What Is a 301 Redirect and When Should You Use It?

Every time you move a page, delete content, or restructure your site, you face a choice: what happens to the old URL? If you leave it returning a 404 error, you lose every backlink pointing to it, every bookmark, and every user who tries to visit. A 301 redirect solves this by automatically sending visitors and search engines from the old URL to the new one — permanently, cleanly, and with minimal SEO impact.

Understanding when and how to use 301 redirects correctly is one of the most important technical SEO skills for maintaining rankings through site changes.

What Is a 301 Redirect?

A 301 redirect is an HTTP status code that tells browsers and search engines: this page has permanently moved to a new location. When a crawler or user requests the old URL, the server responds with a 301 status and the new URL. The browser then automatically loads the new page, and the user typically sees no disruption.

The number 301 is the HTTP status code. Other redirect types exist — 302 (temporary), 307 (temporary), 308 (permanent) — but 301 remains the standard choice for permanent SEO-focused redirects.

How 301 Redirects Affect SEO

A 301 redirect passes the majority of link equity from the old URL to the new one. Google's own documentation states that 301 redirects pass PageRank, and in practice the ranking impact of a well-implemented 301 is minimal — the new URL inherits most of the authority built up by the old one.

This is why 301 redirects are the correct solution whenever you permanently move content. As we covered in our guide to link equity, every backlink pointing to your old URL represents authority that would be lost without a redirect. The 301 preserves that investment.

When to Use a 301 Redirect

When you change a URL permanently. If you are cleaning up messy URLs as part of an SEO-friendly URL migration, redirect every old URL to its new equivalent.

When you delete a page. Rather than returning a 404, redirect the deleted URL to the most relevant remaining page on your site. This preserves the equity and gives visitors somewhere useful to land.

When you merge two pages. If you are consolidating duplicate or thin content into one stronger page, redirect the removed URLs to the consolidated page.

When you move to HTTPS. Every HTTP version of your pages should 301 redirect to the HTTPS equivalent. Check your redirects are working correctly with our SSL checker.

When you change domains. Moving your entire site to a new domain requires site-wide 301 redirects from every old URL to its new equivalent.

Common 301 Redirect Mistakes

Redirect chains. When redirect A points to redirect B which points to redirect C, each hop loses a small amount of equity and adds latency. As we noted in our discussion of crawl budget, redirect chains also waste crawl slots. Always redirect directly to the final destination URL.

Redirecting to the homepage. When a specific page is deleted, redirecting to the homepage rather than a relevant replacement page is a lazy fix that Google increasingly ignores. The homepage is almost never the most relevant destination for a deleted subpage.

Leaving redirect loops. A redirects to B and B redirects back to A. This breaks the page entirely and creates an error for both users and crawlers. Run our broken link checker to identify redirect loops and chains across your site.

Using temporary redirects (302) when you mean permanent. A 302 tells Google the move is temporary — it will not pass full equity and Google will continue trying to index the original URL. Use 301 for permanent moves.

How to Implement 301 Redirects

On Apache servers (most shared hosting including Hostinger), add redirect rules to your .htaccess file:

Redirect 301 /old-page/ https://yourdomain.com/new-page/

For WordPress sites, plugins like Redirection or Yoast SEO Premium manage redirects through a dashboard interface without requiring direct server file access.

Summary

Use 301 redirects every time you permanently move or delete a page to preserve link equity and user experience. Implement them directly to the final destination URL to avoid chains. Check your existing redirects with our site scanner to find any chains, loops, or broken redirects that may be leaking equity across your site.

Missed the previous article? Read: How to Find Competitor Backlinks for Free