Redirects are simple and easy to understand. To explain in simple words, if you are shifting your content to a new location permanently, it is recommended to use 301 redirects. However, if you are moving your content temporarily, use a 302 redirect. But, you might be thinking, why does this matter at all? Users cannot detect the difference between 301s and 302s, after all. In terms of functionality, they are identical. The answer to your question is straightforward: Search engines treat 301 redirects and 302 redirects differently. And choosing the wrong one might lead to SEO issues that go unreported for months, if not years.

HTTP Response Status Codes

When a browser requests a web page from a server, the server responds with a status code that indicates whether the request was successful. This response is what is called the HTTP Response Status Code. Basically, it informs the browser about the status of the webpage request. Read below to know more.

Five kinds of HTTP Response Status Codes:

The leading experts from the digital marketing agencies suggest that there are five kinds of HTTP Response Status Codes:

1. Information responses: These codes indicate that the request initiated by the browser is continuing.
   a. 100 Continue: This response indicates that the customer should either continue the request or ignore the response if the request is already finished.
   b. 101 Switching Protocols: This status code is sent as a response to the upgrade request header from the client, indicating the protocol it is switching to.
   c. 102 Processing: This shows that the server has received and it is processing the request, but no response is available yet.
   d. 103 Early Hints: This status code is meant to be used in conjunction with the Link header to allow the user agent to begin preloading resources while the server prepares a response.
2. Successful responses: Success codes are returned when the server receives, understands, and processes a browser request. We have listed a few for you: 200 OK: The request was granted. The meaning of “success” is determined by the HTTP method:

• GET: The resource has been retrieved and sent in the body of the message.
• HEAD: Without a message body, the representation headers are included in the response.
• PUT or POST: The message body contains the resource explaining the action’s result.
• TRACE: The message body contains the request message as received by the server.

2. 201 Created: This means that the request succeeded and a new resource was created as a result. This is the response that is normally sent after POST or some PUT queries.
202 Accepted: The request has been received, but no action has been taken yet. 
203 Non-Authoritative Information: This response indicates that the metadata returned is not identical to that available from the origin server, but was gathered from a local or third-party copy. This is typically used for backups or mirrors of another resource. Except for a specific case, the 200 OK response is preferable over this status.