Redirects are how the web handles moved content, and they're deceptively easy to get wrong. The difference between a 301 and a 302 is small in code and large in consequence — and a stack of redirects chained together will quietly erode your crawl efficiency and page speed.
301, 302 and friends
The two you'll use constantly:
- 301 Moved Permanently — this URL has moved for good. Search engines transfer signals to the target and eventually drop the old URL from the index.
- 302 Found (temporary) — this move is temporary; keep the original URL indexed. Also 307, the stricter HTTP/1.1 version of a temporary redirect.
There's also 308 (permanent, method-preserving) and the meta-refresh / JavaScript redirect, both of which you should generally avoid for SEO in favour of a proper server-side status code.
Which one to use
The rule is simple: if the change is permanent, use a 301. Site migration, HTTP to HTTPS, merging two pages, changing a URL slug — all 301. Reach for a 302 only when you genuinely mean "this is temporary and the original will return" — an A/B test, a seasonal landing page, a geo-based bounce. Using a 302 for a permanent move is one of the most common migration mistakes; Google usually figures it out eventually, but you're leaving it to chance.
Do redirects pass ranking?
Yes. Google has confirmed that 301s (and 302s, given enough time) pass ranking signals without a meaningful "PageRank loss" the way the old folklore claimed. What actually costs you is indecision — leaving Google unsure which URL is canonical — not the redirect itself.
Redirect chains and loops
A chain is A → B → C → D. Each hop adds latency for users and burns crawl budget for bots, and Google will stop following after a handful of hops. Collapse chains so every old URL points directly at the final destination in one hop. A loop (A → B → A) is worse — the page becomes unreachable entirely. Both are invisible until you check the actual status codes.
After any migration, re-point old redirects at their final target. Chains accumulate silently every time URLs change.
HTTPS and www redirects
Every site should force one canonical version: HTTPS, and either www or non-www (pick one). That means http://, http://www, and the non-preferred host should all 301 to your canonical origin — in a single hop, not a chain through each variant. Pair this with self-referencing canonical tags and duplicate-host issues disappear.
Checking status codes
You can't see a redirect chain by looking at a page — you have to inspect the HTTP responses. SEO Inspector reports the HTTP status of the current URL and follows the redirect path, so a sneaky 302-that-should-be-a-301 or a three-hop chain shows up immediately. It also checks the URLs in your sitemap for stray redirects and errors.
