301 one site to another

hows google react

[soapystar]

i have two sites, both affiliate sites, one is product specific and the other for the whole range of that product type. now i no longer wnat to promote the specific product and was thinking of doing a 301 from the unwanted site to the larger site. now the second site is ontopic and relevant to the search for the first site. so how would google handle that? are their ground rules for what is and isnt acceptable for a site 301 from one site to another?

[jdMorgan]

soapystar,

I doubt that Google cares. You need to be more concerned with what the webmasters who link to your product-specific site will think. The point of the 301 is to preserve incoming links, bookmarks, and PR. If the people who linked to your site and bookmarked your site find the new site irrelevant, you'll lose them.

If you have a page on your general site that is more relevant than the index page, 301 to that page.

You've stated that you don't want to continue with the product-specific site. If that's the case, you have a choice between a 301-Moved Permanently redirect, a 404-Not Found (by taking the site offline), or a 410-Gone (by keeping it on-line, but telling the SE's the pages are gone). Given those alternatives, you might as well try the 301, as long as it's relevant.

HTH,
Jim

[soapystar]

you make some good points jd, the thing is the smaller site gets the most traffic and has the best rankings so i dont want to waste the traffic. The second site is still ontopic. Even if i lose some links over time i wouldnt be too fussed. What puzzles me is the abuse that allowing 301s to pass pr to other sites opens up.

[jdMorgan]

soapystar,

The "abuse" is limited by several factors: First, the listing in the SERPs will be updated using the the new page as the basis - all you get to keep from the old page is the PR and the incoming link text. Second, there's the loss of incoming links/bookmarks I cited if the new page is irrelevant. And third, there's the "Spam Report" if your competitors spot anything worth reporting.

While there may be some automatic filters in place, and more coming in the future, I believe the "competitor report" is the most effective one right now. If you don't see a problem in that regard, then go for it.

Jim