301 Redirect

A 301 redirect is the web's version of permanent mail forwarding. The browser is told "this page has moved — go there instead, and remember it for next time." The visitor lands at the new page without noticing the detour.

If a bakery renames itself from Joe's Bread Co. to Joe's Bakery and moves to joesbakery.com, every old link, search result, and bookmarked page should land on the new site. A 301 tells browsers and search engines the change is permanent — technically, an HTTP response with status code 301 Moved Permanently and the new address attached.

301 vs 302

301 and 302 differ in one practical way: whether browsers and search engines remember where the redirect went.

The labels "permanent" and "temporary" are a little misleading. The real question: should browsers and Google stop checking the original URL? If yes, use 301. If the destination might change later or differs by visitor, use 302.

Try it

Three questions and we'll point you at the right status code.

Why "permanent" is hard to undo

Once a browser sees a 301, it's allowed to remember the new address for a long time — sometimes hours, sometimes until the user clears their history. Google does the same: after a few crawls, the old URL drops out of search results and the new one inherits the ranking signals.

That memory is what makes 301s both powerful and risky. Old links keep working and search ranking transfers cleanly. But if you change your mind three weeks later, browsers that already learned the redirect will keep going to the new destination regardless. There's no good way to "undo" a 301 once it's spread.

If there's any chance the destination might change, use a 302.

When you do want 301

301s are the right call when you control both ends of a permanent move:

• Moving domains. Every page on oldbrand.com permanently forwarded to newbrand.com.
• Renaming pages. /about-us permanently renamed to /about after a website rewrite.
• Switching to HTTPS. Sending visitors from the old http:// version to the secure https:// one.
• Picking one URL format. Deciding whether example.com/page or example.com/page/ is the official version, and forwarding the other.

In each case, a 301 hands your search ranking to the new URL and lets browsers stop visiting the old one.

Why most short links use 302

Every short link is a redirect, but most short-link services use 302, not 301. Two reasons:

1. You might change the destination later. A 302 picks up the change immediately for every visitor. A 301 leaves browsers stuck on the old destination because they'd remembered it.
2. Different visitors, different destinations. A Redirect by Country or Redirect by Device link sends people to different places depending on who they are — exactly what 302 is designed for.

The exception: moving from one short-link service to another. Old links permanently forwarded to new ones, no further changes planned — that's a 301.

What a redirect chain looks like

Most redirects are invisible — you click a link and you're somewhere new. Behind the scenes, the browser may have followed one redirect or several.

To inspect a real URL, WhereGoes traces the full chain — including JavaScript and meta-refresh redirects that simpler checkers miss.

References

The formal behavior of 301 is defined in RFC 9110 §15.4.2.