When you need to send visitors from one web page to another, you’ll use either a 301 or 302 redirect. While they might seem similar, they send very different signals to both search engines and users. Making the right choice can significantly impact your website’s search rankings.
The Basics: What Are These Redirects?
301 Redirect: “This page has moved permanently to a new location.”
302 Redirect: “This page is temporarily available at a different location.”
That’s really the core difference – one is permanent, one is temporary.
Learn more about all other 3xx status codes.
How Each Redirect Works
301 Redirect (Permanent)
A 301 redirect is like changing your home address permanently. You’ve moved to a new place and want all your mail to go there from now on.
When you use a 301 redirect:
- You’re telling search engines: “Please update your records – this content has moved forever”
- You’re telling visitors: “We’ve permanently moved this content to a new URL”
302 Redirect (Temporary)
A 302 redirect is like temporarily forwarding your mail while you’re on vacation. You’ll eventually return to your original address.
When you use a 302 redirect:
- You’re telling search engines: “Keep the original URL in your index – this move isn’t permanent”
- You’re telling visitors: “For now, you’ll find this content here instead”
How 301 and 302 Redirects Affect SEO
SEO Impact of 301 Redirects
Link Value Transfer: A 301 redirect passes approximately 90-99% of the link equity (ranking power) from the old URL to the new one.
Example: If your page about “summer gardening tips” has built up authority and rankings over years, a 301 redirect will transfer most of that SEO value to the new URL.
Search Engine Indexing: Search engines will remove the old URL from their index and replace it with the new one.
SEO Impact of 302 Redirects
Temporary Link Signal: A 302 redirect doesn’t pass the full link value to the new URL because search engines expect the original URL to return.
Indexing Behavior: Search engines keep the original URL in their index, which means the new URL might not gain the full ranking benefit.
Potential Confusion: If a 302 redirect stays in place for a long time, search engines might eventually treat it like a 301, but this process is unpredictable.
When to Use Each Type of Redirect
Use a 301 Redirect When:
- You’ve permanently changed your website structure
- You’re moving to a new domain
- You’re consolidating duplicate content
- You’ve permanently changed a page’s URL for any reason
- You’re merging two websites
Example: Your blog post at example.com/2023/summer-tips is being moved to example.com/gardening/summer-tips and will stay there.
Use a 302 Redirect When:
- You’re temporarily promoting a special offer
- Your original page is under maintenance
- You’re A/B testing a new page design
- You need to redirect users based on location or device, but want to keep the original URL for other users
- You plan to bring back the original page
Example: Your homepage is temporarily pointing to a holiday sale page for the month of December, but will return to normal in January.
Common Redirect Mistakes to Avoid
- Using 302s when you mean 301s: This is the most common mistake and can prevent your new pages from gaining the SEO benefit they deserve.
- Redirect chains: Redirecting Page A → Page B → Page C creates a chain that slows down users and dilutes SEO value.
- Redirect loops: When pages redirect in a circle, users see an error message and search engines can’t follow the path.
- Not updating internal links: Even with redirects in place, you should update internal links to point directly to the new URLs.
Making the Right Choice: A Simple Guide
Ask yourself this question: “Will the original URL ever be used again?”
- If the answer is “No” → Use a 301 redirect
- If the answer is “Yes” or “Maybe” → Use a 302 redirect
