A 302 redirect is an HTTP response code that temporarily forwards users and search engines from one URL to another. Unlike a 301, a 302 tells Google the original URL will come back, so it stays in the index and ranking signals stay attached to it. Use 302s for A/B tests, geo-routing, and short-term campaigns.
A 302 is the redirect you reach for when the move is temporary and the original URL will return. Get the choice between 301 and 302 wrong and you either strand link equity on a URL you retired, or hand ranking signals to a page that was supposed to stay incognito.
What is a 302 redirect?
A 302 redirect (technically "302 Found" in HTTP/1.1) is a temporary redirection status code. When a server returns a 302, browsers forward the visitor to the URL in the Location header, but search engines interpret this as "the original page is still the real one — it's just off the air for a moment."
Because of that interpretation, Google keeps the original URL in its index and continues to attribute ranking signals to it, even while the redirect is live. This is the opposite of a 301, where Google eventually swaps the old URL out and replaces it with the new one.
Google treats a 302 as a signal to keep the source URL in the index. If a 302 remains in place for months or years, Google may eventually reclassify it as a 301, but that behaviour is undocumented — never rely on it. Use the right status code from day one.
Why 302 redirects matter for SEO
The 302 exists for real reasons — the problem is when it's used in the wrong situation. Three reasons the distinction matters:
- Signal accuracy. Search engines take redirects at face value. A 302 says "this is temporary." If you actually moved the page, the old URL keeps taking crawl budget and ranking signals that should have transferred.
- Ranking preservation on temporary moves. If you're testing a new landing page for two weeks, a 302 keeps the original URL ranking while you experiment. Use a 301 by mistake and you may permanently lose position.
- Diagnostic clarity. A misconfigured 302 on a permanent move is one of the most common causes of "why did our rankings drop after the migration?" — Google split ranking signals across both URLs.
How a 302 redirect actually works
The HTTP handshake looks nearly identical to a 301, but the response code changes the meaning entirely.
GET /summer-sale/ HTTP/1.1
Host: example.com
# Server responds with 302 pointing to the current variant
HTTP/1.1 302 Found
Location: https://example.com/summer-sale-2026/
# Browser fetches the new URL but the original stays canonical
GET /summer-sale-2026/ HTTP/1.1
Host: example.com
HTTP/1.1 200 OK
Both browsers and crawlers follow the redirect, so users always land at the destination. But because the redirect is marked temporary, search engines keep coming back to the original URL, expecting it to eventually respond with 200.
302 vs 301 vs 307 — the redirect family
| Redirect | Permanence | Index behaviour | Link equity |
|---|---|---|---|
| 301 Moved Permanently | Permanent | Old URL replaced by new | Passes 90-99% |
| 302 Found | Temporary | Old URL stays canonical | Held at source URL |
| 307 Temporary Redirect | Temporary | Old URL stays canonical | Same as 302, preserves method |
| 308 Permanent Redirect | Permanent | Old URL replaced by new | Equivalent to 301 |
Real 302 redirect examples
The four legitimate use-cases that show up over and over.
1. A/B testing a new landing page
/pricing/→/pricing-b/ (302 · A/B test)
Keep the original URL canonical. When the test ends, you either roll the winner into /pricing/ or leave the URL alone.
2. Country or language geo-routing
/products/→/products/us/ (302 · US visitor)
3. Temporary maintenance or promo page
4. Short-term campaign URL
Vanity URL like /black-friday/ that points to /deals/black-friday-2026/ during the promo. After the sale, the campaign URL either returns to inventory or gets retired properly.
302 vs 301 — which to use
Choose based on one question: will the original URL come back to life?
Use a 301 when
- The URL has permanently changed
- Domain migration or protocol change
- Merging pages / consolidating duplicates
- You want the new URL to rank
- The old URL is retired for good
Use a 302 when
- The redirect is genuinely temporary
- A/B tests, split traffic experiments
- Maintenance windows or short outages
- Geo or language auto-routing
- Campaign or promo-window URLs
6 best practices for 302 redirects
- Set an expiry date. If a 302 sticks around longer than six months, review whether it should be a 301. Google may reclassify it either way.
- Never use 302 for a permanent move. Domain migrations, URL restructures, and http-to-https should always be 301.
- Watch the crawl logs. Google should keep crawling the original URL periodically. If it stops, that is a hint Google is treating your 302 as permanent.
- Prefer 307 for form submissions. A 307 preserves POST bodies; a 302 may downgrade them to GET.
- Document why the 302 exists. Six months later, nobody will remember whether that redirect was a campaign, an A/B test, or a mistake. Log it.
- Test with curl. Run
curl -I -Lagainst the URL and confirm the status code is 302 (not 301 or 307) and that theLocationheader is correct.
Many CMS plugins and framework defaults return a 302 unless you explicitly specify the status code. That means "invisible" 302s can accumulate on permanent moves. If a URL change looks like it should be permanent, always check the actual status code with curl or Screaming Frog.
Common 302 mistakes to avoid
- Using 302 for a permanent URL change — Google keeps the old URL, ranking signals stay split, new URL never accumulates authority.
- Long-running 302 without review — six months in, Google's behaviour is undocumented. Convert to 301 if the move is permanent.
- 302 on the canonical version — accidentally 302'ing your main URL to a duplicate can suppress the main URL in search results.
- 302 for http-to-https — a very common early mistake. Always use 301 for protocol upgrades.
- Assuming 302 is safer — because it feels less committal. In practice it just leaves ranking signals in limbo.
Frequently asked questions
Long term, no. A 302 signals a temporary move, so Google keeps the original URL in its index and does not permanently transfer PageRank. If a 302 is left in place for months, Google may eventually treat it as a 301.
Use a 302 for genuinely temporary situations: A/B tests, geo-routing, short-term promotions, maintenance pages, or campaigns where the original URL will return. For any permanent URL change, use a 301.
Not when used correctly. They only hurt SEO when misused — for example, using a 302 for a permanent URL change. That prevents Google from consolidating ranking signals to the new URL.
If a 302 stays in place for a long time (typically 6+ months), Google may reclassify it as a 301 and start passing full ranking signals. But relying on this is risky — use 301 explicitly when the move is permanent.
Both are temporary redirects. The difference is that 307 strictly preserves the original HTTP method (a POST request stays a POST), while 302 historically allowed browsers to switch POST to GET. For form submissions, use 307.
Related glossary terms
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