Question

Scenario: A brand new website is build solely for SEO targeting one main keyword (high competition). After 6-9 months this website is now ranking on first page of Google for the main keyword. Once the website is ranking on first page we redirect it to our actual e-commerce website to drive sales. Is this a good or bad idea and why?  

Answer 1

Seems utterly pointless when you would get better results faster by just creating a dedicated page on your current site - no need to build up an entirely new backlink profile as you have one, just expand it a little, and people don't generally like being redirected from their intended site to a new one, you would essentially be creating a popup ad for search, and your conversion rate from this source would be very low when it could be just fine

Answer 2

Why didn't you just put all that effort into ranking the page on your e-commerce site in the first place?  

Answer 3

301 redirect doesnt mean all backlinks and authorities will be transferred 100%

Answer 4

The page you redirect it to wont rank on page 1 just because the the old one did

Answer 5

Bad idea. Because google will catch onto (or maybe have) these kinds of techniques, even if it works in the meantime. But as others say, just put them effort into the actual page itself.  

Answer 6

The first flaw in this strategy is that the page exists "solely for SEO targeting one main keyword. " Honestly, you'd have an easier time ranking one page on an existing site (so long as the keyword is related to the main entity you're representing. ) Ranking a new web site is a lot harder than ranking a page on a web site for a term that represents an attribute of an existing and ranked entity (be it your brand or service niche or whatever). The second flaw is that if something actually is easier to rank in isolation than it would be to rank it on an established web site, then when you start forwarding, it's no longer isolated and will eventually rank the same way it would have if you had had that page on the main site from the start. One Golden rule I have when evaluating or establishing a strategy for a client is this: If the words "solely for SEO" appear in the strategy, then it's time to scrap the plan and start over.  

Answer 7

A 301 is basically telling Google "Page A doesnt exist anymore and has now been replaced by page B". Once Google realises this it will just assess page B against the original SEO intent you optimised page A for. If it compares unfavourably all your efforts will have been for nothing.  

Answer 8

It will pass juice of your SEO effort from page A to page B, It will not rank page B on place of A, Cause of redirecton there is a high risk of loosing customers trust.  

Answer 9

Thank you everyone for all the comments they have been a great help. The reason I was told to create a new website for the high difficulty keyword is because apparently it’s easier & quicker to rank a new website which has been completely built around that keyword. Is this not true?  

Comments

It probably is, yes, but it would be better to transfer your monetisation to that micro site rather than 301'ing and hoping google carries all of the signals.  

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I would say that it's not true. Your existing site has some "juice" to it. A new domain starts at zero. The only time a new domain is easier than an existing domain is if the content is not somehow relevant or in the same niche as the site you're putting it on or if the site you're putting it on has negative value of some sort. Starting from zero is always harder that starting from something greater than zero. That's just basic math.  

Answer 10

That was what we did too in an ecommerce project. Depending on the regional market you are selling, your traffic will likely remain in niche based stores (your specialized keyword store), because it's both an authority and go-to specialized trust. I second what @madison671 said, as I experienced it.