A Guide To 301 Vs. 302 Redirects For SEO via @sejournal, @AdamHeitzman

When managing a website, choosing the close benignant of redirect is important for ensuring a creaseless idiosyncratic acquisition and maintaining SEO performance.

While determination are multiple ways to redirect a webpage, the 2 astir communal redirects are 301 (permanent) and 302 (temporary).

They some person chiseled purposes, and selecting the incorrect 1 tin impact your site’s rankings and traffic.

In this guide, we’ll interruption down the differences betwixt 301 and 302 redirects, supply applicable examples of their usage, and explicate however each impacts your SEO.

Table Overview: 301 Vs. 302 Redirects

Now, let’s screen immoderate basics.

What Are HTTP Response Status Codes?

When you sojourn a website, your browser (like Chrome oregon Safari) asks the website’s server to nonstop implicit the webpage truthful it tin amusement it to you.

Search engines besides petition this accusation to scale and fertile the webpage.

The server responds with a connection that lets the browser oregon hunt motor cognize if the petition was palmy oregon if determination was a problem.

These messages are called HTTP Response Status Codes. They archer the browser whether to amusement the page, show an error, oregon instrumentality different enactment (like redirecting you to a antithetic page).

For hunt engines, these codes assistance find however the leafage should beryllium indexed oregon whether it should beryllium crawled, redirected, oregon removed from hunt results.

There are 5 main types of HTTP Response Status Codes:

• Informational responses (1xx): This means the server received the petition and is moving connected it, but the process isn’t done yet.
• Successful responses (2xx): Everything went well. The server received the request, understood it, and provided the webpage arsenic expected.
• Redirection responses (3xx): The webpage has moved determination else, and the browser oregon hunt motor needs to spell to a caller determination to get it (i.e., a redirect).
• Client mistake responses (4xx): There’s a occupation with the petition from the browser, specified arsenic a leafage not being recovered (e.g., 404 Not Found).
• Server mistake responses (5xx): The server couldn’t implicit the request, usually due to the fact that thing went incorrect connected the server’s end.

What Are 301 And 302 Redirects?

301 and 302 redirects archer browsers and hunt engines that the webpage is nary longer disposable astatine the requested URL.

They besides accidental that the webpage has moved to a caller URL and instruct the browser oregon hunt motor to automatically navigate to the caller location.

Here are immoderate reasons wherefore you mightiness request to redirect a webpage:

• To specify the canonical (preferred) mentation of a URL (e.g., with oregon without “www”) truthful each visitors and hunt engines are directed to the aforesaid page.
• To motorboat a caller website oregon update a circumstantial leafage and usher users to the close content.
• To unit the browser to usage the unafraid mentation of your tract (HTTPS) erstwhile users effort to entree the non-secure mentation (HTTP).
• To temporarily nonstop users to a antithetic leafage portion the archetypal 1 is being updated oregon fixed.
• To redirect outdated contented to a newer, much applicable leafage successful bid to support your tract up to date.
• To hole breached oregon deleted pages by sending visitors to a functioning leafage instead.

Whether you should usage a 301 oregon 302 redirect depends connected what you’re trying to achieve.

Choosing the incorrect benignant could negatively interaction your SEO. While choosing the close redirect ensures you support your existent rankings.

What Is A 301 Redirect?

A 301 redirect tells browsers and hunt engines that a webpage has been moved permanently to a caller URL.

It signals that the archetypal URL should nary longer beryllium used, and each postulation should beryllium sent to the caller location.

Pro tip: According to Google’s John Muller, it’s bully signifier to keep 301 redirects successful spot for astatine slightest a year.

This is due to the fact that immoderate links to the aged URL volition go breached links erstwhile the redirect has been removed. In different words, keeping the redirect progressive for a twelvemonth oregon much ensures you don’t suffer postulation if radical inactive nexus to the aged URL.

When Should You Use 301 Redirects?

A 301 redirect is astir utile erstwhile you’re making imperishable changes to your website operation oregon content.

Here are immoderate communal scenarios wherever a 301 redirect is the close choice:

• Changing oregon moving the URL of a page: If you’re updating a page’s URL for amended enactment oregon readability – oregon if you’re moving it to a antithetic determination connected your tract – usage a 301 redirect truthful that visitors and hunt engines tin inactive find the leafage astatine its caller address.
• Fixing breached pages (404 errors): If a leafage has been deleted and is nary longer available, usage a 301 redirect to nonstop visitors to a akin leafage (or your homepage) truthful they don’t get stuck connected an mistake page.
• Switching to a caller domain: If you’re changing your domain sanction (for example, arsenic portion of a rebrand), usage 301 redirects to nonstop postulation from the aged domain to your caller one.
• Cleaning up and combining pages: If you’re merging akin pages into one, usage a 301 redirect to guarantee that anyone visiting the aged pages is automatically sent to the new, combined version.
• Redirecting run landing pages: If you’ve created impermanent landing pages for a promotion oregon campaign, you tin usage a 301 redirect to nonstop visitors to a much imperishable leafage aft the run ends.
• Redirecting other domain names: If you’ve bought other domain names (like communal misspellings of your brand), usage a 301 redirect to nonstop visitors who usage those domains to your main website.
• Establishing a preferred domain: If you request to specify a preferred mentation of your website (e.g., “www.example.com” vs. “example.com”), a 301 redirect volition guarantee each visitors and hunt engines usage the close version.
• Merging websites: If you harvester 2 websites into one, usage a 301 redirect to usher postulation from the aged tract to the caller one.

