Glossary
301 redirect
A 301 redirect is a permanent redirect. When a browser or a search engine asks for an old address, the server replies that the page has moved for good and sends it on to the new address. Google then shows the new address in its results.
Also called permanent redirect.
When you need one
You need one whenever a working address stops being the right one. Google names the usual cases: moving to a new domain, removing a page and sending its visitors somewhere useful, and a site that answers at several addresses when it should answer at one (Google Search Central).
The last case is easy to miss. If your site loads at http and https, or with and without www, each version is a separate address to a search engine. The scan checks this as T4, and the fix is a permanent redirect from every version to the one https address you keep.
Permanent or temporary
Google treats the two kinds differently: after a permanent redirect such as a 301 it shows the new address in results, and after a temporary one it keeps showing the old address (Google Search Central).
Use a temporary redirect only when the old page is coming back, for example a seasonal service paused for the winter. A page that has moved for good needs a permanent one.
The redirect map in a rebuild
A new website usually means new page addresses, while the old ones live on in search results and in other sites' links. Before launch, list every address the old site had and pair each with the closest page on the new site, such as the old drain cleaning page with the new one. Then set each pair up as a permanent redirect.
Skip the map, and those old links end on error pages. Redirects are part of our Website build, alongside structured data and speed work.
Chains and loops
A page moved in one rebuild and again in the next can send a visitor through two or three hops before it loads, and every hop adds a wait. A loop is worse: two addresses that send visitors to each other, so the page never loads at all. Point each new redirect straight at the final page, and update older ones to match. The scan reports links on your pages that take two or more redirects to land as T6. A loop shows up there too, as a link that keeps bouncing until the scan stops following it.
Redirects and canonical tags together
Both tell Google which address you prefer, and Google counts each as a strong signal (Google Search Central), so they have to agree. Once an old page redirects to a new one, your canonical tags, your internal links and your sitemap should all name the new address.
What the free scan checks
Questions
How long should I keep a redirect in place?
Leave it running. Links on other sites, in old emails and in bookmarks do not expire, and a redirect costs almost nothing to keep. Take one down and every one of those links ends on an error page.
Can I redirect every old page to my home page?
No. Send each old address to the page closest to what it was about. A visitor who clicked a link about water heaters and lands on your home page has to start looking again, and a redirect to an unrelated page tells Google nothing about where the old content went.
Where this fits in our work
We handle this as part of Web design and hosting: A fast, conversion-first website built on your own accounts, then hosted, backed up and kept current.
Related reading
Posts that use this term
- What happens to my Google ranking if I change my business name or address? A move keeps your profile and, for most businesses, your reviews. A new name may not. Where Google draws the line, and what to update first.
- Do I need a separate page for every town I serve? When a town earns its own page, what Google calls doorway abuse, and one plain way to cover every other town you serve.
Related terms
- Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS): How much a page jumps around while it loads, and the design choices that stop it.
- Interaction to Next Paint (INP): How quickly a page reacts when a visitor taps, clicks or types, the scores that count as good, and what usually slows it down.
- HTTPS: The secure connection a site needs before Chrome stops marking it Not secure, what mixed content is, and what HTTPS does and does not do for search.
- Mobile-first indexing: Google reading the phone version of your site to index and rank it, and what has to match between the phone and desktop versions.
Sources
- Google Search Central: Redirects and Google Search, updated April 14, 2026. Checked September 26, 2026.
- Google Search Central: How to specify a canonical URL with rel="canonical" and other methods, updated July 10, 2026. Checked September 26, 2026.