You’re staring at two options: 301 or 302. Every article gives you the same technical definitions. A 301 is “permanent”, a 302 is “temporary”. That’s clear enough. But which one for YOUR situation? When redirecting olddomain.com to newdomain.com, which redirect should you choose? This 10-second framework walks you through the decision.
301 or 302 Decision Framework
The choice between 301 and 302 comes down to one simple question: will the old domain ever serve its original content again?
→ If not (the old domain is retired, the brand is dead, the company is consolidating), use 301. This signals to browsers and search engines that the change is permanent and that they should update their records.
→ If yes (you’re running a short campaign, testing something for a few weeks), use 302. This signals the original domain will return to service.
For a deeper dive into how redirects work at the technical level, see our Technical Guide to URL Redirects in 2026.
URL Redirects: Three Common Scenarios
1. Domain rebrand
Your company is changing names. Oldcompany.com will never serve content again. Everything points to newcompany.com. This is the textbook 301 redirect.
Use 301 because the old domain is permanently retired. Search engines should transfer ranking signals (the SEO value and search visibility) to the new domain. Backlinks pointing to the old domain should pass their value to the new one.
One mistake: hesitating to use 301 because you want to “see if the rebrand works.” If you’re launching a rebrand publicly, you’ve committed. The redirect should match that decision.
2. Temporary Campaign Domain
You’re running a three-week promotion at promo.brand.com redirecting to brand.com/sale. When it ends, the campaign domain will shut down or redirect elsewhere. Use 302 for explicit short-term campaigns.
Duration matters. If your promotion runs longer than a few months, consider switching to 301. Google’s John Mueller has stated that search engines may eventually interpret long-running 302s as permanent. You can verify how Google is handling your redirect using the URL Inspection Tool in Search Console. For campaigns you know will be brief, 302 is appropriate.
3. Consolidating Multiple Domains
You own five domains from past acquisitions (old1.com through old5.com). You’re consolidating everything under brand.com. None of the old domains will serve content again. Each needs a permanent 301 redirect.
Implementation detail: each old domain needs its own redirect pointing to brand.com. Don't create redirect chains where old1.com redirects to old2.comwhich redirects to brand.com. While Google typically follows chains up to around 5 hops, best practice is keeping redirects to a single hop. Each domain should redirect directly to its final destination.
Map URLs thoughtfully. If old1.com/products had valuable content, redirect it to brand.com/products, not the homepage. This preserves both user experience and SEO value.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
Even with the right redirect type chosen, implementation details matter. Here are the mistakes that derail otherwise well-planned redirects.
- Redirect chains compound quickly. You might start with a simple redirect, then add another redirect on top of it months later when plans change. Suddenly you have
old1.comredirecting toold2.comredirecting tobrand.com. Each hop in the chain adds delay. Google typically follows redirect chains up to around 5 hops, but keeping redirects to a single hop ensures faster page loads and cleaner signal transfer. Always audit your redirect structure to ensure direct paths from source to final destination. - Using 302 as a hedge against uncertainty. Teams implement 302 thinking “we’re not sure yet, so let’s keep it temporary.” Three months pass. Six months. A year. The redirect stays 302 because no one explicitly decided to make it permanent. If you’re past several months with a 302 still active and have no plans to revert, switch it to 301 for clarity.
- Not testing before launch. Test your redirects before going live. Check that both HTTP and HTTPS versions work correctly. Verify that users land on the intended destination. A broken redirect is worse than no redirect at all: users hit error pages, and search engines may deindex your content entirely.
