Redirects in general can be a confusing topic, knowing when to use one and why is key. There are a few different types of redirect you can use for different situations. Here we take a look at 302 redirects and how to use these effectively. So, when should you use a 302 redirect?
If you are wanting to send your users to a different URL from one that is indexed on your website, but only temporarily, then a 302 redirect is what you should use. These can be useful for seasonal pages, website changes and updates and user testing.
Read on to find out more about 302 redirects, when to use them and why you might need to.
What is a 302 Redirect?
A 302 redirect is a temporary redirect. Similar to a 301 redirect it will send a user or a search engine from one URL to another. A 302 however does not indicate a permanent move to the redirected page and is only in place for a certain amount of time.
Why Would I Need to Use a 302 Redirect?
A common use for 302 redirects is when you are updating a webpage or redesigning your website. This allows you to keep working on your web changes without disrupting your users or them encountering a 404 page and abandoning your website altogether.
A 302 redirect is important for your SEO, as it helps to keep your efforts intact, meaning any authority and link juice remains, as this is moved over to the new URL. It’s important to redirect to a page that has relevant content, not a random redirect, as if you don’t have relevant content, Google may not forward on that link juice.
What Are the Proper Use Cases for 301 and 302 Redirects?
A 301 redirect is used for permanently sending users from one web page to another.
Some examples include:
- If you have a new website, as part of your website migration, you would send all old URLs to the relevant new pages with a 301 redirect. If you didn’t do this, it is likely you would lose any SEO status you have built up – read more on this in our blog ‘how can I migrate my website without losing SEO’.
- Redirecting from HTTP to HTTPS.
- Making a permanent change to a URL.
- Fixing issues of duplicate content identified by the subdomain use.
A 302 redirect is a temporary measure – you might use it if:
- You are in the middle of building a new website, you might want to redirect users to a temporary page. This lets users know why they can’t access your site at the moment, but lets them know you’ll be back soon, alternative methods of contact etc. It is a much better experience than a 404 page.
- You have seasonal products and want users to be sent to those pages for a temporary period.
- You want to test a new page vs old through A/B testing.
Is It Possible for Google to Treat a 302 Redirect as 301?
Occasionally, Google may treat a 302 direct as a 301 permanent redirect where it receives link signals that this page should be the permanent URL. Where a 302 has been in place for a longer period of time it may treat this as a 301. Claims from Google have stated it doesn’t matter too much about leaving a 302 in place as Google treats them fairly similar.
Does Google Index a 302 Redirect URL?
No, Google recognises that this is a temporary redirect so therefore displays your old URL in the search engine results pages. It wouldn’t index the temporary page URL, as it doesn’t see the need to when the old page is to return.
It may index the page in later stages if the temporary URL is in place for a long period of time and be treated as a 301 as we mentioned above.
Digital Expertise From Wildcat Digital
Wildcat Digital is a team of passionate search marketers that want to help businesses grow and prosper. If you are looking for strong SEO or PPC campaign strategies, we can help. Our expertise range from local to technical SEO, on and off page, content strategies and support for both small and large businesses. Get in touch with the team today to find out how we can help.
Thea Chapman
SEO Account Manager
