301 vs 302 Redirects: Which to Use and When
The difference between 301 (permanent) and 302 (temporary) redirects, when to use each, how redirects affect SEO, redirect chains and loops, and how to set them up on WordPress.
On this page
- Use 301 for permanent moves and 302 for genuinely temporary ones.
- Redirect each old page to its closest new equivalent, not the homepage.
- Avoid chains and loops, update internal links and check for 404s.
Redirects send visitors and search engines from one URL to another. Choosing the right type, and setting them up carefully, protects your rankings when pages move.
301: permanent
Use a 301 when a page has moved for good: a new URL, a merged page, a new domain, or http to https. Search engines transfer the old page's ranking signals to the new URL over time.
302: temporary
Use a 302 (or 307) when the move is genuinely temporary: a short promotion, maintenance or A/B testing. Search engines keep the original URL indexed.
When redirects matter most
- Redesigns that change URLs; see redesigning without losing rankings
- Domain changes and platform migrations (Wix, Blogger, Shopify to WordPress)
- Deleting or merging pages
- Moving to HTTPS and one preferred www/non-www version
Changing a page slug or your WordPress permalink settings also needs redirects; see SEO-friendly URLs in WordPress.
Common mistakes
- Redirecting everything to the homepage. Redirect each old page to its closest equivalent.
- Redirect chains: A → B → C slows pages and loses signals. Point A straight to C.
- Redirect loops: A → B → A breaks the page entirely
- Using 302 for permanent moves
- Forgetting internal links: update links to point directly to new URLs
If a loop has taken your whole site offline with a "too many redirects" error, see how to fix ERR_TOO_MANY_REDIRECTS in WordPress.
Setting up redirects on WordPress
- SEO or redirection plugins manage redirects from the dashboard and log 404s
- Server or hosting rules handle domain-wide redirects efficiently
- Keep a spreadsheet of old URL → new URL for big changes
For pages that truly no longer exist, make sure visitors land on a helpful 404 page.
After setting redirects
Test old URLs, check Search Console for 404s, and keep redirects in place long term. See also canonical tags explained and WordPress migration.
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