Should you use a 301 redirect or 302 redirect?

A redirect lets you seamlessly send visitors from a URL page that’s no longer relevant to a new, relevant page. These server-level commands are an important tool for maintaining your site because they preserve not only your site traffic but also any link equity that the old page may have accumulated.

There are several types of redirects, and for SEO purposes, you need to know which is best.
A 301 redirect is considered to be a “permanent” redirect whereas a 302 is a “temporary” redirect.
When you set up a 301, it transfers one URL to another URL. Users can view the new, alternate page, and any link equity also moves from your old page to your new page. Further, the search engine gets a clear signal that the old page should be permanently removed from its index.

A 302 redirect gives a less clear signal. There are only a few reasons why you would want to add a temporary 302 redirect, such as if you wanted to A/B test functionality between the URLs or you needed to fix a broken webpage temporarily. But it’s hard to justify a 302 as the preferred option.
Now, Google has said it treats a 301 and a 302 identically, but we happen to know that a 301 always works.

Plus, there are other search engines out there besides Google, and not all of them are likely to treat a 301 and a 302 identically. So we recommend using 301 “permanent” redirects when you need to move Page A to Page B, or Domain A to Domain B.

If you found this helpful, please be sure to like and subscribe to our channel! We have many other answers to some of your SEO questions so be sure to check them out.

[RayRomanMedia]

I don't get why you wouldn't do a 301 (permanent) when it still seems like if you wanted to later you can switch to a 302 (temporary). I thought making it permanent meant you would never have the option to switch back but I'm still seeing the option to switch back.

[viopforex]

I want to have a 302 redirect for my website.