalise on the traffic as well.

[ninel_P]

Chris, first... GREAT NAME! Second, THANK YOU for such a detailed response! It really does help me out! In response to your question: I've pointed all the 301 redirects to a specific directory/page on my site because it's only that directory/page that is relevant to the specific traffic coming in from those links. If they showed up on the home page the bounce rate may shoot up too high. I, of course, want to make sure the homepage showcases the info/tools on this 'landing page' but it's not the only tool/info I offer on the site. Of course, the other info/tools on the site are at least related to the 'landing page' content... but more like cousins than brother/sister relation.

[matt.nails]

Chris,

You already received great info from Chris. Let me address the one point that he wasn't sure about:

• Will the backlinks of the old site show up in my new site's links via Google's search console, Open Site Explorer, etc.?

The answer is no. All that will show is your 301 from the old domain and any new links you get.

Also, you mentioned using a subdomain and i wanted to remind you that subdomains are bad for SEO: https://moz.com/blog/subdomains-vs-subfolders-rel-canonical-vs-301-how-to-structure-links-optimally-for-seo-whiteboard-friday

Nails

[ninel_P]

Hi Matt,

Thanks for the info. Just to clarify, I didn't say anything about a subdomain as I know that would be a bad decision.

Chris

[matt.nails]

Sorry, Chris...not sure where i got that from

Nails

[DickensLawGroup]

I've had similar questions, thanks for the great info everyone!