Free website check

Glossary

301 redirect

Written by
Outseen
Updated

A 301 redirect is a permanent redirect: the server responds with status code 301 (Moved Permanently) and sends visitors and search engines to a new address. Google treats it as a strong signal that the new URL should become the canonical.

A 301 redirect is a permanent redirect. The server answers at the old address with HTTP status code 301, Moved Permanently, and supplies the new address. Visitors land on the new page automatically. For Google, a permanent redirect is a strong signal that the new URL should become the canonical.

Example

HTTP/1.1 301 Moved Permanently
Location: https://www.example.com/services/maintenance

Anyone who opens /request-maintenance ends up at /services/maintenance.

301 or 302?

A 301 (and a 308) is permanent. A 302, 303 or 307 is temporary: Google follows those too, but the old URL may stay in the results. Google recommends permanent redirects when you are sure the change will last, and calls server-side redirects the most reliable kind. According to Google, a JavaScript redirect is only a last resort.

Common mistake

Redirect chains, where A points to B and B points on to C. Redirect straight to the final destination. A second mistake when a website is redesigned: sending lots of old pages to the homepage. Google does not treat that as a suitable redirect; a page without a successor is better off returning a 404 or 410.

How to plan redirects for a new website is covered in Redesigning your website without losing search visibility.

Sources

Read next