Redirects are meant to reroute traffic from one URL to another. In other words, redirects allow site owners to forward users and search engine crawlers to the desired destination. This can be done for many different reasons, such as when migrating a website to a new domain name, performing maintenance, updating the URL of a particular page, or when enabling HTTPS, just to name a few.
It's important to know which type of redirect to use in certain situations. There are several different types of redirects, characterized by their HTTP status code. These status codes provide essential information for search engine crawlers, such as if the redirect is permanent or temporary.
What is the difference between a 301 and 302 redirect?
Generally, a 301 redirect is used for the majority of permanent redirects while a 302 redirect is used for temporary redirects. In other words, if you plan to make permanent changes to the URL of a page, you'll want to use a 301 redirect. When making temporary changes, you'll want to use a 302 redirect.
301 redirect: permanent change of address
As mentioned before 301 redirect is a permanent redirect that guides traffic to a new URL, signaling that the page has moved permanently. This allows search engines to update their index accordingly. Use 301 redirects for long-term changes, such as:
- Changing domain names
- Restructuring website URLs
- Merging pages
- Implementing HTTPS
- Modifying subdomains
- Creating domain aliases
While 308 redirects also exist for permanent redirects, they're less common and serve more specific purposes.
Learn more about 301 redirects
302 redirect: temporary change of address
A 302 redirect is a temporary redirect. This type of redirect forwards traffic to the desired destination URL and specifies (to search engines) that the page has been moved temporarily. You can use a 302 redirect for:
- A/B testing a particular page for its design, content, or functionality.
- Performing maintenance on a page while providing an optimal user experience (i.e. temporarily forwarding traffic to another relevant page).
- Gathering feedback from a client on a new page without affecting the performance of the site.
What are the SEO implications for each redirect type?
When implemented correctly, 301 redirects shouldn't cause any major issues in terms of SEO. Theoretically, all of the link equity (from backlinks) will be forwarded to the new URL. When the content, structure, and technical implementation are identical, the new URL will replace the old one in the same position on the search engine result page (SERP). However, when many structural changes have been made, search engine crawlers will be required to re-crawl (read) and re-evaluate the page.
However, when using 302 redirects, they are seen temporary redirects. Therefore, search engines will usually only show the original (source) URL in the search results. There's no real point in indexing a temporary page, right? A 302 redirect will therefore also ensure that the link equity received on the original page will not be transferred to the temporary page.
However, search engines will index the new page if they think that you've used a 302 redirect by mistake. This usually occurs when you've used a 302 redirect for a long time. Most search engines provide a way to check how they're handling your redirects. For Google, you can use their URL inspection tool to check how they are handling your temporary redirect.
Best practices when implementing 301 and 302 redirects
There are several key best practices when using these types of redirects:
