301 redirect

301 vs. 302 vs. 307

• 301 Moved Permanently — permanent redirect. Ranking signals are passed on. The SEO standard for lasting URL changes.
• 302 Found — temporary redirect. Search engines keep the original URL in the index and no signals are transferred. For genuinely transitional situations.
• 307 Temporary Redirect — like 302, but it retains the HTTP method (POST stays POST). Rarely relevant for SEO.
• 308 Permanent Redirect — like 301, but the method is preserved. A more modern variant, though 301 enjoys broader support.

Rule of thumb: permanent = 301, temporary = 302. The wrong choice costs ranking signals.

Typical use cases

• HTTPS migration — all HTTP URLs to their HTTPS counterparts via 301.
• Unifying www / non-www — one variant to the other.
• Domain move — all URLs on the old domain to the corresponding new ones.
• URL restructuring — from /p/12345-blau-schuh to /sneaker/blauer-schuh.
• Consolidating duplicate content — where a canonical is not sufficient.
• Outdated or removed content — redirect to the thematically closest page that still exists.

The most common 301 mistakes

• Redirect chains — A→B→C→D. One hop at most, otherwise signals and loading time are lost. Rebuild them so that A points directly to D.
• Redirect loops — A→B→A. Server error, page unreachable.
• Mass redirects to the homepage during a domain move. Topical relevance is lost — Google devalues these redirects. Better to use thematically matching target URLs.
• 301 to a 404 — the target URL does not exist at all. Pre-migration mapping is mandatory.
• 302 instead of 301 for permanent moves — ranking signals are lost.