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301 vs 302 for SEO: Which Redirect Passes Equity, When to Use Each, and the 307/308 Codes Most Domain Guides Skip
A 301 redirect tells a search engine that a page has moved permanently, so the destination becomes the version to index and the link equity consolidates forward. A 302 redirect says the move is temporary, so the original URL stays the indexed one and the equity stays put. For SEO, that single difference in signal decides whether the authority you are pointing somewhere truly arrives.
The honest position is this. Done right, a 301 passes the ranking value of the source URL to a relevant target, and Google has stated for years that it does. Done wrong, a 301 to an irrelevant page, a chain of hops, or a 302 used by mistake leaks or strands that value. This guide draws the line every generic redirect article blurs, then adds the 307 and 308 codes the SEO write-ups skip.
It matters at its sharpest when real money is on the table. The highest-stakes 301 decision is redirecting an acquired aged or expired domain, where you have paid for inherited authority and the redirect choice decides whether that authority lands. SEO Domains operates the curated marketplace where that raw material is screened before it is priced, so the equity you redirect is real to begin with.
301 vs 302 redirects: the short answer for SEO
For SEO, use a 301 when the move is permanent and you want the destination to inherit the source URL’s rankings and link equity. Use a 302 when the move is genuinely temporary and the original URL must stay the indexed version. A 301 consolidates authority forward; a 302 deliberately does not.
Both are HTTP status codes a server returns when a browser or crawler requests a URL that now points elsewhere. The status code is the instruction. A 301 reads “Moved Permanently” and a 302 reads “Found”, which in practice the web treats as a temporary redirect. Search engines read those two instructions in opposite ways, and that is the entire SEO story in one sentence.
The one-line rule that resolves most cases
Ask one question. Will the original URL ever serve its own content again? If the answer is no, the move is permanent and the code is 301. If the answer is yes, the move is temporary and the code is 302. That single test resolves the large majority of real redirect decisions before any nuance is needed.
The nuance arrives at the edges, in caching, method preservation, and the four-code family that includes 307 and 308. The sections below take each in turn, then close on the redirect that carries the greatest financial weight, the 301 from a domain you acquired for its authority.
What is a 301 redirect (permanent)?
A 301 redirect is the HTTP response code “301 Moved Permanently”. It tells browsers and search engines that a URL has permanently relocated to a new address, instructs them to use the new URL going forward, and signals search engines to transfer the old URL’s indexing and link equity to the destination.
What the 301 status code does
When a server returns a 301 for a requested URL, it includes a Location header naming the new address. The browser follows it, and a crawler records the destination as the canonical replacement. Over repeated crawls, the search engine drops the old URL from its index and keeps the new one, carrying the accumulated ranking signals across.
This is the redirect that domain migrations, HTTPS upgrades, and page consolidations run on. The mechanics of how that equity moves through the link graph are covered in How 301 redirects work technically, and whether it fully passes is the subject of Does a 301 redirect pass SEO value.
When a 301 is the right call
A 301 fits any change you do not intend to reverse. The recurring cases are consistent across the field:
- Migrating to a new domain, or merging two domains into one.
- Upgrading the whole site from HTTP to HTTPS.
- Consolidating duplicate or competing pages into a single authoritative URL.
- Retiring an old URL structure and moving to a new one permanently.
- Pointing an acquired aged or expired domain’s authority at a relevant target.
In each case the goal is identical: the destination becomes the version search engines rank, and it inherits what the old URL earned.
What is a 302 redirect (temporary)?
A 302 redirect is the HTTP response code “302 Found”. It tells browsers and search engines that a URL has moved temporarily, instructs them to follow the new address for now, and signals search engines to keep the original URL indexed because the move is not permanent.
What the 302 status code does
A 302 also returns a Location header, and the browser follows it just as it follows a 301. The difference is the message about permanence. Because the move reads as temporary, a search engine keeps the original URL as the indexed canonical and does not permanently consolidate ranking signals onto the destination. The original URL is expected to return.
