SEO · Search Engine Optimisationbeginner3 min read

What is 301 Redirect?

A 301 redirect is an HTTP status code that permanently redirects one URL to another. It tells search engines that a page has moved for good — and to transfer the original page's ranking signals (link equity, indexation history) to the new URL. 301 redirects are the standard tool for URL migrations, site restructuring, and consolidating duplicate pages. Getting them wrong during a migration can cause significant, lasting ranking drops.

~99%

of link equity is preserved through a 301 redirect vs 0% from a broken link

Source: Google documentation

Fact-checked against 3 sourcesLast updated 8 June 2026

Key Takeaways

Use 301 (permanent) not 302 (temporary) when permanently moving a URL — 302s may not transfer ranking signals.
Avoid redirect chains — A→B→C passes less equity than A→C. Update links to point directly to the final URL.
After any URL migration, update your internal links, sitemap, and canonical tags to reflect the new URLs.
Monitor Google Search Console after a migration — new 404s and redirect errors appear within days.
Never delete a page with backlinks without redirecting it — you'll lose all the link equity pointing to that URL.

In this article

01When to Use a 301 Redirect
02301 Redirects and Link Equity

When to Use a 301 Redirect

URL changes: whenever you permanently change a URL structure (e.g. moving from /blog/post-name to /articles/post-name), 301 redirect the old URL to the new one.

Domain migrations: moving from old-domain.com to new-domain.com requires redirecting every URL on the old domain to its equivalent on the new domain.

Consolidating duplicate content: if two pages cover the same topic, 301 redirect the weaker one to the stronger one to consolidate ranking signals.

HTTP to HTTPS: ensure all HTTP versions redirect to HTTPS equivalents — Google requires HTTPS as a basic signal and all major browsers now flag HTTP as 'not secure'.

WWW to non-WWW: choose one canonical version and redirect the other.

301 Redirects and Link Equity

Google has confirmed that 301 redirects pass 'full' PageRank — or close to it. Historical concerns about redirect 'tax' (equity loss per hop) have largely been debunked for single-hop redirects.

However, redirect chains (A→B→C→D) do lose equity progressively and slow down crawling. When auditing a site, look for chains and collapse them to direct redirects.

Broken links (404s) pass no equity. A backlink pointing to a 404 is wasted ranking potential. Regularly audit for 404s on pages that have backlinks — those should be redirected to the most relevant live page.

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301 REDIRECT IMPLEMENTATION CHECKLIST

0/8 complete

Map every old URL to its exact new equivalent before migration begins

Implement redirects at the server level (not via JavaScript or meta refresh)

Update internal links site-wide to point directly to new URLs — don't rely on redirects

Update your XML sitemap to reference only the new, canonical URLs

Submit updated sitemap to Google Search Console after migration

Audit for redirect chains and collapse A→B→C to direct A→C redirects

Monitor Google Search Console for crawl errors and indexation changes for 90 days post-migration

Check that high-value backlink targets (pages with external links) are all redirected, not returning 404s

✓ DO

✓

Redirect old URLs to the most topically relevant live page

✓

Use server-side 301s (via .htaccess, nginx config, or server rules) for maximum reliability

✓

Collapse redirect chains into single-hop direct redirects

✓

Redirect HTTP to HTTPS at the server level before any other redirect logic fires

✓

Keep redirect rules in place permanently — removing them too early causes 404s to return

✗ DON'T

✗

Don't redirect all old URLs to the homepage — this is treated as a soft 404 by Google

✗

Don't use 302 (temporary) redirects for permanent URL changes — PageRank is not reliably passed

✗

Don't create redirect chains longer than one hop if avoidable

✗

Don't remove 301 redirect rules after a few months, assuming Google has 'finished' processing them

✗

Don't rely on JavaScript redirects as a substitute — Googlebot may not execute them reliably

301 VS. 302 VS. 307 REDIRECTS

Redirect Type	Meaning	Passes Link Equity?	Best Use Case
301 Moved Permanently	Page has moved for good	Yes — full PageRank passed	URL migrations, domain moves, HTTPS enforcement
302 Found (Temporary)	Page has moved temporarily	Not reliably — Google may withhold PageRank	A/B testing, temporary maintenance pages
307 Temporary Redirect	HTTP/1.1 equivalent of 302; preserves request method	Not reliably	Temporary redirects where POST method must be preserved
308 Permanent Redirect	HTTP/1.1 equivalent of 301; preserves request method	Yes	Permanent redirects requiring POST method preservation (rare in SEO)

HOW TO EXECUTE A URL MIGRATION WITH 301 REDIRECTS

Crawl and export all existing URLs

Use a crawler (Screaming Frog, Sitebulb, or similar) to capture every live URL on the current site, including their inbound internal link counts and any known backlinks from Ahrefs or Search Console.

Build a complete redirect map

Create a spreadsheet mapping each old URL to its new equivalent. Prioritize pages with backlinks, organic traffic, or indexation history. Never leave a high-value URL unmapped.

Implement redirects server-side before launch

Add all redirect rules to your server configuration (.htaccess for Apache, nginx.conf for Nginx) or CDN rules. Test every rule in staging before going live.

Update internal links and sitemap

After launch, update all internal links site-wide to point directly to new URLs. Submit a fresh XML sitemap containing only new URLs to Google Search Console.

Monitor and remediate for 90 days

Track rankings, crawl errors, and index coverage in Search Console weekly. Investigate any unexpected 404s or traffic drops — they often signal unmapped URLs or misconfigured redirect rules.

⚠️

Redirect Chains Silently Drain Link Equity

Every additional hop in a redirect chain (A→B→C→D) introduces incremental PageRank loss and forces Googlebot to spend additional crawl budget. Sites that have undergone multiple migrations without cleaning up old redirects routinely accumulate chains of 3–5 hops. Audit for chains using a site crawler and collapse them to single-hop redirects. This is one of the highest-ROI technical SEO fixes available on a legacy site.

KEY TERMS: 301 REDIRECTS & URL MANAGEMENT

Redirect Chain

A sequence of multiple redirects between an original URL and a final destination (e.g. A→B→C). Each hop may dilute link equity and wastes crawl budget. Best practice is to collapse all chains to a single direct redirect.

Link Equity (PageRank)

The ranking value passed from one page to another through hyperlinks. 301 redirects transfer this equity to the destination URL, making them the correct choice for permanent URL changes.

Soft 404

A page that returns a 200 OK HTTP status but contains no meaningful content — or is the wrong destination for a redirect (e.g. redirecting all old URLs to the homepage). Google treats these similarly to real 404 errors and does not pass equity through them.

Crawl Budget

The number of URLs Googlebot will crawl on a site within a given timeframe. Redirect chains waste crawl budget by requiring Googlebot to follow multiple hops to reach a final URL, leaving fewer resources for crawling new or updated content.

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Frequently Asked Questions

301 is permanent — Google transfers ranking signals to the destination URL. 302 is temporary — Google keeps the original URL as the canonical and may not transfer ranking signals. Use 301 for any permanent URL change. Use 302 only when genuinely temporary (e.g. redirecting to a temporary sale page that will expire).

Indefinitely for important URLs with backlinks or significant traffic history. The cost of maintaining a redirect is negligible, while removing it creates a 404 that wastes any residual link equity. As a rule, never remove a 301 redirect for a URL that had meaningful SEO signals.

Sources & Further Reading

1.Google Search Central — Redirects documentation
2.Moz — 301 Redirects for SEO
3.Ahrefs — Redirect Chains

What is 301 Redirect?

When to Use a 301 Redirect

301 Redirects and Link Equity

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Frequently Asked Questions

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