301 Redirect Question

I have a domain that's ranking first for a keyword, but I am no longer allowed to use it due to the fact that it contains a bussiness' name. I bought a new domain and now I wan't to give it all the link juice from the old domain by using a 301 redirect.

(1) If I set up a 301 redirect, will my new domain move into the position of my old domain or will it stay where it is and just direct users to my new domain?

(2) Will I need to keep renewing the old domain or will it be fine once Google has passed on the link juice to the new domain?

Good question.

Link juice does get passed by 301 redirects. At least that's my experience so far. Not really sure about #2 but my guess is that you do not need to keep it once the other sites gets in its place. A 301 redirect is a "moved permanently" redirect which means I don't think Google would expect you to keep the old domain since it has "moved permanently" to the new one.

Hope this helps.

My website dropped significantly in Google SERPS after dropping redirect and the domain, that was around 2 months after redirecting it with 301. I'd keep the old domain redirecting for as long as possible if I were you.

So just to confirm... Am I right in thinking that once I apply the 301 redirect to my old domain that it will begin to drop off the 1st page and my new domain will begin to move up the SERPS?