A redirect sends visitors and search engines from one URL to another automatically. The two you'll hear about most are the 301 (permanent) and the 302 (temporary), and choosing the right one decides which URL Google keeps in its index and where your existing ranking signals end up.
Redirects are routine. Every site migration, URL cleanup, product retirement or switch to HTTPS needs them. Done well, nobody notices. Done badly, they cause lost traffic, broken links and pages that quietly drop out of search.
What are redirects?
A redirect is an instruction that says "this content lives somewhere else now." Most redirects are server-side: the server answers a request with a 3xx HTTP status code and a Location header naming the new URL. The browser or crawler then requests that new URL.
According to Google's redirects documentation, the codes split into two groups:
- Permanent: 301 (Moved Permanently) and 308 (Permanent Redirect).
- Temporary: 302 (Found), 303 (See Other) and 307 (Temporary Redirect).
The difference between 301 and 308, or 302 and 307, is technical. As MDN explains, 307 and 308 require the browser to keep the same request method (a form POST stays a POST), while 301 and 302 don't guarantee that. For ordinary page moves, 301 and 302 are the common choices.
Why redirects matter for SEO
Redirects protect three things: users, links and signals. Visitors following an old bookmark or link land somewhere useful instead of a 404. Backlinks pointing at old URLs keep sending people (and value) to your content. And search engines learn which URL should represent the page.
That last point is about canonicalization, Google's process of choosing one URL to show in results. Google says a permanent redirect is a strong signal that the target should be canonical, while a temporary redirect signals that the original URL may keep appearing in results. Google treats both as signals, not commands, so other factors like internal links and the canonical tag also count.
How redirects work
Google lists redirect methods from most to least reliable.
Server-side redirects
Configured on the web server, CDN or CMS, these return a real 3xx status code. Google recommends a permanent server-side redirect whenever possible. Most platforms, including Webflow, WordPress plugins and Shopify, offer a redirect manager for this.
Meta refresh redirects
A meta refresh tag in the page HTML tells the browser to load another URL. Google treats an instant (zero-second) meta refresh as permanent and a delayed one as temporary. Use it only when you can't set server-side redirects.
JavaScript redirects
A script changes window.location. Google only sees these if it renders the page successfully, so they're a last resort. Crawlers that don't run JavaScript won't follow them at all (see JavaScript SEO).
How many hops Google follows
Google's HTTP status code documentation says its crawlers follow up to 10 redirect hops by default. Its site move guide is stricter for real-world use: redirect straight to the final URL, and if a chain is unavoidable, keep it to about 3 hops and never more than 5.
301 vs. 302: which should you use?
Use a 301 when the move is permanent and you won't reverse it: a page has a new URL, you merged two articles, you moved to a new domain, or you switched from HTTP to HTTPS.
Use a 302 when the original URL is coming back: a product page temporarily sends people to a category while it's restocked, a page is down for maintenance, or you're running a short test. If a "temporary" redirect stays in place for a long time, it's usually better to make it a 301 so your intent is clear.
Redirects in practice
Consider a hypothetical accounting firm that rebuilds its website. Old service pages lived at /services/tax-prep.html, and the new site uses /tax-preparation. Before launch, the team exports every old URL from its sitemap, analytics and Search Console, then maps each one to its closest new equivalent.
On launch day, it adds 301 redirects for every mapped URL, updates internal links to point directly at the new pages, and submits a new sitemap. Retired pages with no equivalent get a 404 or 410 rather than a redirect to the homepage. Over the following weeks, the team watches Search Console for crawl errors and fixes any old URLs it missed.
Redirect best practices
- Map one-to-one. Send each old URL to the most relevant new page. Google's site move guidance warns against pointing many old URLs at an unrelated page such as the homepage.
- Keep redirects long-term. Google recommends keeping them as long as possible, generally at least one year, so signals can transfer. Many teams keep them indefinitely.
- Avoid chains and loops. When you redirect a page that was already redirected, update the old rule to point at the final URL.
- Update internal links. Point your navigation, internal links and sitemap at the new URLs so visitors and crawlers skip the redirect.
- Update related signals. Canonical tags and hreflang annotations should reference final URLs, not redirected ones.
- Monitor after launch. Check Search Console's page indexing report and a site crawl for 404s, chains and loops.
Common redirect mistakes
- Using 302 for permanent moves. Google may keep the old URL in results longer than you want.
- Redirecting everything to the homepage. Visitors lose context, and the redirect no longer points to equivalent content. Google's crawl error guidance says to use a 301 when a page has a clear replacement, and a 404 or 410 when it doesn't.
- Removing redirects too soon. Old links and bookmarks break, and signals may not have fully moved.
- Redirect loops. Page A sends to B and B sends back to A, so nobody reaches the content.
How Butter approaches redirects
At Butter, redirects are one of the most common technical fixes we handle. On our GEO+SEO plan, fixing broken links and crawl issues is part of the monthly work, and that often means cleaning up chains, swapping 302s for 301s where a move is permanent, and pointing old URLs at the right new pages. Before a migration or URL change, we help map old URLs to new ones so links and visibility carry over. Because AI crawlers and search engines both rely on clean URLs, tidy redirects support GEO as much as traditional SEO.
Frequently asked questions
Do 301 redirects lose PageRank?
Not according to Google. In July 2016, Google's Gary Illyes said that 30x redirects no longer lose PageRank, as reported by Search Engine Land. What matters more is redirecting to a truly relevant page, avoiding long chains and keeping the redirect in place long enough for Google to process it.
How long should I keep a 301 redirect?
Google recommends keeping redirects as long as possible, generally at least one year. Keeping them longer is fine and protects old backlinks and bookmarks.
Is a 308 better than a 301 for SEO?
Google treats both as permanent redirects. The difference is that a 308 requires the browser to keep the original request method, which matters for forms and APIs more than for normal pages.