301 vs 302: which redirect to use

301 means the resource moved for good. Crawlers should treat the new URL as the one to keep. Browsers cache it aggressively.

302 (and 307) means “for now, go here.” The old URL can come back. Search engines are more hesitant to consolidate signals onto the target.

If you renamed /blog/old-slug to /blog/new-slug last year and left a 302, you asked bots to keep checking a URL you do not intend to revive. Change it to 301.

When 302 is honest

• A/B test or geo parking that will revert
• Maintenance window
• Checkout or login hops that are not the public document

Those are not “SEO redirects.” They are application flow. Do not copy that pattern onto content URLs.

Chains

/a 301 → /b 302 → /c is how reports get ugly. Flatten to /a 301 → /c. Read redirect chains for hop lists. A Chrome scan shows the chain and the final URL on the page you actually edit.

Homepage catch-alls after a redesign are often 301s that still behave like soft 404s because the target is irrelevant.

Pick 301 when the old address should disappear from the index. Pick 302 when you will switch it back. Then look at the live response, not the comment in the ticket.