301 and 302 redirect

The difference between 301 and 302 redirect

301 redirect302 redirect

What is 301?

A 301 redirect indicates that a page has been moved to a new location permanently.

What is 302?

A 302 redirect indicates that the page redirection is temporary.

When to use?

301 is recommended when you have to change the URL of a page as it passes most of the ranking power (SEO value) to the redirected page.

When to use?

It is often used for situations like a temporary relocation of a webpage's content during maintenance.

Authority Transfer

Nearly all the link juice and existing SEO value from the original URL are transferred to the new URL

Limited Authority Transfer

A 302 redirect doesn't pass on as much link equity as a 301. Since the redirect is supposed to be temporary, search engines will still hold the original URL in their index

Search Engine Indexing

Search engines will de-index the old URL and index the new URL as the official source of content.

Search Engine Indexing

The original URL remains indexed, and search engines expect it to be back eventually. This might be a disadvantage if the move becomes permanent because the new URL won't benefit fully from the established SEO value of the original URL.

User Experience

A 301 redirect ensures users who have bookmarked the old URL, or clicked on an old link, are seamlessly transferred to the new URL without encountering a 404 error page

User Experience

While it prevents users from reaching a dead end, it can be confusing if the redirect remains in place too long, as users and search engines may not understand the temporary intent

Last updated