When a 302 is the right call
A 302 fits a genuinely temporary redirect where the original URL has to stay the indexed one:
- A/B testing a new page variant while the original stays canonical.
- A short promotional or seasonal page that reverts after the campaign.
- A maintenance or redesign window where the page returns unchanged.
- Geolocation or device-based routing that is not a permanent address change.
The trap is leaving a 302 in place for what is, in truth, a permanent move. A 302 that lingers for a year is a permanent move mislabeled, and the cost is ranking value that never consolidates where you intended.
301 vs 302: how each affects SEO, link equity, and indexing
A 301 consolidates link equity, anchor-text signals, and indexing onto the destination URL, which is why it is the standard for permanent moves. A 302 is designed not to consolidate: the original URL stays indexed and the destination does not permanently inherit the source’s authority. The practical SEO difference is which URL ends up holding the rankings.
Link equity and what passes
Link equity is the ranking value a URL accumulates from its inbound links. Google built its original PageRank model on the idea that a link is a vote, and Ahrefs and Majestic build their Domain Rating and Trust Flow metrics on the same referring-domain authority. A 301 passes that accumulated value to the destination. The historical position from Google, going back to Matt Cutts, is that a 301 does not lose link equity by design.
A 302 is the deliberate opposite. Because the move is temporary, the equity is not permanently reassigned. The original URL keeps its standing, which is exactly what you want for a temporary redirect and exactly what you do not want for a permanent one.
Indexing: which URL search engines keep
The indexing outcome follows from the signal. After a 301, the search engine consolidates on the destination and drops the source from the index over subsequent crawls. After a 302, the search engine keeps the source URL as the canonical and treats the destination as a temporary stand-in. Mislabel a permanent move as a 302 and you can split signals across two URLs, which dilutes the authority instead of consolidating it.
The AI-search wrinkle
Redirect handling now extends past classic search. Published 2026 research from SE Ranking found that ChatGPT cites redirected URLs far less than Google does, at 0.79 percent against 5.75 percent, and that AI answer engines favour permanent redirects over temporary ones at roughly a 1.6 to 1 ratio, the inverse of Google’s historical tolerance. Treat that as a cited reference signal, not a guarantee: the direction of travel is that a permanent move deserves a permanent code, because the systems reading your redirects are getting stricter, not looser.
| Dimension | 301 (permanent) | 302 (temporary) |
|---|---|---|
| Status meaning | Moved Permanently | Found (temporary) |
| Indexed URL | Destination replaces source | Source stays canonical |
| Link equity | Consolidates to destination | Not permanently reassigned |
| Anchor-text signals | Carried to destination | Retained by source |
| Right use | Migration, HTTPS, merge, acquired-domain 301 | A/B test, promo, maintenance |
| Failure mode | Wasted on an irrelevant target or a chain | Left on a permanent move, splitting signals |
What Google actually says about 301 vs 302
Google’s documented position is that a 301 is the right signal for a permanent move and is the strongest way to consolidate URLs, while a 302 keeps the original indexed. Google has also stated that both redirect types can pass equity, and that a 302 left in place long enough is eventually treated like a 301. The reliable move is to send the correct signal from the start.
The permanent-move signal
Google Search Central documents 301 redirects as a permanent-move signal and lists them among the methods for consolidating duplicate URLs onto a single canonical address. The redirect is a strong canonicalization signal, telling the crawler which URL to treat as the real one. For a permanent change, that signal is what you want pointed at the destination.
The nuance: both can pass equity
The modern Google line, repeated by John Mueller of Google’s Search Relations team, is that the equity-loss panic around redirects is overstated. Google has stated that both 301 and 302 redirects can pass ranking signals, and that a 302 kept in place for a long time gets interpreted as permanent and treated like a 301. Conductor and other SEO publications cite Mueller making exactly this point.
That nuance is real, and it is not a reason to be careless. Relying on Google to eventually reinterpret a mislabeled 302 hands control of your timing and your canonical to an algorithm instead of keeping it yourself. The reliable engineering choice is to declare the truth of the move with the correct code on day one.
