301 or 302 redirect: the mistake that hurts your SEO

A redirect automatically sends visitors from one address to another. To visitors they all look the same: they land on the right page. To Google, the type of redirect changes the message, and one common mistake can keep the wrong address in search results.

301 and 302: permanent or temporary

• 301 (permanent): the page has moved for good. Google uses this redirect as a signal that the new address is the right one, and that’s the one it shows in results.
• 302 (temporary): the page is elsewhere for now but will come back. Google follows the redirect but doesn’t treat it as a signal for the new address. The old one usually stays in results.

The 308 and 307 codes are their newer equivalents: 308 is permanent, 307 is temporary. The technical difference is that they force the browser to keep the request method, which matters mostly for forms and APIs.

The classic mistake

Many tools and hosts create a 302 by default. The result: you change domains, switch from http to https or rename a page, everything seems to work, yet Google keeps treating the old address as the right one.

The most common cases:

• The http:// to https:// redirect set up as temporary.
• The www to non-www redirect (or the reverse) as a 302.
• A WordPress redirect plugin left on its default setting.
• A redirect added “temporarily” during a redesign… three years ago.

Redirect chains

Another frequent problem is the chain. For example, http://www.mysite.ca redirects to https://www.mysite.ca, which redirects to https://mysite.ca. Each hop adds delay, and search engines eventually stop following them all. Ideally, every variant reaches the final address in a single redirect.

What about in-page redirects?

Some redirects don’t go through the server but through the page itself. Google treats an instant meta refresh as permanent and a delayed one as temporary. JavaScript redirects are less reliable: Google has to run the JavaScript to see them, and that can fail. When you can, use a server-side redirect.

When to use which

• Domain change, move to https, page renamed or replaced: 301 (or 308).
• Maintenance, temporary promotion, A/B test: 302 (or 307).

When in doubt, ask yourself: will the old address ever come back? If the answer is no, it’s a 301.

Check your redirects in 30 seconds

I built Redirect Audit for exactly this. Enter your domain: the tool tests all four variants (http, https, with and without www), follows every hop, shows each redirect’s code and flags chains that are too long. It’s free, with no sign-up.

On the sites I host, these redirects are set up correctly from day one. If your audit turns up 302s or chains, I can help you fix them.