A phone-repair business changes the address of its screen-replacement service. Old bookmarks and links still point to the previous URL. On the same site, a retired accessory page has no replacement. Should both old addresses send visitors somewhere new?
No. A redirect is for a URL with a useful destination. An HTTP status code tells a browser and crawler what happened to the request: the page loaded, moved, or no longer exists. Choose the response according to what a visitor should find at that exact address.
What Do Status Codes Mean?
A server sends an HTTP status code when someone requests a URL. 200 means the request succeeded; it does not guarantee that Google will index the page. Redirect codes in the 3xx group send visitors to another URL. A 4xx response means the requested page was not found or could not be supplied.
Visitors usually see the final page, not the code. That makes it easy to mistake a page that looks like an error for a genuine 404. If the server sends 200 with a “not found” message, Google may classify it as a soft 404. Check the actual response, not just the design.
When Should You Use a 301 Redirect?
Use a permanent redirect when a page has moved to a lasting new address. In the repair example, the old screen-service URL can return 301 and send visitors directly to the new screen-service page. 308 is another permanent redirect code. For Google Search, both are strong signals that the destination should become the representative URL.
The destination must satisfy the same need. A screen-repair page should not redirect to an unrelated homepage merely because the old URL has links. Update your menu, relevant articles, and XML sitemap to use the new address, while keeping the old redirect for people who still follow old links. For a large move, the redirect-map guide covers URL inventory and testing in more detail.
When Should You Use a 302 Redirect?
Use 302 when the change really is temporary and you intend the original URL to remain the main address. If appointment booking is unavailable for a short period, the service URL could temporarily lead to a page explaining when bookings resume. If the existing service page can explain this clearly, keep it available instead. 307 is another temporary redirect code.
Google follows temporary redirects, but does not treat them as the same strong move signal as permanent redirects. Do not leave a temporary rule in place indefinitely just because it was faster to set up. If the change becomes permanent, revise the response and your internal links.
What If a Page Is Gone or the URL Is Wrong?
If the retired accessory has no close replacement, return a real 404 or 410 instead of redirecting to a loosely related category or the homepage. 404 means not found; 410 means gone. Google treats both as signals that the URL should not remain indexed. A helpful error page can still offer navigation, as long as its HTTP response is genuinely a 404 or 410.
Not every 404 is a crisis. A mistyped URL or a deliberately retired page can return 404 normally. But if a live service page unexpectedly returns 404, restore it or redirect its old address to a genuine replacement. Fix internal links that still point to the error. A 5xx response is different: it signals a server problem, not deliberate removal.
Redirect or Canonical: Which One?
A redirect changes the visitor's destination. If both similar URLs need to remain usable—such as a product category and its sorted view—use a canonical preference rather than forcing one view to disappear. If the old URL should no longer be a destination, a permanent redirect is usually clearer.
noindex is a separate choice for a page that remains accessible but should be excluded from search. It is not a substitute for a missing page's 404 response or a moved page's redirect.
How Do You Check One Changed URL?
- Write down the old URL and the outcome you want: unchanged page, permanent replacement, temporary detour, or no replacement.
- In your browser's developer tools, open Network and reload the old URL. Check its first response. For a redirect, note the status and
Locationtarget; do not judge by the final screen alone. - If it redirects, open the destination. It should answer the old visitor's need without an unnecessary chain or a loop. If the page is gone, confirm the response is a real
404or410. - For a permanent move, update internal links and the sitemap to the new URL. For a temporary detour, keep the original URL as the main address. Remove genuinely retired URLs from the sitemap.
- If a valuable URL remains absent from search, use Search Console's URL Inspection and Page indexing report to check what Google observed. Processing a change can take time.
Frequently Asked Questions
What Are Redirects in SEO?
They send a request for one URL to another. They help visitors and search engines reach a page's new or temporary location when the destination is relevant.
What Is a 301 Redirect Used For?
A 301 marks a permanent move, such as changing a service page's address while keeping an equivalent replacement available.
What Does a 302 Redirect Mean?
It indicates a temporary move. Visitors go to another URL for now, while the original address is intended to remain the main one.
What Is the Difference Between a 410 and a 404 Status Code?
A 404 says the page was not found; a 410 says it is gone. Google handles both similarly for indexing, so use the code that accurately describes the page's state.