A 302 redirect (status code 302 Found) tells browsers and crawlers that a resource is temporarily available at a different URL, given in the Location header. RFC 9110 says clients should keep using the original URL for future requests, which is why search engines keep the original URL as the main one.
At a glance
- Class
- 3xx (redirection)
- Duration
- temporary
- In Google
- no signal that the target is canonical; the old URL usually stays visible
- Request method
- POST may become GET when followed (not with 307)
- Caching
- only with explicit cache controls
- Specification
- RFC 9110, section 15.4.3
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What does HTTP 302 mean for SEO?
Google groups 302, 303, and 307 as temporary redirects. The source URL usually stays in search results. According to Google’s redirects guide, the indexing pipeline does not use a temporary redirect as a signal that the target should be canonical. Google’s page on HTTP status codes describes it as a weak signal that the target should be processed. With 301 and 308, the signal is strong and the target tends to replace the original.
For permanent moves, such as a relaunch or domain migration, a 301 is usually the right choice. A 302 fits cases where the original URL will come back: maintenance, a seasonal campaign, or a home page that sends visitors to a country version. Google also treats a delayed meta refresh as temporary.
RFC 9110 allows browsers to change a POST request into a GET when following a 302. If the method must stay the same, 307 Temporary Redirect is the alternative. 303 See Other always switches to GET.
| Type | Permanent or temporary? | Request method | Effect in Google | How reliably Google detects it |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 301 Moved Permanently | permanent | POST may become GET when followed | Signal that the target should become canonical | most reliable (server-side) |
| 308 Permanent Redirect | permanent | preserved | same as 301 | most reliable (server-side) |
| 302 Found (this term) | temporary | POST may become GET when followed | not used as a canonical signal for the target; other signals can still get it indexed | most reliable (server-side) |
| 307 Temporary Redirect | temporary | preserved | same as 302 | most reliable (server-side) |
| Meta refresh, instant (0 s) | permanent | – (redirect inside the HTML, no 3xx status code) | same as 301 | after server-side redirects |
| Meta refresh, delayed (> 0 s) | temporary | – (redirect inside the HTML, no 3xx status code) | same as 302 | after server-side redirects |
| JavaScript (location) | permanent | – (redirect in the browser) | same as 301, but only if Google renders the page | least reliable: if rendering fails, Google may never see it |
Google orders redirect types by how likely it is to interpret them correctly: server-side redirects first, JavaScript last. Request-method behaviour is defined in RFC 9110 (section 15.4). Sources: Google Search Central: Redirects and Google Search (last updated 2026-04-14); Google Search Central: How to specify a canonical URL (redirects as canonical signal); RFC 9110: HTTP Semantics, 15.4 Redirection 3xx. Last checked: .
Example
GET /deals HTTP/1.1
Host: www.example.com
HTTP/1.1 302 Found
Location: https://www.example.com/deals-fall
Common mistakes
- 302 instead of 301 during a relaunch: Old URLs stay in the index, and the redirect does not tell Google that the new ones are canonical.
- 302 instead of 404: In Apache, an
ErrorDocumentpointing to a full URL (http://…) makes the server send a redirect instead of the error code. A local path keeps the 404. - Redirect loops: Two rules point at each other, for example between HTTP and HTTPS or www and non-www variants, and the browser stops with an error.
FAQ
Is 302 an error code? No. 302 belongs to the 3xx redirection class; error codes are 4xx and 5xx. An unexpected 302 often comes from a login redirect, a plugin, or a server rule.
Why am I getting a 302 instead of a 200?
According to reports, common causes are an expired session that sends the request to a login page, HTTP-to-HTTPS or trailing-slash rules, and geo or language redirects. curl -I https://www.example.com/deals shows the status code and the Location target.
Is a 302 redirect bad for SEO? Not for temporary changes. It becomes a problem when it is used for a permanent move, because the redirect does not tell Google that the new URL should be canonical.
Sources
- RFC 9110: HTTP Semantics, 15.4.3 302 Found – IETFrfc-editor.org
- 302 Found – MDN Web Docsdeveloper.mozilla.org
- Redirects and Google Search – Google Search Central (updated Apr 14, 2026)developers.google.com
- How HTTP status codes affect Google's crawlers – Google crawling documentation (updated Feb 4, 2026)developers.google.com
- Apache HTTP Server, ErrorDocument directivehttpd.apache.org
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