Changing the Domain Name of an extisting PR5 site

[eAudible]

Greetings.

I have an established PR5 several year old site that I would like to migrate to a new domain name. The reason is to help improve the traffic character and for search engine related SEO reasons.

The current domain is a short, single-word, random, non-keyword domain. It is the original domain name for the site.

My thinking is to transition to a keyword targeted domain to improve search engine rank and as part of a sort-of keyword focused "rebranding" of the site -- an attempt to gain more consumer type traffic. Current traffic is mainly professionals in the field.

A few questions:

1. Is a 301 redirect the way to go?
2. Will page rank fall as a result of the migration
3. Do the search engine bots find sites with password secured directories -- I have set up the new domain name on the server as a "live" site (which is password protected in attempt to hide from the search engine bots to avoid duplicate content issues) to serve as a testing site for tweaks during the migration.
4. Am I crazy to do this?

thanks. i would welcome professional help / advice if needed...

[gawnd]

if you maintain the same url structure, a simple 301 in your htaccess will do the trick. I do this all the time - though for different reasons. usually takes 3-4 weeks for the SEs to sort it all out.

[eAudible]

thanks gawnd.

From your experience is PR preserved?