301 vs 302 redirect: which one to use

A 301 and a 302 send visitors to exactly the same place. The difference is what they tell search engines: a 301 says the address has moved for good, a 302 says it has moved for now and is coming back. Use a 301 when the old address will never show its own content again, and a 302 when it will.

The difference at a glance

Google describes a permanent redirect as a strong signal that the new address should be the one it shows, and a temporary redirect as a weak one. Neither type makes the visit slower or loses visitors on the way.

Use a 301 when the move is for good

• You moved to a new domain or rebranded. SEO checklist for the move.
• You merged two websites into one.
• You own typo, country or older domains that should always lead to your main site.
• You picked one of www.example.com and example.com as your main address. Redirect www to non-www.

Use a 302 when the old address comes back

• A campaign domain points to a seasonal landing page, and will point somewhere else next season.
• A site is down for maintenance and sends visitors to a status page.
• You are testing a new page before deciding whether it replaces the old one.

A quick test: if you would be surprised to see the old address in search results a year from now, use a 301.

What happens if you pick the wrong one

• A 302 for a permanent move. Search engines keep showing the old address, and the new one has to build up its own place in the results. Google has said that it may treat a 302 that stays in place for a long time as permanent, but that takes time and is not something to rely on. Change it to a 301 as soon as you know the move is final.
• A 301 for a temporary move. Search engines swap the old address for the new one. When you remove the redirect, the old address has to win its place back, which can take weeks.

Neither mistake is permanent damage, and both are fixed by changing the type. The sooner you do it, the less there is to undo.

Changing the type in Redirect Ninja

Every redirect has a type, and Permanent Redirect (301) is the default. To change it, edit the redirect and choose another type. Redirect Ninja tells browsers not to store its redirects, so the new type applies from the next visit, both for visitors and for search engines the next time they check the address.

A 301 set up somewhere else may behave differently: browsers are allowed to remember a 301, and some keep sending returning visitors to the old destination after you change it. Test changes in a private window. More about 301 redirects.

What about 307 and 308?

They are the 302 and 301 for forms and API calls: a 307 is temporary and a 308 is permanent, and both pass on submitted data unchanged, where a 301 or 302 drops it. For ordinary links and web pages there is no difference, so stick with 301 or 302. 301, 302, 307 and 308 compared.

Check which type a URL uses

Enter the address in the redirect checker. It shows every hop with its status code, so you can see at once whether it is a 301 or a 302, and whether there is a chain of several. A redirect from http:// to https:// on the same address is a separate first hop and is normal.

Related guides

• What is a 301 redirect?
• Which redirect type to choose: 301, 302, 307 or 308
• Redirecting specific paths
• Path and query parameter forwarding
• Redirect www to non-www (or the other way round)
• Redirect a subdomain to another URL