Redirect

What Is a Redirect?

The right redirect type determines whether your hard-earned ranking power is preserved or lost. A 301 passes link equity permanently, a 302 signals to Google a temporary change. Especially during website relaunches and URL restructurings, clean redirects are the most important protection against ranking losses — a complete URL mapping table prepared in advance is therefore essential.

A redirect is an automatic forwarding from one URL to another. This function is used when a page has moved, when different URL variants should point to a main version, or when old URLs no longer work. There are different types of redirects with different effects: 301 (permanent), 302 (temporary), 307 and 308 (temporary with method preservation). For SEO, choosing the right redirect type is crucial so the ranking power of the original URL is not lost.

Technically, a 301 redirect tells the browser and search engines that the old URL has been permanently moved to a new URL. In the process, the majority of ranking power (approximately 90–99%) is transferred from the old to the new URL. A 302 redirect, on the other hand, only signals a temporary redirect — Google usually continues to treat the old URL as the original source. Redirect chains (chains of multiple consecutive redirects) should be avoided, as each additional redirect takes time, slows the crawl process, and strips away some ranking power.

In practice, a well-thought-out redirect strategy is essential during website restructurings or relaunches. Every deleted or moved URL should be redirected to the new, content-equivalent page with a 301 redirect. For time-limited moves (e.g., A/B tests), 302 redirects can be used so Google does not remove the old URL from the index. Meaningful monitoring through the Google Search Console shows when there are problems with redirects — for example, when a URL has not been fully removed from the index after 6 months.