302 redirect
What is a 302 redirect?
A 302 redirect is an HTTP response with status 302 Found that sends visitors from one URL to another temporarily. It tells search engines the original URL is still the real one, so Google treats it as only a weak signal that the target should be indexed and usually keeps the original URL in its results.
There are three temporary codes: 302 Found, 303 See Other and 307 Temporary Redirect. 307 is the strict version of 302: the browser must repeat the same request method. Google handles 302, 303 and 307 the same way.
If a "temporary" redirect stays in place for a long time, Google may eventually decide the move is permanent and index the target instead. That is Google adapting to how sites behave, not a reason to use 302s for permanent moves.
Why 302 redirect matters for SEO
Choosing the wrong code is a common migration mistake. A permanent move done with 302s tells Google to keep the old URLs, so the new ones can take longer to replace them in results.
Used on purpose, 302s are the right tool for genuinely temporary situations: a product briefly out of stock, a short promotion, A/B tests that send some visitors to a variant, or sending users to a login page.
How to choose between a 301 and a 302
- Ask whether the old URL will come back. If it won’t, use a 301 redirect.
- If it will, and you want the original URL to keep ranking, use a 302 or 307.
- For A/B tests, Google recommends 302 redirects rather than 301s, plus a canonical tag on the variant pointing at the original.
- Audit old 302s from time to time, and fold any that sit inside a redirect chain into a single hop. Temporary redirects have a habit of becoming permanent without anyone switching them to 301.
302 redirect example
HTTP/1.1 302 Found
Location: https://www.example.com/summer-sale302 redirect FAQ
Do 302 redirects pass PageRank?
Google has said that 3xx redirects, including 302s, do not lose PageRank. The difference is which URL Google indexes: with a 302 it usually keeps the original.
When should I use a 302 instead of a 301?
Only when the move is temporary and the original URL will return, such as a short promotion or maintenance. For anything permanent, use a 301 or 308.
Related SEO terms
A 301 redirect permanently sends visitors and search engines from one URL to another and tells Google the new URL should be indexed.
A redirect chain is when a URL redirects to another URL that redirects again, so it takes two or more hops to reach the final page.
HTTP status codes are three-digit numbers a server returns with each response to say whether a request worked, moved or failed.
A canonical tag is a link element that tells search engines which URL is the main version of a page when duplicates exist.
A redirect loop is when redirects send a URL back to itself, so the page never loads and browsers show a too-many-redirects error.