What Is a Redirect? 301, 302, 307 and 308 Explained for SEO

Redirects are one of the simplest tools in web development, but they are also one of the easiest ways to break SEO, analytics and user experience if they are misused. Whether you are migrating to HTTPS, changing URL structures or deprecating old content, knowing exactly how redirects work is essential.

In this guide, we will break down what a redirect is, how HTTP status codes like 301, 302, 307 and 308 differ, and when to use each type. You will also see how to test your redirects in practice using a redirect checking tool such as the Seories Redirect Checker at https://seories.com/dashboard/redirect-checker.

What Is a Redirect?

A redirect is an instruction that tells a browser or crawler that the requested URL has moved somewhere else. Instead of serving content directly, the server responds with a special HTTP status code (from the 3xx range) and a new target URL.

In simple terms, a redirect says:

“The page you are trying to reach is no longer here. Go to this other URL instead.”

Redirects are most commonly used when:

URLs change because of a redesign or restructuring
Content is moved to a new domain or subfolder
HTTP traffic is forced to HTTPS
Duplicate URLs are consolidated into a single canonical version

For users, a good redirect feels almost invisible: they click a link, and the browser ends up on the correct page. For search engines, redirects are crucial signals that indicate which URL is the “real” one and how link equity should flow.

If you want to see which status codes your own URLs return, you can test them with the Seories Redirect Checker: https://seories.com/dashboard/redirect-checker

Why Redirects Matter for SEO

Redirects have a direct impact on how search engines understand your site and how users experience it.

Redirects and crawling

Search engines discover content by crawling links. When a crawler hits a URL that returns a redirect instead of content, it must decide:

Whether to follow the redirect
How far to follow a chain of redirects
Which URL to treat as canonical

If redirects are clean and efficient, this is straightforward. If they are messy, chained or looping, crawlers waste time on legacy URLs instead of discovering new or updated content.

Redirects and indexing

Search engines use redirects to infer which URL should appear in the search results. For example:

If URL A redirects permanently to URL B, the index should eventually show URL B as the primary result.
If URL A redirects temporarily to URL B, the index may continue to show URL A instead.

Choosing the right type of redirect (permanent vs temporary) affects which URL is considered canonical and how stable your search listings are over time.

Redirects and link equity

Backlinks pointing to older URLs are still valuable. A well-implemented redirect setup ensures that:

Link equity flows from the old URL to the new one
Authority is consolidated on the canonical version
You do not lose ranking power when you change structures or domains

Poor redirect choices (for example, long chains, temporary redirects, or redirects to irrelevant content) can dilute link equity and weaken your overall visibility.

The Main Types of Redirects: 301, 302, 307 and 308

There are many HTTP status codes, but when it comes to redirects and SEO, four are especially important: 301, 302, 307 and 308. All of them tell the client to go somewhere else, but they differ in how permanent the change is and how search engines interpret them.

301 – Moved Permanently

Meaning: The requested URL has permanently moved to a new location.

From an SEO perspective, 301 is the standard choice for long-term URL changes:

Domain migrations
URL restructuring
Consolidating duplicate content
Canonicalizing lowercase/uppercase or trailing slash variations

When a 301 redirect is implemented correctly:

Search engines gradually update their index to show the target URL instead of the source
Most of the link equity is passed to the target
The old URL eventually drops from the index

Example use cases:

http://example.com/page → https://example.com/page
/old-category/product-a → /products/product-a
example.com → www.example.com

302 – Found / Moved Temporarily

Meaning: The resource is temporarily available at a different URL.

A 302 redirect tells search engines:

“This change is temporary, keep treating the original URL as the main one.”

This can be useful when:

You are A/B testing different page versions
A page is under temporary maintenance
You are running a short-term campaign that reroutes traffic but will be reverted later

However, 302 redirects are frequently misused for permanent changes. When that happens, search engines may:

Continue to index the old URL instead of the new one
Split or delay the consolidation of link equity

For long-term changes, a 302 is usually the wrong choice.

307 – Temporary Redirect

Meaning: A more strict, HTTP/1.1 version of a temporary redirect.

Like 302, a 307 indicates a temporary move:

It explicitly tells the client to use the same HTTP method for the next request (for example, POST must stay POST).
From an SEO standpoint, search engines treat it similarly to 302: the original URL is usually considered canonical.

Typical uses are similar to 302:

Short-lived rerouting
Maintenance pages
Feature flags or experiments

Again, it should not be used for permanent URL changes.

308 – Permanent Redirect

Meaning: A permanent redirect that preserves the HTTP method.

308 is the HTTP/1.1 and HTTP/2 equivalent of a 301 with stricter semantics:

It signals a permanent move
It requires the client to reuse the same HTTP method for the subsequent request

From an SEO perspective, search engines treat 308 much like 301:

The target URL becomes canonical
Link equity is passed to the new URL

In practice, 301 remains more common, but 308 is a valid choice for permanent redirects in modern stacks and CDNs.

How Search Engines Interpret Redirect Types

Though exact behavior can vary between search engines, the general pattern looks like this:

301 / 308 (permanent)
- Strong signal that the target URL should replace the source in the index
- Link equity is largely consolidated on the target
- Ideal for site migrations and long-term changes
302 / 307 (temporary)
- Signal that the original URL remains canonical
- Search engines may keep showing the original URL in results
- Link equity might not fully consolidate on the target, especially in the short term

Modern search engines are more flexible than they used to be and sometimes “override” misused redirects based on observed behavior. But relying on that is risky. It is far better to send clear signals with the correct status codes from the beginning.

