Temporary redirects on apparently permanent moves

What is wrong

When you move a page permanently to a new address, you should use a 301 or 308 redirect. A temporary redirect—coded as 302, 303, or 307—tells search engines and browsers that the old page might come back. If you use temporary redirects for moves that won't change, search engines treat both the old and new URLs as separate pages, splitting your authority between them.

Why it costs you

This costs you because search engines will keep crawling and indexing the old address alongside the new one. Your link reputation, visitor history, and ranking signals get diluted across two URLs instead of consolidated on one. Visitors may also be confused by bookmarks and shared links that lead to redirects instead of landing directly on the final page.

How to fix it

Check your server logs or your hosting control panel to find which pages are sending 302, 303, or 307 responses. For each one that represents a permanent move, change the redirect code to 301 or 308, depending on which HTTP method your server supports. If you use a CMS, this setting is often in the page editor under "Redirect" or "URL Settings"—look for an option to set the redirect type. Make this change in your template or configuration so you don't have to edit every page individually.