301 Redirect
Definition
A 301 redirect is an HTTP status code that indicates a page has permanently moved to a new URL. It tells search engines to transfer ranking signals and canonical status from the old URL to the new one, and it sends visitors straight to the replacement page. This is the correct redirect type for permanent URL changes, site migrations, and domain changes. A 302 signals a temporary move and tells search engines to keep the original URL indexed. Best practice: use 301 for permanent moves, and always point at the final destination rather than through a chain of hops.
What is the difference between a 301 and a 302 redirect?
A 301 says the move is permanent; a 302 says it is temporary and the original URL should stay indexed. Use 302 only when you genuinely intend to restore the old URL — A/B tests, temporary regional pages, a product briefly out of stock. Google is good at inferring intent when the signal contradicts the behaviour, but making it guess is a slower path than sending the right code.
Does a 301 redirect pass link equity?
Yes. Google has confirmed that 3xx redirects pass PageRank, and the long-standing belief that 301s cost you 15% of link value no longer reflects how redirects are handled. What does cost you is redirecting to an irrelevant page: redirects to content that does not match the original are commonly treated as soft 404s, which passes nothing at all.
How many redirects can you chain together?
Google follows up to about five hops in a single crawl, then resumes on a later crawl — so long chains delay consolidation rather than breaking it outright. Browsers and other crawlers are less patient, and every hop adds a round trip for real users. When you add a redirect, check whether the target is itself redirected and repoint the source at the final URL.
How long should you keep a 301 redirect in place?
At minimum one year, and indefinitely if the old URL still has inbound links. Google treats a redirect it has processed as durable, but removing it revives the original 404 for anyone still linking to or bookmarking the old address. Redirects are cheap to keep; the usual reason to prune them is an unwieldy config file, which is better solved with pattern rules than deletion.
When should you use a 301 instead of a canonical tag?
Use a 301 when the old URL should no longer be reachable — the content moved, merged, or was replaced. Use a canonical when both URLs must stay accessible to users but only one should rank, such as filtered or tracking-parameter variants of a product page. A canonical is a hint Google may override; a redirect is a hard instruction that also moves visitors.
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