301 Old Site vs. Keep and Use for Keyword Backlinks

[dchid]

I have an old site that is no longer used. This old site has a decent amount of backlinks and ranks fairly well for a competitive keyword phrase. We are currently using this old site for targeted keyword backlinks into our new domain.

Would it be more beneficial to setup a domain level 301 redirect from the old domain to the new domain? Thus moving the old site backlinks over to the new site. These 2 sites and their content are within the same industry. Both sites are the same PR. Any thoughts on which situation would yield higher search rankings for our new domain in the long run?

Thanks in advance.

[bhartzer]

If you're not using the old domain then I would redirect it with a 301 Permanent Redirect to the new site.