When to Use Each Redirect Type

Choosing the right redirect type is mostly about answering one question: Is this change permanent, or do you expect to revert it?

Use 301 or 308 when the change is permanent

Examples:

Moving from example.com to example.co.uk as a final brand decision
Restructuring your blog URLs from /blog/post-name to /insights/post-name
Forcing HTTPS across your entire site
Removing duplicate URLs and consolidating them onto a single canonical version

In all of these cases, a permanent redirect tells search engines:

“Treat this new URL as the definitive location.”

Use 302 or 307 when the change is temporary

Examples:

Running an A/B test where 50% of traffic is redirected to an experimental layout
Routing users to a maintenance page while you update the original
Temporarily diverting traffic from a high-load page to a mirror server

Here, you plan to revert the redirect at some point and want search engines to keep the original URL as the main one.

When in doubt, prefer a permanent redirect for long-term moves

If the purpose is to keep the new URL indefinitely, a permanent redirect (301 or 308) is usually the right answer. Temporary redirects should be reserved for short-lived or experimental scenarios.

Common Redirect Mistakes That Hurt SEO

Even when the status codes seem correct, implementation mistakes can cause serious problems.

Using 302/307 for permanent changes

This is one of the most common errors:

A site migrates to HTTPS or a new URL structure
All redirects are implemented as 302
Months later, search results still show the old URLs, and equity is split

If a change is meant to be permanent, it should not rely on temporary redirect codes.

Creating long redirect chains

Instead of a single redirect from old to new, you end up with:

URL A → URL B → URL C → URL D

Each hop adds latency and increases the chance of failure. Search engines may treat long chains as low-quality signals or give up before reaching the final URL.

You should aim to have:

URL A → URL D

directly, with a single permanent redirect.

Redirecting to irrelevant or low-quality pages

Redirecting old pages to unrelated destinations (for example, every retired product to the homepage) can be confusing:

Users might land on content that does not match their intent
Search engines may treat it as a soft 404 or low-quality pattern

Whenever possible, redirect to the closest relevant alternative. If there is no reasonable replacement, returning a 404 or 410 may be better than a misleading redirect.

Redirecting to pages that return errors

Sometimes a redirect chain ends on a 404 or 5xx error:

Old URL → 301 → New URL → 404

From a user and crawler perspective, this is a broken path. If the content is truly gone, remove the redirect and let the old URL return a direct 404/410. If not, fix the final target.

How to Check Your Redirects in Practice

Concepts are useful, but redirects live in the real world where server configs, CDNs and plugins interact. That is why active testing is crucial.

Use a Redirect Checker to see every hop

A redirect checking tool follows the full path from the URL you enter to the final destination and reports:

Every intermediate URL
The HTTP status code at each step
The final response code and URL

With the Seories Redirect Checker at https://seories.com/dashboard/redirect-checker, you can:

Paste any URL you want to investigate
See whether it returns 301, 302, 307 or 308
Detect long chains, loops and redirects that end on 4xx or 5xx pages
Verify that your migration or restructuring rules behave as expected

Instead of guessing what happens between the browser and server, you get a transparent map of the redirect path.

Combine crawling with targeted redirect tests

On larger sites, it is efficient to:

Crawl the site with an SEO crawler and export all URLs that return 3xx codes.
Prioritize high-traffic, high-value or heavily linked URLs.
Test those URLs in the Redirect Checker to understand the full chain and status codes.

This workflow helps you focus on redirects that actually move the needle for SEO and user experience.

Redirect Best Practices Checklist

Use this quick checklist whenever you are implementing or auditing redirects:

Decide whether each change is permanent or temporary
Use 301 or 308 for permanent moves, not 302/307
Avoid long redirect chains; flatten them to a single hop whenever possible
Do not redirect to pages that return 404/410 or 5xx errors unless they are intentionally gone
Redirect deprecated pages to the most relevant alternative, not blindly to the homepage
Test critical URLs with a redirect checking tool to verify real behavior
Review and clean up legacy redirects periodically, especially after migrations

For a deeper, technical overview of redirect chains and HTTP status codes, read our complete guide: “Redirect Chains, HTTP Status Codes and SEO – A Complete Technical Guide”: https://seories.com/blog/redirect-chains-http-status-codes-and-seo-complete-guide

Conclusion

Redirects are a fundamental part of maintaining and evolving any website, but the details matter. Understanding the differences between 301, 302, 307 and 308 status codes—and using them in the right situations—can be the difference between a smooth migration and a long-term SEO problem.

Whenever you change URLs, restructure content or clean up old pages, do not rely on assumptions. Test your redirects, see every hop, and confirm that users and search engines end up exactly where you want them.

To see what is really happening with your URLs, analyze them with the Seories Redirect Checker at https://seories.com/dashboard/redirect-checker and make sure your redirect strategy is helping, not hurting, your SEO.

Redirect Chains, HTTP Status Codes and SEO – A Complete Technical Guide

301 Redirects and SEO: When to Use Them and When Not To

How Redirect Chains Hurt Core Web Vitals: LCP, TTFB and Crawl Efficiency

What Is a Redirect? 301, 302, 307 and 308 Explained for SEO