Redirects & HTTP Status Codes
Status codes are how servers tell browsers and crawlers what happened. Knowing the key ones — and using redirects correctly — protects your rankings.
Key status codes
- 200 — OK, the page loaded.
- 301 — permanent redirect (passes ranking signals).
- 302 — temporary redirect.
- 404 — not found.
- 410 — gone (permanently removed).
- 500 — server error.
Using redirects
When a URL changes or a page is removed but has a good replacement, use a 301 redirect to send users and link equity to the new URL. Avoid long redirect chains.
Pro tips
- Use 301 (not 302) when a move is permanent.
- Redirect old URLs to the most relevant new page, not always the homepage.
- Fix redirect chains and loops — they waste crawl budget and slow users.
Common mistakes
- Redirecting everything to the homepage after a migration.
- Leaving valuable removed pages as 404s instead of redirecting.
- Using 302s for permanent changes, delaying signal transfer.
Summary
Status codes report what happened to a request. Use 301s for permanent moves to pass ranking signals, redirect to the most relevant page, and avoid chains.