When to Use a 301 Redirect vs. 302 Redirect

Website owners, SEO professionals, and marketers often substitute 301 redirects for 302 redirects. Both URL redirects lead internet users to the pages they desire to visit. However, using the wrong one could cause website problems.

Search engines treat URL redirects differently, which is one of the major reasons for website problems. It can cause your organic traffic to plummet if you use the wrong redirect. To avoid this, you should learn the differences between 301 and 302 redirects. Knowing when to use them is crucial to having a solid SEO strategy.

Jay, the founder of RankoVerse, often buys expired domains to 301 redirect to other domains in the same niche. This is also why he agrees that knowing the difference between redirects are extremely important.

What are 301 redirects?

According to a St. Petersburg SEO specialist , a 301 redirect is used by web admins, SEO professionals, and website owners to permanently transfer one or more websites to another web page or website. This redirect leads search engines and internet users to the correct page.

Google and other search engines can easily understand and implement this URL redirect. It’s one of the best SEO-friendly ways to move your website’s content onto a different page with a new URL.

One of the best things about 301 redirects is that they carry forward most SEO efforts, including link weighting and ranking authority. Any SEO efforts you have made for your website and web pages will not be lost.

What are 302 Redirects?

The HTTP status code 302 redirects website visitors to temporary pages, allowing them to find the content of the page they are trying to access. This redirect leads website visitors to the correct page for a short time or until it is removed.

302 redirects will not affect your old pages. Search engines and no ranking authority will index the new page, nor will link weighting be transferred to it. Experts say that 302 redirects don’t benefit websites as they don’t transfer link equity. They can, however, be beneficial if used properly.

301 vs. 302. Redirect: When to Use Them?

It’s almost always a case where permanent redirection is required. However, depending on the situation, you can optimize the use of 301s or 302s.

When is the Best Time to Use 301 Redirects?

In the following scenarios, you can use 301 redirects:

• After Creating a Website: Before you launch your website, you will need to use 301s to redirect all domains to the preferred version.
• When Moving To HTTPS: You must set up 301 redirects for every HTTP URL to their HTTPS counterparts when you plan to move your website to HTTPS.
• Broken Pages: You should always check for broken pages on your website. To redirect visitors to the updated or new page, you can use 301 redirects if there are any.
• Removing Content: If, for example, you have a blog about dogs and want to move it to another blog about animals. To redirect internet users to the new blog, you can use 301 redirects.
• When changing URLs: If you need to modify your website’s URL for any reason, you can use 301 redirects. This will transfer link equity from the old URL to the new one. You will lose all SEO efforts if you don’t do so.
• Redesigning a Website: It is best to use 301 redirects if you are redesigning a website.
• Fixing duplicate content issues: If you have multiple web pages that contain similar content, you may merge them by creating new pages. To redirect internet users to your new page, you can use 301 redirects.
• Merging and Rebranding Two or more Domains: To merge two or more websites, you will need 301 redirects to transfer authority. Similar situations apply to fixing duplicate content.

When is the best time to use 302 redirects?

These are some examples of situations where you can use 302 redirects.

• Temporarily Moving Website Pages: If you have created a temporary page but still plan to use it, a 302 tells search engines that the page is only temporary.
• Websites or Webpages in Development: 302 is an option if you don’t want to change URLs.
• Products Out of Stock: E-commerce websites can use 302 redirects to direct customers to a page allowing them to reserve the product until new stock arrives.
• A/B Testing: IIf you have pages similar to each other and want to see which performs best, you can temporarily link visitors using 302s until you decide which one you will use permanently.

301 Redirect or 302 Redirect: Which is better?

There are many differences between 301s and 302s. It can be hard to decide which one is better. While 301 redirects seem more effective, especially for SEO, 302 redirects can still provide benefits if used correctly. It is a matter of temporary and permanent redirection. Choose the right one to impact your website positively.

The Bottom Line

Search engines may become confused if given the wrong type of redirect. A 301 redirect means that the page was permanently moved to another location. A 302 redirect means that the move was temporary. Search engines have to decide whether to replace the page at the old address with the one at the new address or keep it. This can lead to decreased traffic.

SEO is about finding the right one for your business. Redirects tell Google which page to respond to and which one to rank.

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