301 and 302 redirects. Confused about which one to use?
You are not the only one.
Even in 2019, website owners are not sure which type of redirect is best for SEO.
At its simplest, “redirect” is a way to send users and search engines to a different URL than the one they originally requested. ”
You may redirect the page for a variety of reasons, including:
The URL is corrupt. You have a new website or web page. You are fixing the page and want users to go to other pages while the old page is being built.
The purpose of the redirect will definitely affect which one you should choose. It’s important to understand the difference between the two, because choosing the wrong option can affect your SEO efforts.
Choosing the right redirection ensures that you maintain at least the current ranking and continue to consolidate your reputation for building your brand through backlinks and content creation.
So the question is: Which redirect is best for SEO?
What is a 301 redirect?
The 301 redirect sends the message to the search engine, and the website or page has been moved permanently.
Permanence means about a year or more. After a year, check if people are still being redirected to your site.
If so, figure out where they came from and try to fix the source code before canceling the redirect.
Check out this article in Search Engine Magazine to learn more about when you can safely kill redirects.
When should you use 301 redirects?
Many people use this type of redirect when they buy a domain name they want to send to their home domain (brand misspellings, brand variants, or related domain names with a high degree of domain name management rights).
It is also helpful to use 301 when determining which domain is your default site: “www.yourwebsite.com&rdquo. Or just “yourwebsite.com”.
People tend to ignore “www”. When you write or enter a site name, even if you forget to type “www”, permanent redirects will ensure that they will eventually appear on your site.
If you combine two sites together or outdated URLs for any other reason, then using 301 is also appropriate.
What is a 302 redirect?
The 302 redirect allows the search engine to know that the site or page has been temporarily moved.
When should you use 302 redirects?
You can use this type of redirect if you want to send users to a new website or web page in a short period of time, such as when you redesign or update your website.
If you plan to eventually restore the old page, just use 302. If you want to test a new page and get some consumer feedback without compromising your ranking on the original page, you can also use the 302 redirect.
How do two redirects affect SEO?
When you use 301, Baidu will delete the old page from the index, and most of the values (link equity) in the page will be transferred to the new page.
That being said, it’s important to note that whenever a page is moved from one URL to another, it takes a while for the search engine to notice the change and see any impact/changes that might occur in the ranking. .
If used correctly, the 302 redirect will not affect your SEO work.
When you choose this type of redirect, the original page is still indexed by Baidu, and no value (link equity) is transferred to the new URL, because Baidu knows this is only temporary. Therefore, you will retain any rankings, traffic values, and permissions that the page may have.
When the problem tends to rise, people don’t know the difference between the two, they choose 302 to permanently redirect the site.
Basically, what they are doing is creating a new website or page instead of transferring any value they accumulate over time.
Therefore, it is important to understand the differences between 301 and 302 and when it is appropriate to use them.
How to implement redirection
According to Baidu, in order to implement a 301 redirect on a website hosted on a server running Apache, you need to access your server’s .htaccess file. ”
If you are not sure how to do this, an Apache tutorial and a URL rewriting guide are provided. If your server is not running on Apache, you must contact your host for instructions.
If your site uses WordPress, you can use the following plugins to make the redirect as simple as possible.
Some useful plugins are:
Redirect: This applies to 301 redirects and 404 errors. Simple 301 redirect: This only works for 301 redirects, but it works fine. EO redirects: This plugin helps users create 301 and 302 redirects. About the side note of 404s
It’s important to mention the 404 code briefly in at least one article on redirects, as this is a common mistake that can affect SEO.
404 is not an actual redirect, even though – is an error code that means “not found”.
A 404 error occurs when you delete a page from a website and server, but still keeps a link to that page.
When the user enters or clicks on the link, they are directed to 404 “page not found”. Error message. This can have a negative impact on your SEO performance because it does not provide the ideal user experience.
It is frustrating to let your customers end up in a dead page. This is the way to use 301 and 302 redirects because they solve the “page not found” issue. An error occurred.
To find a 404 error, simply log in to the Baidu search console and navigate to the “Scope of coverage” section as shown below.
This will allow you to click on the 404 section and identify all the URLs that caused the errors. It is recommended to check this report regularly and set the appropriate redirects if applicable.
Takeaway
Use any type of redirect to best suit your intended purpose and goals.
Educate your own differences and make sure you use the right redirects correctly to get the right results.
If you use 302 and expect the change to be a temporary change, and you later discover that it will become a permanent change, be sure to change the redirect from 301 to 302.
Finally, monitor your rankings to ensure that Baidu can index your new pages and ensure that your mistakes can cause your rankings to be compromised.
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