Does a 301 redirect pass full link equity?

A 301 passes nearly all of a page's ranking signals to the new URL, and for practical purposes you can treat it as the full amount. You still lose a little at each hop, which is why single-step redirects beat long chains.

Is it bad to use a 302 instead of a 301?

If the move is permanent, yes. A 302 tells search engines to keep the original URL indexed and may not pass ranking signals to the destination, so a permanent move marked as 302 can stall and lose rankings. Use 301 whenever the change is meant to last.

How long should I keep a 301 redirect in place?

Keep it as long as the old URL might still get traffic or links, which usually means indefinitely. Search engines eventually settle on the new URL, but other sites and bookmarks can point at the old one for years. Removing the redirect too early recreates the broken link.

What is the difference between 302 and 307?

Both are temporary redirects. The difference is that a 307 guarantees the HTTP method stays the same, so a POST stays a POST when the redirect is followed. A 302 can let the method change to GET. For ordinary page redirects the SEO treatment is the same.

Guide

301 vs 302 redirects: which to use and why

A redirect sends a visitor who asks for one URL to a different one instead. The two you will reach for most are the 301 and the 302. They look almost identical to a person clicking through, but they tell search engines two very different things, and mixing them up is one of the more common ways to stall a site migration.

The short version: a 301 says the move is permanent, and a 302 says it is temporary. That single distinction decides whether your ranking signals follow the page to its new home or stay stranded on the old URL.

What each code actually means

A 301 Moved Permanently tells browsers and crawlers that the URL has changed for good and they should use the new address from now on. Search engines update their index to the new URL and pass nearly all of the old page's ranking strength along with it.

A 302 Found means the move is only temporary. The resource lives somewhere else for now, but the original URL is still the real one and should be used in future. Because the change is meant to be undone, search engines keep the original URL in their index and generally do not transfer ranking signals to the destination.

When to use a 301

Reach for a 301 any time the change is meant to stick. This is the workhorse redirect for keeping rankings intact through a move.

You changed your URL structure or permalink format.
You migrated to a new domain.
You switched the whole site from HTTP to HTTPS.
You consolidated www and non-www, or merged duplicate pages into one.
You deleted a page but have a clear replacement for it.

When to use a 302

A 302 fits situations where you fully intend to bring the original URL back. The key test is whether you want the original URL to keep its place in search results while the redirect is live. If yes, 302 is correct.

You are running an A/B test and routing some visitors elsewhere.
A page is down for maintenance and you are pointing people at a temporary notice.
You are sending logged-out users to a login page before bouncing them back.
You are showing a seasonal or promotional page that will be retired soon.

The link equity question

Link equity is the ranking value that flows through a link. When a page has earned backlinks and rankings, you want that value to survive a move. A 301 carries almost all of it to the new URL, which is exactly what you want during a migration.

A 302 is the trap here. Use one where you meant a 301, and search engines may leave the old URL indexed and decline to pass the value forward. The new page then struggles to rank because the strength it should have inherited is still sitting on a URL you are trying to retire. Plenty of traffic drops after a migration trace back to exactly this mistake.

Avoid chains and loops

Point each redirect straight at its final destination. A redirect chain, where URL A sends you to B, which sends you to C, wastes crawl budget, slows the page for visitors, and bleeds a little ranking value at each hop. If you have stacked up redirects over the years, flatten them so every old URL jumps to the current one in a single step.

A redirect loop is worse: A points to B and B points back to A, so the browser gives up and shows an error. Loops usually creep in from conflicting rules, such as an HTTPS redirect fighting a www redirect. Trace the full path of each redirect to catch them.

How to verify a redirect

Never assume a redirect is doing what you think. Check the actual status code the server returns, because a redirect that looks right in the browser can quietly be a 302 when you wanted a 301.

Run the URL through a redirect checker to see the full chain and the status code at each step. Confirm the first hop is the code you intended, the destination is correct, and the trail ends at a single page returning 200. Do this after every redirect change, and again after a migration, before you call it done.

Frequently asked questions

Does a 301 redirect pass full link equity?: A 301 passes nearly all of a page's ranking signals to the new URL, and for practical purposes you can treat it as the full amount. You still lose a little at each hop, which is why single-step redirects beat long chains.
Is it bad to use a 302 instead of a 301?: If the move is permanent, yes. A 302 tells search engines to keep the original URL indexed and may not pass ranking signals to the destination, so a permanent move marked as 302 can stall and lose rankings. Use 301 whenever the change is meant to last.
How long should I keep a 301 redirect in place?: Keep it as long as the old URL might still get traffic or links, which usually means indefinitely. Search engines eventually settle on the new URL, but other sites and bookmarks can point at the old one for years. Removing the redirect too early recreates the broken link.
What is the difference between 302 and 307?: Both are temporary redirects. The difference is that a 307 guarantees the HTTP method stays the same, so a POST stays a POST when the redirect is followed. A 302 can let the method change to GET. For ordinary page redirects the SEO treatment is the same.