What is a 301 redirect?

A 301 redirect tells browsers and search engines that a web address has moved permanently to a new one. Visitors who open the old address land on the new one automatically, and search engines move the old address’s place in their results over to the new one. It is the standard way to move a page, a website or a whole domain.

What happens during a 301 redirect

When someone opens old-brand.com, the browser asks that server for the page. With a 301 redirect in place, the server does not send a page. It answers with a status code and a new address:

HTTP/1.1 301 Moved Permanently
Location: https://new-brand.com/

The browser then requests the address in Location straight away. The visitor only notices that the address bar now shows new-brand.com; the whole exchange usually takes a fraction of a second.

The number comes from HTTP itself: every answer a web server sends starts with a three-digit status code. Codes in the 300s mean “look elsewhere”, and 301 is the one for Moved Permanently.

What it means for SEO

“Permanently” is the important word. Search engines take a 301 as a strong signal that the new address replaces the old one. Over time they show the new address in their results and credit it with the links and rankings the old address had built up.

• Redirect page to matching page. old-brand.com/pricing should go to new-brand.com/pricing, not the home page. Search engines may treat many old pages sent to one home page as missing pages.
• Keep it in place. Leave a 301 running for a long time, at least a year and preferably as long as you own the old domain. Old links on other sites, bookmarks and printed material keep working that way.
• One hop, not a chain. Point the old address straight at the final one, not through a second redirect.

SEO checklist for moving to a new domain.

301 or another redirect?

Use a 301 when the move is for good: a new domain, a rebrand, merged websites, or typo and country domains that should always lead to your main site. If the old address is coming back, for example a campaign or a page under maintenance, use a temporary 302 instead. A 308 is a permanent redirect like the 301, but also passes submitted forms and API calls on unchanged. 301, 302, 307 and 308 compared.

Browsers can remember a 301

Because a 301 says the move is permanent, browsers are allowed to remember it and skip the old address next time, unless the server tells them not to. That is why changing or removing a 301 set up elsewhere can seem not to work: your own browser keeps going to the old destination. Test changes in a private window.

Redirect Ninja tells browsers not to store its redirects, so when you change the destination or the redirect type, the change applies from the next visit.

How to set up a 301 redirect

• On your own web server: a rule in its configuration, for example in an .htaccess file or the server’s settings. This needs hosting for the old domain and someone comfortable editing server files.
• In your website builder or CMS: most have a redirects setting for pages within the same site.
• For a whole domain, without a server: point the domain’s DNS to a redirect service. With Redirect Ninja you enter the old domain and the destination, choose Permanent Redirect (301), which is the default, and HTTPS is set up for you. Redirect a domain without hosting.

Check whether a URL redirects with a 301

Enter the address in the redirect checker. It lists every hop with its status code, so you can see whether it is a 301, a 302 or a chain of several. In a terminal, curl -I https://old-brand.com shows the status code and the location of the first hop.

Related guides

• 301 vs 302 redirect: which one to use
• 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