When to use a 302 redirect
- A page is briefly unavailable, for example during maintenance.
- You are testing a new version of a page with part of your traffic.
- A product is temporarily out of stock and you send visitors to a related page for now.
- A seasonal campaign page temporarily takes the place of a regular page.
302 vs 301 redirects
A 301 says “this page has moved for good”; a 302 says “use this other page for now”. With a 302, search engines usually keep showing the original URL. If a 302 stays in place for a long time, Google may start treating it as permanent, but it is better to be clear: if the move is permanent, use a 301.
A 307 redirect is the temporary equivalent that keeps the request method (such as a form submission) unchanged, and a 308 is the permanent equivalent.
302 redirect example
An online shop is repainting its checkout and takes the “Gift cards” page offline for a week. It sends that URL to the main shop page with a 302. Visitors still land somewhere useful, and Google keeps the gift card URL in its index because the redirect says the page will return. When the page is back, the shop removes the redirect.
How to check a redirect
- Open your browser’s developer tools, go to the Network tab and load the old URL.
- Look at the status code on the first request: 302 means temporary, 301 means permanent.
- Check that the final URL returns 200 and that there is only one hop, not a chain.
302 redirect mistakes
- Leaving a “temporary” redirect in place for months after a move is final.
- Using a 302 for a site move from HTTP to HTTPS or from one domain to another.
- Stacking redirects so a visitor passes through three URLs.
- Redirecting many unrelated pages to the home page, which Google may treat as a soft 404.
302 redirect FAQs
Does a 302 redirect pass SEO value?
Google has said that any redirect can pass signals, but a 302 tells it to keep the original URL as the main one. If the new URL should take over, use a 301 redirect.
Should I use 302 or 307?
For ordinary pages the difference is small. A 307 is stricter about keeping the request method, which matters for forms and APIs. See also redirect.