Change of Domain Name, 301 Redirects & SEO Implications

[DVDStar]

I’m currently working on a project for a company undergoing a major re-branding exercise which will see all of there sites take on a common look and feel.

For my part I will be redesigning the site, getbiz [url removed], but this will effectively reappear as a new site under a new domain. The site does not have any major search engine positioning for the keywords, but is PR3 and has a couple of hundred links, which is better than nothing.

I’ve been reading about using redirects (I think a 301 !?) to “redirect” page rank and links to a new domain, and my question is – is this a good thing, or are there any good / compelling reasons why I shouldn’t do this.

Likewise are there any reasons why doing this would be a good or very good idea i.e. will the new site immediately assume a PR2 status??

I’d like to gather all of your thoughts together and bundle it up into a “seo beginners” / “seo tips” area I am currently trying to develop on my blog [url removed]
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Dave