Q: 301 and 302 the most commonly used redirects. Please tell how to use them in the right way and what influence will these have on the SEO.
A:It is true that improper use of redirects can hugely impact the search engine optimization part of the website. The working of a redirect may look simple but it could be the main reason for poor SEO performance of the site. A redirect is a process where your website sends the visitor or search engine crawler or bot to a different URL. However, you need to choose which redirect to use carefully, depending upon the purpose.
301 and 302 are the most commonly used redirects. While 301 redirect will move your website URL permanently, 302 is used for a temporary move. These HTTP status codes will be used to display an alternative web page where you want to redirect the site visitor.
Let’s know more about each redirect:
301 Redirect
If you want to retain your SEO ranking and authority from the old webpages to the new ones, use 301 redirect. It will inform the search engine that old page has been moved to a new URL. Thus, the new web page will be indexed by the search engine and you can change the directive if you want to do some updates on the website. With a permanent redirect, all your web pages, traffic value, page authority, and page rank will be permanently redirected to the new website URL.
302 Redirect
The temporary redirect will tell crawlers to continue indexing the old page. This may have a significant impact on the SEO as the search engine will continue ranking your old website, you have completely abandoned. One drawback is that while you can optimize your new page URL, you cannot perform a full blown optimization on the web page as this will increase the chances of content duplicacy in the old & new pages. If you have plans to take your visitors to the old web page after some time, 302 temporary redirect is useful. The traffic value, page authority, and page rank will not be passed from the old to new pages.
Why Opt for a Redirect?
There must be a solid reason to use a redirect. Some of the instances when you should be using one are:
- URL of the website is broken or not working
- The website needs to be redirected to a new domain
- A particular webpage or website is no more active
- A/B testing was performed on a specific web page
- Website needs a design change
- Website’s CMS platform is changed for a new URL structure
- Two existing websites are being merged into one
Benefits
The biggest benefit is, while you are updating the CMS platform, changing the web design, or deleting a web page from website, 301 or 302 redirect will let your visitors view the new website URL. Moreover, it can save your valuable SEO authority as well as the current website ranking, despite the changes that you have made.
Monitoring the Impact of Redirect
Since, 301 and 302 redirects can impact the search engine ranking of the website, you should closely watch the performance after implementing them. Tools like SE Ranking can help you in determining the impact of the redirection on the search engine.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a 302 redirect?
A 302 redirect is a short-term modification that sends users and search engines to the desired new address for a set period of time before being withdrawn. This 302 redirect might be temporarily shifted, or it could be displayed as a 302 found (HTTP 1.1). In some cases it can also be displayed as moved (HTTP 1.0). A 302 redirect is simple to implement because it may be done using a meta tag or in Javascript, rather than needing the webmaster to access server files and spend the extra time required to construct a 301 redirect.
What is a 301 redirection?
A 301 redirect is a status code that ensures users and search engines are directed to the correct page by informing them that the page has been permanently moved. When a 301 redirect is used, it indicates that the content on the page has been permanently moved because it is permanent. Users are led to a fresh page that has taken the place of the previous one. When a page appears in search engine results, the redirect often aids in changing the URL of the page.
When to use a 302 vs a 301?
A 301 redirect indicates that a page has moved permanently to a new URL; in contrast, a 302 redirect states that the page has moved to a new location but that it is just temporary. You should use the redirects accordingly as misplacing them against each other could cause trouble for your website.
Related Services
Explore the award winning services of PageTraffic that puts you in the search engine spotlight.
- SEO Services – Search engines have become rigidly stringent and the competition is doing all it can to move up. However, we snatch the top positions for you.
- Full Time SEO Consultant – The modern mantras of growth are streamlining and strategizing. Hire an expert full time SEO consultant to manage and take care of both.
- SEO Reseller – Expand your client base and service offerings with our private label SEO reseller partnership.
I have this two websites http://sifalyrics.com and http://praiseandworship.faith . Though sifalyrics.com seems to be more likely to attract traffic, i still would like to retain praiseandworship.faith because it is more appropriate for religious purposes. Will a 302 redirect be appropriate in my case?