302 Re-Directs | Setting up a Temporary Redirect, 302 Redirects & SEO

302 Redirects or (Re-Directs) are temporary re-directs put in place for websites during a transitional period. Websites that are moving server, location, or are restructuring internally will benefit from temporary redirects. Google will read a temporary re-direct and as a result, will leave the existing index in Google unchanged. If this redirect is left in place too long than it will begin to loose its positions in search results.

A temporary redirect is exactly what it says, temporary, and should not be used if the redirect is likely to be in place for more than 3 months. It is important to remember the differences between temporary and permanent redirects including the impact in natural search.

When implementing a redirect, its important to remember that your pages existing structure will remain in search engines, so if no redirects are put in place, users will fall on broken links, and if a temporary redirect is left in place too long, it will begin to slide in the rankings.

Setting up a 302 redirect couldn't be easier, as seen in the right hand panel. You can create the redirects in any server technology, just bare in mind the amount of time that the redirect is likely to be in place for. Websites can see huge declines in their rankings if the redirects are left unattended. It is common for re-directs to be forgotten about when the website undergoes a large change, wether it be internal or external.

302 redirects have been common practice for over 10 years since their introduction in 1998. The misuse of this redirect is still prominent as many websites lay dormant, or in low positions due to the adverse affects of excessive time periods.

Temporary redirects are overlooked by search engines in the short term, but after a period of time, search engines will then assume that the redirect has been left, and will begin to devalue the page and its placement.

This is why there are strict guidelines for the use of 302 redirects.

Definition of a 302 Redirect
The definition of a 302 redirect means, using a 302 redirection from http://www.mywebsite.com/ to http://www.mywebsite.com/new-folder/index.htm, means that, although the page is temporarily redirected to the xx page, the preferred address to be used in the future remains http://www.mywebsite.com/. 302 redirects should be used for temporary redirections.

Why is this an SEO No No
Temporary redirects present search engines with the problem of determining wether or not the new redirect location still poses as a relevant source of information relating to the users search query. When a search engine recognises a temporary redirect, it will put into question wether or not the new page that the users are being directed too is of value. And if the redirected page is of value, how long will it remain in place until it is moved back to its old location.

Implementing a 302 Redirect
You can implement a 302 redirect as follows:

In PHP

Redirecting a page in PHP

<?php

header(”Location: http://www.domain.com/temporary-address/temporary-file-name.html”);

exit();

in HTACCESS

Redirecting a page

Redirect /file-name.html http://www.domain.com/temporary-directory/temporary-file-name.html

Redirecting a directory

Redirect /directory http://www.domain.com/temporary-directory

Redirecting an entire site

Redirect / http://www.temporary-domain.com/