Selected answers from the Dumb SEO Questions Facebook & G+ community.
Lewis Barrs: Hi, I have another question, do you think the re direct is a dead duck now, with regards to passing any juice across? ;
Jim Munro: I am no expert, Lewis, but I noticed today they are still using 301's for payday loans and pharma hacks, so I guess if anyone knows, they do. :)
Tony McCreath: I think this from a year ago still stands: ;What percentage of PageRank is lost through a 301 redirect?
Lewis Barrs: +Tony McCreath ; yes this is a year old and I believe the goal posts have changed since this statement. They can not get a grip on the misuse of a re direct and can't have anything in place to determine a bad re direct from a natural one. So they will just discount all passing power from re directs across the board, which I think is terrible. Forget about the average man and his company website just as long as they squash any "black hat" methods of reaching a high level on the serps. 100% BS. ;Oh yeah, and then you have to use adwords!!!! ;
Tony McCreath: I've regularly used 301 redirects to preserve a websites standing on a domain move or recover it after client mistakes. So personally I think it still works.
Lewis Barrs: Have you employed this in the last few months?
Tony McCreath: I've been on a road trip for the last few months. Just before that I switched several websites from being sub domains to other locations. No search traffic or ranking lost, but they were small scale. ;
The last large scale move I made was a year ago. Went very well and the new domain is continuing to new highs even with many historic backlinks via redirects.
Lewis Barrs: Everything from 6 months ago was fine as in a clean domain, ranking well, would switch to similar positions within a week or so. Now I am seeing that nothing happens in the same scenario as before. No switch, taking forever to even pop up. If the links are re placed from the original to the new site then switches, but then what's the point. My theory is that all re directs are useless as regards to passing juice but brand new domains can rank quickly and have no age restrictions on them, therefore making a re direct a pointless exercise. ;
John Pitcher: We 301'd a site from old to new domain 10 days ago (the previous web designer is seriously ill and could not give the passwords ;for us to ;transfer the site and the customers needed major updates very urgently). So far, the new site has maintained it's number 1 ranking for many searches and is up there on p1 for others I've tried; note that it is a niche market, however, and it has only been 10 days.
Blake Smith: I think that the variety in results for domain changes depends on what the new domain has been doing before it's "go live" implementation. Had it been indexed? Coming soon page? Nothing at all? Is it a new registration or does it have historic backlinks? PR? All of the above can affect the results
Lewis Barrs: yes agree that the history of both domains in question will have differnt effects. The new domain would be brand new so no chance of any negative signals links/content etc. This can be indexed with a coming soon or not indexed at all, would assume this would not make a difference as long as new domain is clean. If you are changing business name for example I don't think it would be standard to put your new name online first with a mickey mouse coming soon page. Domain 1 is ranking very well for competitve visitor rich keywords with no sign of any negativity in the serps??
Blake Smith: I believe I have heard an authority on the topic say that using a coming soon page and allowing it to be indexed prior to going live is a best practice. I'm not sure who said it though... I know that's what I do anyway
Jim Munro: Matt Cutts made a clip on that around 2012, Blake, essentially that's what the message was from the clip. Trawling through that stuff annoys me. otherwise I'd find the link for you. :)
Lewis Barrs: Yes I am not suggesting putting up a coming soon page is wrong as this would gain more index time so when you go live with the site you will have a head start. I am stating that in this scenario it would not make any difference as all age/PR/pages "should" transfer from domain 1, which is a big authority in its own right.
It would be very interesting to see if anyone has implemented this in the last 2 months and had a complete switch, as in the new domain took off where domain 1 left.
Blake Smith: Thanks +Jim Munro! I thought that was the case, but I didn't want to steer anyone in the wrong direction. It stood out because it was one of the videos where Cutts is pretty black and white with his answer
Jim Munro: If you watch Matt Cutts closely, you can tell when he is lying by watching for when his lips move. ;
Tony McCreath: Another way of thinking about it. Would you not do redirects because you don't think they work?
Dear Google. I don't trust you, so I will follow a path that I know will guarantee loss of ranking and traffic.
W.E. Jonk: From the expert panel in this weeks SEO Questions hangout on air on 00:52:41 into the YouTube video: https://dumbseoquestions.com/q/do_you_think_the_redirect_is_a_dead_duck_now
John Pitcher: +Blake Smith ;I have read - that whilst a coming soon page is Ok if you have a page of draft home page ;content ;- just having a coming soon message encourages the search engines to treat it as a minimal content and that it may slow down the indexing/taking seriously of your new site once it arrives. Am not sure if this is correct?
Hi, I have another question, do you think the re direct is a dead duck now, with regards to passing any juice across? ? 
