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Differentiating Between 301 and 302 Redirects
Differentiating Between 301 and 302 Redirects
Updated over 11 months ago

There are some key differences between 301 and 302 redirects, which make it vital to use the most relevant type when building them out on your site.

Technical Differences

From a technical standpoint, search engines treat these two types of redirects differently. When a search engine encounters a 301 redirect, it transfers around 90-99% of link equity from the old page to the new one. In contrast, with a 302 redirect, no link equity transfer occurs as its considered temporary.

In terms of caching behavior by browsers and intermediate caches, when implementing a 301 redirect, browsers will cache this response indefinitely unless specified otherwise by cache control headers or meta tags. However, for 302 redirects, browsers will not cache them unless specifically instructed to do so.

SEO Consequences

The choice between using a 301 vs 302 redirect can have significant implications for search engine optimization (SEO). Implementing an incorrect type of redirection can impact how search engines index and rank web pages.

Using an appropriate type of redirection is crucial for preserving SEO value when migrating content or restructuring websites. If you want to permanently change URLs without losing SEO value from old links pointing to those URLs, then using a 301 redirect is essential. This ensures that authority and ranking signals are passed on to the new URL.

On the other hand, if you're making changes temporarily or experimenting with different page versions but still want to preserve your existing rankings until you make your final decision, then implementing a 302 redirect would be more suitable.

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