Redirections allow you to redirect a URL to another URL for crawl bots like Google and for users.
Different types of redirections exist depending on your needs. It is therefore important to choose them wisely for your natural search engine optimisation.
The Different Types of Redirection
HTTP redirections inform bots and users of an address change for various reasons. There are three types of redirections:
- Permanent redirections
- Temporary redirections
- Special redirections (we will not cover these — in our context they are of no importance)
Permanent Redirections
Permanent redirections are the most common. These are redirections that should, wherever possible, be implemented directly on the server side. Indeed, they are server-side redirections and not client-side. Therefore, if your hosting provider, such as Kinsta, allows permanent redirections to be set up, do it directly on the server side rather than using your CMS administration, for example.
| Code | Text | Typical use case |
|---|---|---|
| 301 | Moved Permanently | Website reorganisation. The 301 redirect is the best-known in SEO. It allows you to transfer the PageRank of a page to a new URL. |
| 308 | Permanent Redirect | A 308 redirect is identical to a 301 redirect, except that it preserves the HTTP method of the original request when executing the redirect. Google says it treats 308 redirects the same way as 301 redirects, but most SEOs still use 301 redirects. |
Temporary Redirections
Temporary redirections are client-side and/or server-side (307) redirections. Avoid them unless you have no other option.
| Code | Text | Typical use case |
|---|---|---|
| 302 | Found | A 302 redirect redirects users to the new URL and tells search engines that the resource has been temporarily moved. When faced with a 302 redirect, search engines keep the old URL indexed even if it is redirected. Avoid it. |
| 303 | See Other | A 303 redirect redirects the user to a resource similar to the one requested — it is a temporary redirect. You will generally not use 303 redirects for SEO purposes as they can be interpreted by search engines as 302 or 301. |
| 307 | Temporary Redirect | Typically occurs on the client side when a site uses HSTS. HSTS tells the client’s browser that the server only accepts secure connections (HTTPS). It also instructs the browser to perform an internal 307 redirect if it is asked to request non-secure (HTTP) resources from the site in the future. |
When to Use Redirections?
You should use redirections when you move content from one URL to another and, occasionally, when you delete content. Let us look at some common scenarios where you would want to use them.
Domain Name Change
If you are rebranding and moving from one domain to another, you will need to permanently redirect all pages from the old domain to their locations on the new domain.
→ 301
When Merging Websites
If you are merging multiple websites into one, you will need to permanently redirect the old URLs to the new URLs.
→ 301
HTTPS
When switching to HTTPS:
→ 301
When Deleting Pages
If you delete content from your site, you should permanently redirect its URL to a relevant and similar page wherever possible. This helps ensure that all backlinks to the old page still count for SEO purposes. It also ensures that any bookmarks or internal links continue to work.
→ 301
When Running a Promotion
If you are running a temporary promotion and want to send visitors from, for example, domain.com/laptops to domain.com/laptops-black-friday-deals, you will need to use a temporary redirect.
→ 302
Auditing Your Site for SEO
Use tools such as SEMrush or Ahrefs to quickly analyse the redirections on your site that could lead to better SEO.
You should check that:
- You avoid long redirect chains
- There are no infinite redirect loops (a → b → a)
- You use 301 redirects for 404s if they have backlinks — provided you know what you are doing. Otherwise, it could be considered spam.