What is a 301 redirect?
Every time a URL changes, the rankings, backlinks and bookmarks tied to it are at stake. A 301 redirect is how you carry them over to the new address.
How a 301 redirect works
When a browser requests a URL, the server answers with a status code. A 200 means “here is the page.” A 301 means “this page now lives at another address,” and the response includes that new address. The browser follows it in a fraction of a second, so most visitors never notice.
Search engines read the same signal. Google treats a 301 as a strong hint that the new URL should replace the old one in search results, and it passes link value through to the destination. Over the following crawls, the old URL drops out of the index and the new one takes its place.
Say you rename /services/cleanroom-design/ to /cleanroom-design-build/. That old page has backlinks from two trade associations and ranks for “cleanroom design firm.” Without a redirect, the old URL returns a 404 error, the links point at nothing, and the ranking fades. With a 301, the links and the ranking follow the page to its new home.
301 vs 302 vs 308
301 Moved Permanently
The default for any lasting URL change: renamed pages, merged content, HTTP to HTTPS, domain moves. Search engines index the new URL.
302 Found (temporary)
For short-term moves, such as a seasonal page or an A/B test. Search engines usually keep the original URL indexed. See 302 redirect.
308 Permanent Redirect
Permanent like a 301, and it requires the browser to keep the same request method. Useful for forms and APIs that send POST requests. Google treats it like a 301.
When to use a 301
- You changed a page’s slug or folder structure.
- You merged two thin pages into one stronger page.
- You retired a product and have a close replacement.
- You moved from HTTP to HTTPS, or from www to the bare domain.
- You are running a site migration to a new domain or platform.
Skip the 301 when no close match exists. Sending a retired product page to your homepage confuses visitors, and Google often treats that kind of redirect as a soft 404. A clear 404 or 410 page is the honest answer there.
Redirect chains, and why we fix links at the source
A redirect chain happens when URL A redirects to B, and B redirects to C. Each hop adds load time and another chance for a crawler to stop early. Chains build up quietly over years of redesigns.
Our standing practice goes one step further. After any URL change, we update every internal link at its source: navigation, footers, body copy, hard-coded code blocks, schema IDs and sitemaps. The 301 stays as a safety net for outside links and old bookmarks. Your own site should never need it. Pages that link to redirects are their own audit issue, covered under link to redirect.
From our work
On one B2B client site, the http://www version of every page reached the final https address in two hops. The client’s third-party hosting manager declined to change the server configuration, so we fixed it inside WordPress: the old http://www addresses now point straight at the https URLs. We mapped the chain first, applied the fix, then re-tested every http, www and bare-domain variant to confirm each one lands on the final URL in a single hop.
The lesson for any migration: map every old URL to its exact new match before launch, redirect each one directly, update internal links at the source, and re-crawl afterward to catch anything missed. Our technical SEO and web design and development teams run this as one plan.
301 redirect checklist
- Export every live URL and its backlinks before you change anything.
- Map each old URL to its closest new match, one to one.
- Use 301 (or 308) for permanent moves and 302 only for true short-term moves.
- Point every redirect at the final URL, so no chains form.
- Update internal links, canonical tags and the XML sitemap to the new URLs.
- Re-crawl and check Google Search Console for new 404s.
Redirect hygiene is part of every SEO engagement we run. AI crawlers follow redirects too, so clean URLs help the pages you want cited get fetched; how AI search works explains that retrieval step, and our llms.txt guide covers keeping AI-facing URL lists current after a move.
Related terms: canonical tag, indexation.
Frequently asked questions
Do 301 redirects hurt SEO?
A single, well-mapped 301 passes ranking signals to the new URL. Problems come from chains, loops, redirects to unrelated pages, and mass redirects to the homepage. Keep each redirect direct and relevant.
How long should I keep a 301 redirect in place?
Treat it as permanent. Backlinks, bookmarks and old emails can keep sending visitors to the old URL for years, and removing the redirect turns all of them into 404s.
What is the difference between a 301 and a 302 redirect?
A 301 says the move is permanent, so search engines index the new URL. A 302 says the move is temporary, so they usually keep the original URL in results.
How do I set up a 301 redirect?
On WordPress, use a redirect plugin or your SEO plugin’s redirect manager. On Apache, add a rule to .htaccess. On Nginx, use a return 301 directive. Shopify, Webflow and most CDNs have a redirects screen in settings.
Move URLs without losing rankings
We plan redirects and migrations so the traffic and pipeline your pages earned follow them to their new address.