307 and 308: the method-preserving codes most guides skip
307 and 308 are the method-preserving siblings of 302 and 301. A 308 Permanent Redirect is a permanent move that keeps the original request method intact, and a 307 Temporary Redirect is the temporary equivalent. The difference from 301 and 302 is technical: 307 and 308 guarantee a POST stays a POST, where 301 and 302 can have it downgraded to a GET by older clients.
Why the four-code family exists
The MDN Web Docs and the HTTP specification describe the distinction precisely. A 301 requires the request method to stay unchanged, but older clients handle it incorrectly and switch a POST to a GET. A 308 was defined to close that gap: it is the permanent redirect that the spec guarantees will not alter the method or the body. A 307 does the same for temporary redirects, where a 302 historically allowed the method to change.
For routine SEO page moves, where the request is a simple GET, a 301 and a 308 behave the same way and a 302 and a 307 behave the same way. The method-preservation difference becomes load-bearing the moment a form submission, an API call, or a checkout POST is involved, which is why 307 is the redirect that protects payment and form flows.
The complete redirect reference
| Code | Meaning | Permanence | Method preserved | SEO equity | Typical use |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 301 | Moved Permanently | Permanent | Should, but older clients may change POST to GET | Consolidates to destination | Migration, HTTPS, merge, acquired-domain 301 |
| 302 | Found | Temporary | May change POST to GET | Stays with source | A/B test, promo, maintenance |
| 307 | Temporary Redirect | Temporary | Guaranteed (POST stays POST) | Stays with source | Temporary move of form or API endpoints |
| 308 | Permanent Redirect | Permanent | Guaranteed (POST stays POST) | Consolidates to destination | Permanent move that must preserve POST |
Caching and browser behavior: why a 301 is hard to undo
Browsers cache a 301 aggressively, treating it as permanent and storing it for a long time, which makes a misconfigured 301 difficult to reverse on returning visitors. A 302 is cached minimally or not at all, so it can be changed freely. This caching difference is a practical reason to be certain before deploying a 301.
The caching difference in practice
Because a 301 declares a permanent move, browsers are entitled to remember it and skip the round trip on future visits, and as a rule they do. A visitor who hit the old URL once can keep landing on the destination from cache even after you remove the redirect on the server, until that cache expires. A 302, being temporary, is treated as disposable, so the browser rechecks the original URL each time.
What this means for the decision
The lesson is to use a 301 only when permanence is genuine, because the browser will hold you to it. If there is real doubt about whether a move is final, a 302 is the reversible option until the decision settles. The deeper interaction between redirects and the canonical tag, when both are in play, is covered in 301 plus canonical: combined use.
How to choose: a step-by-step decision and how to verify the code
Choosing between 301 and 302 is a short, repeatable sequence: decide whether the move is permanent, check whether the request method must be preserved, pick the code, deploy it, then verify the live response before trusting it. The verify step is the one people skip, and it is where mislabeled redirects get caught.
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Decide if the move is permanent
Ask the one question: will the original URL ever serve its own content again? No means permanent, and the answer points at 301 or 308. Yes means temporary, and the answer points at 302 or 307.
The mistake: defaulting to a 302 because it feels safer. A permanent move on a 302 strands the equity on a URL you have abandoned.
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Check whether the request method matters
If the redirect only ever serves page loads, a 301 or 302 is fine. If it can catch a form submission, an API call, or a payment POST, step up to 308 for permanent or 307 for temporary so the method and body survive.
The mistake: redirecting a checkout or form endpoint with a 301 and silently dropping the POST data, breaking the submission.
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Confirm the target is relevant
A redirect passes the greatest equity when the destination is topically relevant to the source. The relevance requirement is the single biggest factor in whether a 301 transfers value at all, and it is detailed in Relevance requirement for 301 (Koray’s rule).
