Technical SEO
302 Redirect
A 302 redirect indicates that a page has temporarily moved to another URL, telling search engines to keep the original indexed because the move is not permanent.
It suits short-term cases like a page under maintenance or an A/B test. Using a 302 when you meant a permanent move (a 301) can stop ranking signals from transferring properly.
The practical rule: 302 for anything with an end date, 301 for anything without one. The common failure is defaulting to 302 because it is some platform's default, then leaving it in place for years. Google eventually treats a long-lived 302 as permanent anyway, but eventually is doing unpaid work with your ranking signals in the meantime. Audit crawls should flag any 302 older than its stated reason, redirect chains mixing 301s and 302s, and temporary redirects on URLs that clearly moved for good.
Example
During a two-week promotion a retailer points /home-appliances to a campaign page with a 302. Google keeps the original category page indexed and ranking, since the move is declared temporary. When the sale ends the redirect is removed and nothing has changed. Had they used a 301, Google might have swapped the indexed URL for the campaign page.
Frequently asked questions
- When should I use a 302 instead of a 301?
- Only when the move genuinely ends: maintenance windows, A/B tests, temporary campaign swaps, seasonal replacements. If you cannot name the date the redirect comes off, it is not temporary, and it should be a 301.
- What happens if I leave a 302 in place permanently?
- Google eventually treats it as a 301 and consolidates signals to the destination, but the timeline is its own, and in the meantime the original URL can keep ranking with its equity split. Declaring intent correctly removes the ambiguity.
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