What is a 302 Redirect?

What Is a 302 Redirect?

Let’s say you go to your favorite coffee shop and there's a sign on the door: “We’re temporarily serving from the truck outside. Same coffee. Just over there for now.” That's basically what a 302 redirect does for your website. It’s the digital version of still here, but just not in the usual spot. It’s a way of rerouting traffic from one URL to another temporarily, without messing up your search engine rankings.

How It Works

When someone tries to access a URL (say, example.com/coffee), your server sends back an HTTP status code. Think of it like a backstage pass. A 200 means “All good, here’s the content.” A 404 says, “Whoops, page not found.” And a 302? That’s your digital bouncer saying, “The page you’re looking for is over here right now.” The 302 tells search engines, that it's not a permanent move. So it keeps the original URL indexed. So in theory, your SEO, your rankings, backlinks, all that good stuff stays with the original page. But there’s a small catch.

SEO and 302 Redirects: A Bit of a Complicated Relationship

Here’s where things get a little gray. While 302s should preserve your original URL’s ranking power, search engines, especially Google, don’t always interpret them perfectly. In the past, 302s were notorious for confusing search crawlers, sometimes leading to indexing the temporary page instead of the original.

Google’s gotten smarter though. These days, if the redirect sticks around long enough, Google might treat it like a 301 redirect. But that’s not always predictable and if you're trying to send clear signals to search engines, ambiguity isn’t your friend.

So, if you're redirecting a page for just a week while you run a campaign or fix a bug? A 302 is probably perfect.

When to Use a 302 (And When You Absolutely Shouldn't)

Use a 302 redirect when:

• You're A/B testing a new version of a page

• You’re temporarily moving a page while fixing something

• You want to preserve original rankings for a short-term event or product launch

• You're directing users to the right version of a page based on location or language preferences, but only temporarily

Don’t use a 302 redirect when:

• You're moving a page or site permanently

• You’ve shut down a section of your site for good

• You want your new URL to gain the SEO benefits of the old one

Real-Life Scenarios

Let's say you’re running an eCommerce store and you want to temporarily redirect all traffic from /summer-sale to /early-access-summer-sale for your email subscribers. That’s a textbook case for a 302. It’s short-term, strategic, and it doesn’t send mixed signals to Google. But say you’ve rebranded, and /summer-sale is now just /hot-deals. Don’t get use a 302. That’s a 301 situation.

How to Set Up a 302 Redirect

Depending on how your site is built, there are different ways to handle 302s:

• Apache server? Use your .htaccess file.

• Nginx? A simple rewrite in your config.

• WordPress? Tons of plugins (like Redirection or Yoast) make it easy.

• Shopify, Wix, or Squarespace? They often handle redirects through the admin dashboard. Just make sure you’re specifying the temporary option.

Quick tip: always test your redirect with a tool like httpstatus.io or Chrome DevTools. Just because it works doesn’t mean it’s sending the right signals.

Related: What is a 303 Redirect?

Final Thoughts: What is a 302 Redirect?

302 redirects are incredibly useful, but only when they’re used intentionally. They’re not a set-it-and-forget-it kind of thing. Leave one lingering for too long, and search engines may assume your “temporary” move wasn’t so temporary after all. So, treat your redirects like that houseplant you have. You do check on your plants right? Remember in the world of SEO, even the smallest changes like a three-digit status code can make a bigger impact than you think.