A 302 redirect is a temporary HTTP status code that tells browsers and search engines a URL has moved to a different location, but only for now. Unlike a 301 redirect, which signals a permanent move, a 302 tells search engines to keep the original URL in their index because it is expected to become active again.

It belongs to the 3xx redirect class of status codes and is one of the most widely used redirects on the web alongside the 301.

How a 302 redirect works

When a browser or web crawler requests a URL that returns a 302, the server responds with the status code and a Location header pointing to the temporary destination. The browser follows the location automatically and loads the new page, exactly as it would with a 301.

The key difference happens at the search engine level. With a 302, Googlebot and other crawlers note the redirect but continue to index the original URL, treating the destination as temporary. The original URL retains its position in search results and its crawl budget allocation.

302 redirects and SEO

This is where 302 redirects require the most care. Because search engines treat a 302 as temporary, SEO equity and link juice are not reliably transferred to the destination URL the way they are with a 301.

If you use a 302 when you actually mean a permanent redirect, you risk splitting your SEO signals between two URLs (the original and the destination) which dilutes your rankings and can cause duplicate content issues over time.

The rule is straightforward: if the move is permanent, use a 301. If it is genuinely temporary, use a 302.

When to use a 302 redirect

A 302 is the right choice when a URL is temporarily unavailable or has been moved for a short, defined period. Common use cases include:

• Site maintenance: redirecting visitors to a temporary holding page while you work on the site. Because the move is temporary, you want search engines to keep indexing the original URL so rankings are preserved when the site comes back.

• A/B testing: sending a portion of traffic to an alternative version of a page to test performance. Since the test will end and traffic will return to the original URL, a 302 is appropriate.

• Seasonal campaigns: redirecting a permanent URL to a seasonal landing page during a campaign period, with the intention of reverting after the campaign ends.

• Login and authentication flows: many web frameworks use 302 redirects after form submissions or login events to send users to a new page while preventing the browser from resubmitting the form on refresh. This is the Post/Redirect/Get pattern.

• Temporary regional redirects: sending users to a region-specific page temporarily, for example during a localised promotion, without permanently changing the original URL’s status.

302 vs other redirect types

Understanding where 302 sits among the redirect status codes helps clarify when to use it.

• A 301 redirect is permanent. Use it when a URL will never return to its original location. It passes full SEO equity and tells search engines to replace the old URL with the new one in their index.

• A 303 redirect is similar to a 302 but explicitly tells the browser to follow the redirect using a GET request regardless of the original request method. It is commonly used after form submissions.

• A 307 redirect is the HTTP/1.1 successor to the 302. It is also temporary, but it strictly preserves the original HTTP request method, a POST request stays a POST at the destination. The original 302 specification required method preservation but most browsers ignored this, which is why 307 was introduced to make it explicit.

• A 308 redirect is to 307 what 301 is to 302, a permanent redirect that strictly preserves the request method.

The history of 302 and browser behaviour

The 302 has a complicated history. The original HTTP/1.0 specification required browsers to preserve the request method when following a 302, meaning a POST request should remain a POST at the destination. In practice, virtually every browser ignored this and changed POST requests to GET when following a 302.

This inconsistency is why HTTP/1.1 introduced 303 and 307 to remove the ambiguity. Despite this, 302 remains the most widely used temporary redirect because browsers handle it consistently in practice, even if not strictly to the original specification.

Common mistakes with 302 redirects

• Using 302 instead of 301 for permanent moves, the most common mistake. If a page has moved permanently and you use a 302, search engines will not consolidate SEO equity to the new URL. Always audit your redirects to make sure permanent moves use 301s.

• Leaving 302s in place too long, if a temporary redirect stays live long enough, Google may eventually start treating the destination as the canonical URL anyway. This is unpredictable behaviour and not something to rely on. If a temporary situation becomes permanent, update the redirect to a 301.

• Creating redirect chains, a redirect chain occurs when a URL redirects to another URL that redirects again before reaching the final destination. Each hop adds latency and weakens SEO signals. Keep redirects direct.

• Confusing 302 with 307, if your application relies on preserving the HTTP method through a redirect, use a 307 rather than a 302 to guarantee consistent behaviour across all clients.