The mistake: pointing a 301 at an unrelated page. Google can treat an irrelevant redirect as a soft 404 and pass little or no equity.
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Deploy a single clean hop
Implement the redirect at the server or platform level and send the source straight to the final destination in one hop. Update internal links to point at the destination directly so crawlers never need the redirect.
The mistake: building a chain, where A redirects to B redirects to C. Each hop bleeds equity and slows the crawl, as covered in 301 redirect chains.
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Verify the live response code
Confirm the server returns what you intended. Run
curl -I https://old-urland read the status line, or open the browser DevTools Network tab and check the status column, or use the URL Inspection tool in Google Search Console. A 301 has to report 301, not 302.The mistake: trusting the redirect without checking. A large share of platforms and plugins default to a 302, so a redirect you meant as permanent ships as temporary unless you verify it.
Common 301 and 302 mistakes: the consolidated checklist
The redirect mistakes that cost ranking value are a short, repeatable list. Each one is a specific failure with a documented fix, and the fixes converge on the same discipline: send the correct code, in one hop, to a relevant target, and verify it. Use this table as the scannable reference before and after any redirect goes live.
The table consolidates the failures scattered through the sections above into one place. The left column is the mistake, the centre column is why it costs equity or rankings, and the right column is the correct move. Read top to bottom, the fixes describe a redirect strategy that passes the authority it was meant to pass.
| The mistake | Why it costs you | The fix |
|---|---|---|
| 302 used for a permanent move | The source stays indexed and the equity never consolidates forward | Use a 301 (or 308) for anything you will not reverse |
| 301 used for a temporary move | Browser caching makes it hard to undo when the page returns | Use a 302 (or 307) while the move is genuinely temporary |
| Redirect chains (A to B to C) | Each hop bleeds equity and slows crawling | Redirect the source straight to the final destination in one hop |
| Irrelevant redirect target | Google can treat it as a soft 404 and pass little equity | Point the redirect at a topically relevant page |
| POST dropped on a form or checkout | A 301 or 302 can change POST to GET and lose the data | Use 307 or 308 to preserve the request method |
| Internal links still hit the old URL | Crawlers and users keep traversing the redirect unnecessarily | Update internal links to point at the destination directly |
| Redirect never verified | Platforms default to 302, so the code is wrong silently | Check the live response with curl, DevTools, or Search Console |
| Redirecting a junk source domain | There is no real authority to pass, so the redirect moves nothing | Redirect only from a clean, earned-authority domain |
| Redirect loops | The URL points back to itself and the request fails entirely | Map the redirect once, to a final URL that does not redirect again |
| Impact never monitored | Equity loss goes unnoticed until rankings drop | Track the move in Search Console, per Monitoring 301 impact in GSC |
One pattern runs down the whole fix column. A redirect can only pass authority that genuinely exists, in one clean hop, to a page that deserves it. The last rows make the point the rest of this guide builds toward: the redirect is only as valuable as the domain behind it, which is where the highest-stakes 301 decision lives.
The highest-stakes 301: redirecting an acquired aged or expired domain
The 301 versus 302 choice carries the greatest financial weight when you are redirecting an aged or expired domain you bought for its inherited authority. Here the code, the relevance of the target, and the quality of the source domain decide whether the authority you paid for truly lands. A 302 wastes it, an irrelevant 301 leaks it, and a junk source domain has none to pass.
Why this is the redirect that matters most
The standard redirect guides treat 301 versus 302 as housekeeping for a site you already own. The decision changes character when the source URL is an aged or expired domain acquired specifically because it carries earned backlinks and standing. Now the redirect is the entire point of the purchase, and getting the code wrong throws away the asset. A permanent 301 to a relevant target is what transfers that inherited authority; the timing of when to deploy it is covered in When to use a 301 from an expired domain.
Done right versus done wrong, on an acquired domain
The done-right version is disciplined. A clean, earned-authority aged or expired domain, redirected with a permanent 301, in one hop, to a topically relevant target, then monitored. The done-wrong version breaks at the source: a junk or spam-flagged drop bought for an inflated metric has no real authority to pass, so even a perfect 301 moves nothing of value, and a toxic profile can carry risk forward instead of equity.
