Key takeaways
- **302 Redirect SEO:** The decision comes down to whether the old URL is truly coming back. Use a 302 only for temporary moves where the original page should keep its place; use a 301 for permanent changes.
A 301 redirect is permanent and passes ranking signals to the new URL; a 302 is temporary and tells search engines to keep indexing the original. For a migration, use 301 on every moved page. Use 302 only when the move is genuinely short-term and you want the old URL to keep its place in the index. Picking the wrong one is a common cause of lost rankings after a site move.
This guide covers the difference, the SEO effect of each, and the exact cases for both. For the broader move, we website migration service and set redirects as part of every project.
The core difference
| Factor | 301 (permanent) | 302 (temporary) |
|---|---|---|
| Signal to search engines | Original URL is gone for good | Original URL will return |
| Ranking signals | Transfer to the new URL | Stay with the original URL |
| Indexing | New URL gets indexed | Original URL stays indexed |
| Browser caching | Cached aggressively | Not cached long-term |
| Migration use | Correct default | Rarely correct |
| Typical use | Moved or merged pages | Short A/B test, brief maintenance |
The one-line rule: if the change is permanent, use 301. If it is truly temporary and you want the original URL to keep ranking, use 302.
The status codes come from the HTTP standard, and there are more than two. A 301 means moved permanently. A 302 means found, which the spec treats as temporary. A 307 is a stricter temporary redirect that preserves the request method, and a 308 is the permanent equivalent of a 307. For SEO purposes, search engines read 301 and 308 as permanent and 302 and 307 as temporary. Most redirect work only ever needs 301 and 302, so those are the two this guide focuses on. If your server or CDN offers 307 or 308, treat 308 the way you would treat a 301 and 307 the way you would treat a 302.
How each affects SEO
301: signals transfer
A 301 tells search engines the content has permanently moved. Over the following crawls, they transfer the ranking signals, including link equity from backlinks, to the destination URL and swap it into the index. This is what preserves rankings through a migration. Every moved, merged, or renamed page in a migration should use a 301.
The transfer is not instant. Search engines have to recrawl the old URL, see the 301, then crawl and process the destination before the swap settles in the index. On a small site this can take a few days. On a large site with thousands of moved URLs, expect two to six weeks for the bulk of pages to reindex, and longer for deep pages that get crawled rarely. Rankings often dip during this window and recover as the reindex completes. A dip that lasts one to three weeks after a clean 301 migration is normal. A dip that keeps deepening past four weeks points to a mapping gap or a chain, not to the 301 itself.
302: signals stay put
A 302 tells search engines the original URL is coming back, so keep indexing it and do not move its ranking signals. That behavior is correct for a genuinely temporary situation and wrong for a permanent move, because the new URL never accumulates the signals it needs to rank. A 302 left on a permanent move is a slow ranking leak.
There is a further wrinkle. When a 302 sits on a URL long enough, search engines sometimes decide the move was permanent after all and start treating it like a 301. You cannot predict when that happens or rely on it. The safe reading is simple: a 302 is a request to leave the original in place, and if you actually wanted the destination to rank, you gave the wrong instruction. Do not use a 302 and hope the engine reinterprets it.
When to use a 301
Use a permanent redirect for:
- Any page moved during a domain, platform, or URL-structure migration
- HTTP to HTTPS
- www to non-www or the reverse, once you pick a canonical host
- Merging two pages into one (redirect the weaker to the survivor)
- Retiring a page and sending its traffic to the closest relevant page
- Fixing an old URL that still earns backlinks
If the change will outlast the next few months, it is permanent. Use 301.
When to use a 302
Use a temporary redirect only when both are true: the move is short-term and you want the original URL to keep its rankings. Real cases:
- A short A/B test routing traffic to a variant page
- Brief maintenance or an outage sending users to a holding page
- A seasonal page temporarily pointing at a campaign, where the original returns after
- Geotargeting or device routing where the original URL must stay indexed
Even here, confirm the original genuinely returns. If it does not, the 302 should have been a 301.
The mistakes that cost rankings
- Using 302 for a permanent move. The most common and most damaging error. The new URL never inherits ranking signals, so rankings stall or slide. Audit for stray 302s after any migration.
- Default server behavior. Some platforms and plugins issue 302 by default. Check the actual status code with a crawler or the browser network tab rather than trusting the setting label.
- Redirect chains. A 301 to a 302 to a final URL mixes signals and leaks equity. Every source should resolve to its final destination in one permanent hop.
- Assuming the type from the tool. A redirect labeled temporary in a CMS may still fire the wrong status code. Verify the code, not the label.
- Switching a live 301 to 302 later. Once a 301 is established, changing it to 302 can unsettle the transferred signals. Leave permanent redirects permanent.
How to check which one you have
- Crawl the site with Screaming Frog and read the Status Code column; it shows 301 or 302 per URL
- In a browser, open the Network tab, load the old URL, and read the status of the first request
- Use curl with the head flag to print the status line for a single URL
- Spot-check at least 25 redirects after launch, weighted toward pages with backlinks
Confirming the status code is a five-minute check that catches the single most expensive redirect mistake.
