301 or 302 Redirect: Which One to Choose for SEO?

A redirect automatically sends the visitor, and bots, from one URL to another. The HTTP code used indicates whether the change is permanent or temporary.

The two main codes

• 301 (Moved Permanently): the old address is permanently replaced by the new one.
• 302 (Found): the move is temporary, the old address will come back.

Their more recent equivalents are 308 (permanent) and 307 (temporary). They produce the same SEO effects.

What does Google say?

Google states that permanent redirects are a strong signal that the new URL should be the one appearing in results, while temporary redirects are a weaker signal. In both cases, link value is passed on. The difference therefore mostly concerns which URL Google selects and displays.

When to use a 301

• Migrating a site to a new domain.
• Moving from http to https.
• Choosing a single version of the site (www or non-www).
• Changing the URL of a page or redesigning the structure.
• Merging pages or removing content that has an equivalent page.

When to use a 302

• An A/B test that temporarily sends part of the traffic to another version.
• A page under maintenance or a time-limited promotion.
• Redirecting by the user's language or location, with caution.

Best practices

• Redirect to the equivalent page, not systematically to the homepage: an off-topic redirect may be treated as an error.
• Avoid chains (A to B to C) and loops: redirect straight to the final destination.
• Update internal links, the sitemap and canonicals so they point to the new URL.
• Keep redirects long enough: Google recommends at least one year when changing sites.
• Test with a crawler or the URL inspection tool after setting them up.

Common mistakes

• Using a 302 by default for a permanent migration.
• Redirecting thousands of old URLs to a single unrelated page.
• Letting redirect chains pile up after several redesigns.
• Redirecting with JavaScript or a meta refresh tag when a server redirect is possible.