Done right: the redirect delivers
A clean aged or expired domain with a real, earned backlink profile, redirected with a permanent 301 in one hop to a relevant target, then tracked in Search Console. The inherited authority lands where you intended.
Done wrong: the redirect leaks or risks
A junk, spam-flagged source domain, or a 302 by mistake, or an irrelevant target, or a chain of hops. Each one wastes the authority or carries a toxic profile forward instead of value.
The signals that decide whether a source domain is worth redirecting
Before a 301 from an acquired domain is worth running, the source has to survive a profile check. The signals that matter are the standard authority metrics:
- Referring domains and the quality, not just the count, of the links pointing in.
- DR and DA, the Ahrefs and Moz authority scores, read together rather than singly.
- Trust Flow and the TF:CF ratio from Majestic, which surface link-spam patterns a single metric hides.
- A clean history with no toxic inheritance, since a 301 carries the profile forward as it is.
These are the metrics documented across the Domain Authority & Metrics hub, and the acquisition diligence behind them is in the Expired Domain Fundamentals hub. A junk domain fails them, and redirecting it moves a liability. A vetted domain passes them, and a 301 from it lands real authority.
Source a domain whose equity is real before you redirect it
The legitimate demand behind every “301 vs 302” decision on an acquired domain is access to real, clean authority you can redirect with confidence. That is the product: an aged or expired domain with a screened backlink profile, not a redirect service and not hosting. SEO Domains operates the curated marketplace where aged and expired domains are screened across their backlink profiles and authority metrics before they are listed and priced, so the equity your 301 carries forward is real to begin with.
301 vs 302 frequently asked questions
The five questions SEOs and domain buyers raise when they compare 301 and 302 redirects, answered against the HTTP specification, Google’s documented position, and the acquired-domain stakes this guide draws.
Q1What is the difference between a 301 and a 302 redirect?
A 301 is a permanent redirect: it tells search engines the destination is the new canonical URL and consolidates the source URL’s link equity onto it. A 302 is a temporary redirect: it keeps the original URL indexed and does not permanently reassign authority. To a human in a browser they look identical; the difference is the signal sent to search engines about which URL to keep.
Q2When to use a 301 and when to use a 302?
Use a 301 for any move you will not reverse: domain migration, HTTP-to-HTTPS, page merges, retiring old URL structures, and redirecting an acquired aged or expired domain to a relevant target. Use a 302 for genuinely temporary cases: A/B tests, promotional or seasonal pages, and maintenance windows where the original URL returns unchanged. The test is whether the original URL will ever serve its own content again.
Q3What is the difference between 301, 302, 307, and 308?
301 is a permanent redirect and 302 is temporary, but both can let an older client change a POST request to a GET. 308 is a permanent redirect and 307 is temporary, and both guarantee the request method and body stay intact. For standard page moves, 301 and 308 behave the same and 302 and 307 behave the same. The method-preservation difference matters for forms, APIs, and checkout POST requests, which is why 307 protects payment flows.
Q4Does a 301 redirect pass full link equity?
A 301 is designed to pass link equity, and Google has stated for years, going back to Matt Cutts, that it does not lose it by design. In practice, the value that transfers depends on the relevance of the target and a single clean hop. An irrelevant target can be treated as a soft 404 and pass little, and each extra hop in a chain bleeds value. A relevant, one-hop 301 from a clean domain is the configuration that passes the fullest share.
Q5Which redirect fits an expired domain I bought for SEO?
A permanent 301, in one hop, to a topically relevant target, from a source domain whose backlink profile is clean and earned. This is the highest-stakes redirect decision because the authority you are passing is the asset you paid for. A 302 strands it, an irrelevant target leaks it, and a junk source domain has none to pass. Start from a screened domain so the equity your 301 carries forward is real.