A quick decision guide
When you are unsure which code to use, two questions settle it almost every time.
- Will the original URL come back? If no, use 301. If yes, and soon, consider 302.
- Do you want the original URL to keep ranking? If no, use 301. If yes, use 302.
If both answers point to permanent, which they do for any migration, the answer is 301. The 302 is the exception, reserved for a genuinely short-term situation where the original URL returns and must hold its place in the index. When in doubt on a site move, 301 is the safe default, because the cost of a wrong 302 on a permanent move is a slow ranking leak, while a 301 on something you later reverse is a cache you can wait out.
Where platforms default to the wrong code
The most common way a 302 sneaks onto a permanent move is not a decision at all, it is a default.
- Some CMS platforms and plugins issue a 302 unless you explicitly set the redirect to permanent.
- Certain server frameworks return 302 for their built-in redirect helper.
- A redirect labeled temporary in a dashboard may fire a different code than the label implies.
- Marketing tools and link shorteners sometimes default to 302 to keep the original indexed.
The lesson is to verify the code the server actually returns, not the label the tool shows. After any migration, crawl the redirect map and read the status column, weighting your manual checks toward pages with backlinks. A stray 302 found in the first week is a two-minute fix; the same 302 discovered after months of stalled rankings costs far more to recover.
Related terms
You may see this topic described with related searches like 301 or 302 redirect, 301 redirect vs 302, 301 vs 302 redirect seo, 302 redirect vs 301, and 302 vs 301 redirect. Those phrases are useful when they clarify what the reader needs next, but they should still point back to one clear plan.
Related searches such as 302 vs 301 redirect seo, difference between 301 and 302 redirect, redirect 301 vs 302, redirect 302 seo, and seo 302 redirect are useful when they clarify what the reader needs next. They should support the same plan rather than pulling the page in several directions at once.
Related searches such as temporary vs permanent redirect and when to use 302 redirect are useful when they clarify what the reader needs next. They should support the same plan rather than pulling the page in several directions at once.
Frequently asked questions
Does a 301 pass all link equity?
A 301 passes ranking signals, including the value of backlinks, to the destination. Google has stated permanent redirects do not lose PageRank, so treat a clean one-to-one 301 as preserving the source page's authority. The practical caveat is that chains and mismatched destinations dilute the effect, so keep redirects one to one and single-hop.
If I use a 302 by mistake, can I fix it?
Yes. Change the status code to 301 and let search engines recrawl. The sooner you catch it the less ranking momentum you lose, so audit for 302s within the first week after any migration. A 302 that sat for months will recover once corrected, but recovery takes longer.
Are 301s cached in the browser?
Yes, browsers cache 301s aggressively, which is why you should not use a 301 for anything you might reverse. If you set a permanent redirect and later remove it, users with the cached redirect may keep landing on the destination until their cache clears.
Which redirect should I use for HTTP to HTTPS?
Use a 301. The move to HTTPS is permanent, and Google treats the HTTP and HTTPS URLs as different, so a permanent redirect transfers the ranking signals to the secure version and gets it indexed in place of the old one.
How long does it take for a 301 to transfer rankings?
Plan for two to six weeks for most pages, and longer for pages that are crawled rarely. Search engines have to recrawl the old URL, read the 301, and reprocess the destination before rankings settle. A short dip during that window is expected; a dip that keeps growing past four weeks usually signals a mapping gap or a chain.
Is a 307 or 308 redirect better than 301 or 302?
For SEO they behave the same as their older equivalents: 308 reads as permanent like a 301, and 307 reads as temporary like a 302. The difference is that 307 and 308 preserve the request method, which matters for form submissions and APIs. For moving pages between URLs, a plain 301 remains the standard choice.
Is redirect 301 or 307?
Use a 301 for a permanent page move. Use a 307 only when the move is temporary and the request method has to stay the same; for most SEO migrations, a 301 is the safer choice.
Should I use 301 or 302 redirect?
Use a 301 when the old URL is not coming back. Use a 302 only when the change is temporary and the original URL should keep its rankings. Most migrations need 301 redirects.
What are 307 and 308 redirects?
A 307 is a temporary redirect that preserves the request method. A 308 is the permanent version. For search work, treat 307 like a temporary 302 and 308 like a permanent 301 unless your platform has a specific reason to use the newer code.
What is a 301 redirect code?
A 301 redirect code tells browsers and search engines that a URL has moved permanently. It is the standard status code for preserving rankings when a page, domain, or site structure changes.
What is the difference between 301 and 302 redirect checker?
A redirect checker tells you which status code a URL returns. The important difference is the instruction behind the code: a 301 is permanent, while a 302 is temporary.
What is 307 and 308 redirect?
A 307 is a temporary redirect that preserves the request method. A 308 is the permanent version. For search work, treat 307 like a temporary 302 and 308 like a permanent 301 unless your platform has a specific reason to use the newer code.
Get help with your migration
For redirects implemented and verified as part of a full move, our website migration service team handles it. To go deeper on permanent redirects, read 301 redirect best practices, and to clean up multi-hop redirects, see website migration service.