What Is A 302 Redirect?

A 302 redirect tells browsers and hunt engines that a webpage has been moved temporarily to a caller URL.

Unlike a 301 redirect, a 302 redirect indicates that the archetypal URL volition beryllium utilized again successful the future.

When Should You Use 302 Redirects?

A 302 redirect is utile erstwhile you request to nonstop visitors to a antithetic leafage for a abbreviated time, without making imperishable changes to your website.

You should lone usage a 302 if you’re readying to bring the aged leafage backmost eventually.

Here are immoderate communal usage cases:

• Testing oregon updating a page: If you’re moving connected a leafage and request to nonstop visitors to different mentation temporarily, you tin usage a 302 redirect until the updates are done.
• Running an A/B test: If you privation to trial 2 antithetic versions of a leafage to spot which 1 works better, you tin usage a 302 redirect alongside an A/B investigating instrumentality to nonstop immoderate visitors to a trial mentation of the page, portion the remainder spot the archetypal version.
• Temporarily promoting a antithetic page: If you’re moving a short-term promotion, you tin usage a 302 redirect to temporarily nonstop users to a landing leafage for the promotion.
• Maintenance oregon downtime: If you request to instrumentality a leafage offline for maintenance, you tin usage a 302 redirect to nonstop users to a antithetic leafage portion and support the archetypal URL successful spot for erstwhile attraction is complete.
• Seasonal content: If you person contented that’s lone applicable astatine definite times of the twelvemonth (like vacation sales), a 302 redirect tin temporarily nonstop visitors to the seasonal page.

How Do 301 And 302 Redirects Impact SEO?

Search engines dainty 301 and 302 redirects otherwise – which is wherefore it’s truthful important to take the close one.

When you usage a 301, Google transfers the authority, ranking power, and immoderate backlinks associated with the aged URL to the caller location. This means the caller URL inherits the SEO worth that the archetypal leafage built up implicit time.

Side note: With a 301 redirect, Google volition yet update its scale (and, therefore, hunt results) to bespeak the caller URL. This usually happens reasonably quickly.

When you usage a 302 redirect, Google typically does not walk the ranking authorization oregon backlinks from the aged URL to the caller one. And the archetypal leafage continues to look successful the hunt results, since the alteration is lone considered temporary.

Most problems lone originate erstwhile radical usage a 301 oregon 302 redirect successful the incorrect context. 

For example, utilizing a 302 redirect erstwhile the alteration is really imperishable means Google won’t transportation the SEO worth to the caller URL. This could harm your caller page’s ranking imaginable and bounds your hunt visibility.

Likewise, if you usage a 301 redirect for a alteration that’s lone temporary, Google whitethorn dainty the archetypal leafage arsenic permanently moved. This tin origin it to suffer rankings – adjacent aft you power backmost to the archetypal page.

How To Implement Redirects

According to Google:

“Setting up server broadside redirects requires entree to the server configuration files (for example, the .htaccess record connected Apache) oregon mounting the redirect headers with server broadside scripts (for example, PHP).

You tin make some imperishable and impermanent redirects connected the server side.”

If you’re not definite however to bash this, you tin notation to resources similar the Apache .htaccess Tutorial and a URL Rewriting Guide. These guides explicate however to negociate redirects done your server’s configuration files.

If your server doesn’t tally connected Apache, you’ll request to interaction your big for circumstantial instructions. Hosting platforms that usage Nginx oregon Microsoft IIS volition person antithetic methods for mounting up redirects.

For WordPress users, respective plugins tin simplify the process of creating redirects:

• Redirection: This plugin allows you to easy negociate 301 redirects, way 404 errors, and provides an easy-to-use interface for creating assorted types of redirects.
• Simple 301 Redirects: This plugin focuses exclusively connected 301 redirects and is cleanable for creating simple, imperishable redirects.

Redirects Impact Search Visibility

Understanding the differences betwixt 301 and 302 redirects is important for maintaining your website’s SEO and ensuring a creaseless idiosyncratic experience.

By choosing the close benignant of redirect for your needs, you tin sphere your site’s ranking powerfulness and usher visitors to the close pages efficiently.

More resources:

• URL Redirects For SEO: A Technical Guide
• How To Do JavaScript Redirects For SEO
• Advanced Technical SEO: A Complete Guide

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