Answer · Website Redesign
How Do 301 Redirects Work?
The short answer
A 301 redirect is an HTTP status code that tells browsers and search engines a URL has permanently moved to a new location. The browser fetches the new URL; Google updates its index to use the new URL. In a redesign, every old URL needs a 301 to a corresponding new URL.
№ 01The longer answer
Technical mechanics: when a browser requests a URL with a 301 in place, the server returns HTTP status 301 (Moved Permanently) along with a Location header pointing to the new URL. The browser follows the redirect automatically. Google’s crawler does the same and updates its index to use the new URL within 1-3 weeks.
Why 301 (not 302): 301 is permanent; 302 is temporary. Google treats them differently. A 301 passes ~99% of the original URL’s ranking signals to the new URL. A 302 keeps the original URL in the index and doesn’t pass signals. For redesigns, 301 is always the right choice.
How we map redirects during a redesign: pull every indexed URL from Google Search Console (Pages report, 16-month range), every URL with traffic from GA4 (12 months), every URL with backlinks from Ahrefs/Semrush. De-dupe to get the master list. Each URL gets a destination on the new site. Configured in WordPress via the Redirection plugin or .htaccess.
Common 301 mistakes: redirecting everything to the homepage (dilutes signals; use page-level mapping), missing trailing-slash variants (one URL has slash, another doesn’t — both need redirects), using 302 instead of 301 (rankings don’t transfer), and forgetting URL parameter variations (?utm_source= and similar). The pre-launch checklist catches these.
№ 02How long do I need to keep 301s in place?
Forever, ideally. Removing 301s 12+ months post-launch usually causes another minor ranking dip. The 301s are cheap to keep; keep them indefinitely.
№ 03Can I chain redirects (A to B to C)?
Avoid it. Google follows redirect chains, but each hop weakens signal transfer. Map every old URL directly to the final destination — not via intermediate hops.
№ 04What if I don’t know what URL to redirect to?
If there’s no semantic destination, use 410 (Gone) instead of 301 to homepage. 410 tells Google the page is intentionally removed; the URL deindexes cleanly without diluting your site.
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