Technical SEOPublished02.05.2026

302 Redirect: Temporary Redirect

What a 302 redirect is, when it's appropriate, why it's dangerous to use during site migrations, and its impact on SEO.

On this page
What is a 302 redirectWhen to use 302Mistake: using 302 instead of 301How to check the redirect type
In brief

The 302 redirect is an HTTP status code 'Found' (formerly 'Moved Temporarily'). It indicates that the page is temporarily available at a different URL, but the old URL should remain indexed and retain its link equity.

What is a 302 redirect

A 302 redirect is a temporary redirect. The server says: 'The requested page is currently available at a different URL, but this is temporary. Do not remove the old URL from the index, and do not transfer full ranking power to the new one.' Search engines treat 302 as a suggestion, not a command: Google usually does not pass link equity through 302, but in some cases may pass up to 50%.

Modern 302 handling: Google may eventually treat a 302 as permanent if it stays in place for a very long time (months). If a temporary redirect becomes permanent — replace it with a 301.

When to use 302

  • Seasonal or promotional offers: during a sale, redirect users from a regular page to a special offer.
  • A/B testing: temporary split traffic between two page variants.
  • Maintenance: during design or feature updates, redirect to a temporary version.
  • Post-login redirects (common in web applications).
  • Geo-targeting: temporarily redirect users to a local version without changing the indexed URL.

Mistake: using 302 instead of 301

The most common and dangerous SEO mistake is using 302 during a site migration to a new domain or HTTPS protocol. A temporary redirect does not transfer authority from the old page to the new one, and you risk losing rankings. The crawler will keep the old URL in the index while the new one does not receive sufficient weight.

Example of bad practice: setting up 302 from HTTP to HTTPS. After such configuration, Google may index both versions, causing duplicates and unstable snippets. Always use 301 for permanent moves.

Check your redirects after domain or HTTPS migration: any temporary code (302, 307) must be replaced with 301. Otherwise you lose up to 70% of link equity potential.

How to check the redirect type

The simplest way is using browser developer tools. Open the Network tab, find the request to the original URL, the Status column will show the response code (301, 302, 307, etc.). For bulk checks, use Screaming Frog (configure Status Codes → Follow Redirects) or online services (Redirect Checker).

BASH
# Check via curl in terminal
curl -I https://example.com/old-page
# Response will contain HTTP/1.1 302 Found or 301 Moved Permanently
FAQ

Common questions

Usually not, or only a very small portion (less than 10%). However, if a 302 remains for months, Google may start treating it like a 301.
Previously recommended, but now it's better to use responsive design or dynamic serving with the same URLs. If you use a separate m.domain — use 302 to keep the main URL indexed.
Google may reclassify it as permanent and remove the old URL from the index. This is undesirable if you plan to bring the old page back.
Look at the status code: 301 or 302 in the status field. Analyze logs with grep/awk or specialized parsers.
Indirectly: redirect chains increase load time. An extra 302 adds RTT (round-trip time) and may hurt LCP. Minimize any redirects whenever possible.
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302 Redirect: Temporary Redirect — What is it?