I have a competitor (restaurant) that shows up very high in the local listings on Google and that has a lot of links from other local websites. It went out of business and the domain-name is now out to grab.
If I buy this domain and redirect it to another restaurant its homepage, would their be a negative or positive SEO impact? What is the best way to do optimize this domain?
Restaurants and takeaways use local rankings which is different to normal search listings, it uses NAP (Name Address Phone Number) and many other factors to determine where your business is located and the intended local audience. So, unless you sell the same food and serve the same area its generally a bad idea.
Google has wised up to people purchasing expired domain and unless the domain is absolutely relevant to your own then its advisable not to get involved as it would be considered a 'risk' or no improvement.
If you really want to improve your rankings do the right research... building links nowadays for local businesses is the least thing you should concern yourself with...
Also restaurants are easy to rank... simply serve the best food and the rest looks after itself because it starts a buzz locally, on forums, social media and so forth.
I think if you redirect from competitor site to yours then google will show your biz when people are searching for competitor site.
