Redirection 301 or Meta refresh

[Jyotijain]

I am working on a redirect project as in a client's website is going to move to a new domain and here is my concern/question:


The client wants this:
After launch, when a user comes to the old website, he/she is shown a page on the old website and a message (talking about the new domain) for a few seconds and then the user is redirected to the new domain. This should happen for a month.


My concern and questions:
As per my understanding and as per the technical team opinion, this cannot happen via a server side 301 redirect. The alternate suggested is a meta refresh.


I know for sure that meta_refresh is not considered as a good SEO and user behavior thing. I explained the negatives of meta_refresh from a SEO standpoint to the client and also that the Google crawler comes to my website everyday (as per Google webmaster tool) and if Google finds meta refresh implemented, it will think that something is fishy and we would loose the rankings of the website.


Client further says, if not 30 days, can we maintain this meta refresh thing for around 15 days?


So I was thinking if we implement this meta refresh for 15 days and then go with a server side 301 redirect after these 15 days, would Google remove/forget my rankings within these 15 days? If no, what is a tentative time frame till which Google would not degrade the website rankings?


How many days will Google take to remove/degrade my website rankings if I implement this meta_refresh?


Just FYI, I have suggested that let the 301 redirection happen and when the user lands to the new website's page, we show a big and bold message that the domain is changed. Also, for the old users, we would send a few mailers conveying the change in the domain name.

Please share your views.

[baldidiot]

Why not 301 it and put the message on the new site for visitors being referred from the old one.

[universal4]

I would encourage the client to use the 301 method.

In the end often you may have to do what the client requests no matter what and all you can do is explain the benefits and risks associated with each method.

If ranking and seo is part of your contract with them, have them sign a disclaimer if they choose anything other than what you are recommending.

Rick
Universal4