🎯 301 vs 302 Redirects: When to Use Each

Redirects are essential tools for website management, but choosing the wrong type can harm your SEO. Understanding when to use 301 versus 302 redirects is crucial for maintaining search rankings and link equity.

What Are HTTP Redirects?

HTTP redirects are server-side instructions that automatically send visitors and search engines from one URL to another. They're necessary when pages move, get deleted, or URLs change.

301 Redirect: Permanent Move

A 301 redirect indicates that a page has permanently moved to a new location. This is the most important redirect type for SEO.

When to Use 301 Redirects:

• Permanently moving content: When you've deleted a page or moved it permanently
• Site migrations: Moving from HTTP to HTTPS or changing domain names
• URL structure changes: Updating your permalink structure
• Consolidating duplicate content: Merging similar pages
• Correcting typos: Fixing permanent URL mistakes

SEO Impact of 301 Redirects:

Google has confirmed that 301 redirects pass nearly 100% of link equity (formerly known as "PageRank") to the new URL. This makes them SEO-safe for permanent changes.

302 Redirect: Temporary Move

A 302 redirect indicates that a page has temporarily moved. Search engines continue to index the original URL because the move isn't permanent.

When to Use 302 Redirects:

• A/B testing: Temporarily showing different versions to users
• Seasonal content: Redirecting to holiday landing pages
• Maintenance: Temporarily redirecting during site updates
• Product unavailability: Temporary out-of-stock redirects
• Geographic targeting: Temporarily sending users to location-specific pages

SEO Impact of 302 Redirects:

302 redirects do NOT pass full link equity. Search engines keep the original URL in their index, expecting it to return. Using 302 instead of 301 for permanent moves can harm your SEO.

Other Redirect Types

303 Redirect: See Other

Used after POST requests to prevent duplicate form submissions. Rarely needed for typical website management.

307 Redirect: Temporary Redirect

Similar to 302 but guarantees that the request method won't change. More technically precise than 302 for temporary moves.

308 Redirect: Permanent Redirect

Similar to 301 but maintains the request method. Useful in specific technical scenarios but 301 works for most cases.

Implementing Redirects

Apache (.htaccess):

Redirect 301 /old-page.html https://example.com/new-page.html

Nginx:

rewrite ^/old-page.html$ /new-page.html permanent;

PHP:

header("HTTP/1.1 301 Moved Permanently");
header("Location: https://example.com/new-page.html");

Redirect Chains and Loops

Avoid redirect chains (A → B → C) as they waste crawl budget and slow down your site. Each redirect in the chain adds latency and complexity.

Never create redirect loops (A → B → A) as they'll break your site completely and prevent search engines from crawling affected pages.

Testing Your Redirects

Always test redirects after implementation:

• Use browser developer tools to check HTTP status codes
• Test with tools like Redirect Checker or httpstatus.io
• Verify that Google Search Console doesn't show redirect errors
• Check that analytics are tracking the new URLs correctly

Best Practices

1. Default to 301: If in doubt, use 301 for any lasting change
2. Redirect to relevant content: Send users to the most similar page available
3. Update internal links: Don't rely on redirects for internal navigation
4. Monitor redirect performance: Check for slow redirects or chains
5. Document all redirects: Keep a record of what's redirected where

Conclusion

The choice between 301 and 302 redirects isn't arbitrary—it has real SEO consequences. For permanent changes, always use 301 redirects to preserve your search rankings and link equity. Reserve 302 redirects for truly temporary situations where you plan to restore the original URL.

Remember: It's much easier to implement the correct redirect type initially than to fix SEO damage from using the wrong one!

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