A redirect sends visitors and search engines from one URL to another automatically. The type of redirect you choose, 301 or 302, tells browsers and search engines whether the move is permanent or temporary, and picking the wrong one can quietly hurt your search rankings.
What Is a 301 Redirect?
A 301 redirect means "this page has moved permanently." Use it when a page or an entire site has moved to a new URL for good, for example after you rename a page, merge two pages into one, or switch your whole site from http:// to https://.
- Search engines transfer most of the old page's ranking value to the new URL.
- Browsers and search engines remember the redirect and may cache it, so it can take a little time to reverse if you change your mind.
- It is the right choice for anything you don't plan to move back.
What Is a 302 Redirect?
A 302 redirect means "this page has moved temporarily." Use it when the change is short-term, for example while you run a limited-time promotion page, test a new page layout, or put a single page in maintenance mode while you fix it.
- Search engines keep indexing and ranking the original URL, not the destination, because they expect the original to come back.
- It's not cached the same way a 301 is, so it's easy to remove or change later.
- Using a 302 for a permanent move is a common mistake: search engines never fully transfer the old page's ranking to the new one, so your new URL can struggle to rank.
Which One Should You Use?
As a simple rule:
- If the old URL is gone for good, use a 301 (Permanent) redirect.
- If the old URL will come back, use a 302 (Temporary) redirect.
- If you're not sure, default to 301 for anything SEO-related, since it's the safer choice for preserving your search rankings.
Avoid chaining redirects (page A to page B to page C). Each extra hop adds load time and can confuse search engines. Point A straight to the final destination C.
How to Set Up a Redirect
Both cPanel and DirectAdmin include a Redirects tool where you choose the source path, the destination URL, and the redirect type. Log in to your control panel, open the Redirects icon (usually under the Domains section), select the domain or subdomain, enter the path you want to redirect and the destination URL, and choose Permanent (301) or Temporary (302) from the type option before saving.
If you'd rather manage redirects yourself in code, you can add rules to your site's .htaccess file instead, which works the same way regardless of which control panel you use.
For general guidance on structuring your URLs and setting up redirects, see How to Create SEO-Friendly URLs and Set Up Page Redirects.