Redirects: 301, 302 and Meta Refresh

Redirects: 301, 302 and Meta Refresh

What is a redirect?

Redirects serve to direct both users and search engines from an initially requested website to a different website. They can be useful for times when a particular page is under maintenance or during website migration. Different types of redirects will impact search engine responses differently. The three primary types of redirects are 301, 302, and meta refresh.

Are 301 redirects detrimental?

A 301 redirect indicates a permanent relocation of a requested page to a new location. This is generally considered as the best strategy for SEO. The link power of the original page is primarily transferred to the new page through the 301 redirect, thus preserving your rankings on search engine result pages (SERPs).

What does a 302 redirect imply?

A 302 redirect serves as a temporary detour. If your server requires maintenance and necessitates users to visit a substitute page temporarily, a 302 redirect is used. Although these redirects also transfer link power like 301 redirects, Google considers it as temporary and indexes both the original and destination sites accordingly. If you aim for the redirect to be permanent, you should ensure it is implemented as a 301 redirect.

What is a meta refresh redirect?

A meta refresh redirect automatically guides users from the original URL to the replacement URL after a specified number of seconds. If you see the message If you are not redirected in X seconds, click here, it means a meta refresh redirect has been implemented. Although some of the link power of the original site may be retained, these redirects are often viewed as sub-optimal for user experience and are not the preferred method of redirecting traffic.

Why is redirecting websites during server maintenance necessary?

During server maintenance, websites can encounter disruptions to their normal operation. Redirecting users to an alternative website is an effective way to avoid potential bad user experiences or data loss.

Whether you need to redirect users permanently to a new domain or are simply carrying out server maintenance, applying redirects properly can be advantageous to both your SEO and user experience.

Related: Website Migration
Related: Website Migration and SEO