Quick 301 Question

If I have an aged domain with no site, is there any value in just building loads of links to this domain and then 301ing, or would I need to put a site up first??

Put up a site first with decent on-page, get it ranked for that keyword then 301 at a later date. Without substance, it's just a domain.

FYI, I bought an 18 year old domain in the clown industry (seriously..) and am using it for a totally different niche. Got a good boost to page 2 after 2 weeks and now I'm struggling to get it moving any higher. It's a test site on really aged domains. The DA/link profile was low but the domain was cheap, hence the test. Saying that, I could probably rank a fresh domain (non-EMD) for the same keywords in a 4 weeks at a guess (which is the next test).

You shouldn't need to put up a site first, just 301 it in straight away. Be careful what links you build tho, coz the 301 will effectively pass all of those links straight onto your main site. You might be better off throwing a site up on the aged domain, put a link back to your main site and then chuck some links at the aged site.

1.build a new site site
2. keep on building backlinks to the old domain
3. 301 the old to new one
4. keep on building backlinks

great stuff guys, although slightly conflicting opinions, how about with the niche then, does the site have to be relevant to new site, ie can I build on the aged domain a technology site, rank for that and then point to any niche and benefit?