Internal redirects by site type (293 crawled sites)
| Site type | Sites | Internal redirects | 301 share | Temporary (302/303/307) share | Sites with any temporary redirect |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stores | 100 | 3,878 | 94.3% | 5.7% | 46.7% of 90 |
| WordPress sites | 95 | 6,184 | 92.6% | 7.3% | 23.9% of 88 |
| Business sites | 98 | 4,288 | 70.6% | 26.0% | 51.9% of 77 |
| All | 293 | 14,350 | 86.5% | 12.4% | 40.4% of 255 |
Source: PageSpeed Matters, Oct 2026. Sites with any temporary redirect is a share of sites that have internal redirects.
Summary
A 301 redirect tells browsers and search engines that a page has moved for good. A 302, 303 or 307 says the move is temporary. Google treats a permanent redirect as a strong signal that the new URL should be the one shown in search, and a temporary one as a weak signal, so using the wrong type on a page that has really moved can keep the old URL around.
We looked at the internal redirects on 293 crawled ranking sites. Of 14,350 internal redirects, 86.5% are permanent 301s and 12.4% are temporary. Temporary redirects are concentrated in a few sites, and many of them sit on login, cart and account pages where a 302 is the right choice.
What we measured
We crawled 293 ranking sites, up to 1,000 pages each: 100 stores, 95 WordPress sites and 98 business sites, for 195,708 URLs in total. For every internally linked URL that redirected, we recorded the status code.
A redirect counts as temporary if it returns 302, 303 or 307. Login, account, cart, checkout and admin redirects were identified from URL and redirect target patterns.
This describes internal links on those 293 sites, not the whole web. And some temporary redirects are intentional, for example for geo routing, login or cart flows, so a 302 is not always a mistake.
Most internal redirects are permanent 301s
Across the 293 crawled sites, 12,410 of 14,350 internal redirects (86.5%) are 301s and 1,785 (12.4%) are temporary 302, 303 or 307 redirects.
Temporary redirects are less common than permanent ones, but they are widespread. 40.4% of the 255 sites with internal redirects use at least one 302, 303 or 307. That makes a temporary redirect something to expect in an audit of a typical site rather than a rare edge case.
12.4%
Share of 14,350 internal redirects on 293 crawled ranking sites that are temporary 302, 303 or 307 redirects.
Business sites lean on temporary redirects
Business sites lean on temporary redirects far more than other site types. 26.0% of their 4,288 internal redirects are temporary, against 7.3% of 6,184 on WordPress sites and 5.7% of 3,878 on stores.
Stores tell a different story. They use few temporary redirects, but they often have at least one: 46.7% of the 90 stores with redirects do, against 51.9% of 77 business sites and 23.9% of 88 WordPress sites. A likely reason is that store platforms use a handful of temporary redirects for cart, account and checkout flows, while their product and collection redirects are permanent.
WordPress sites are the least likely to have any temporary redirect: only 23.9% of the 88 with redirects do. Redirect plugins and WordPress itself usually default to permanent redirects when a slug changes, which fits that pattern.
WordPress sites carry the most redirects
Redirect type is one question, redirect volume is another. WordPress sites carry the most redirects overall, at 10.4 internal redirects per 100 crawled URLs, against 6.7 on business sites and 5.4 on stores.
Most of those WordPress redirects are 301s, so they pass signals correctly. But every internal redirect is still an extra request for visitors and crawlers. When an internal link points at a URL that redirects, the better fix is to update the link to the final address.
A few sites account for most temporary redirects
Temporary redirects are concentrated. The 10 sites with the most account for 70% of all 1,785, and the top 5 alone account for 51%. So the 12.4% average says less about a typical site than about a few sites with a large number of 302s, likely from a sitewide rule.
Many temporary redirects are also deliberate. 29% of them (525 of 1,785) involve login, account, cart, checkout or admin URLs, where a 302 is usually intentional: the page sends visitors somewhere for now, depending on whether they are signed in or have items in the cart.
What this means for your site
Use the redirect type that matches what really happened to the page.
- Crawl your site and export every internal URL that returns a 3xx, with its status code and target.
- Group the temporary ones by pattern. Login, account, cart and checkout redirects can usually stay as 302s.
- For pages that have moved for good, such as renamed products, merged posts or old URLs after a migration, switch the redirect to a 301.
- If one rule is creating hundreds of 302s, fix the rule rather than each URL.
- Update internal links that point at redirecting URLs so they go straight to the final address.
Sources
- PageSpeed Matters crawl of 293 ranking sites, up to 1,000 pages each, October 2026
- Google Search Central, redirects and Google Search: https://developers.google.com/search/docs/crawling-indexing/301-redirects
Embed this research
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<p style="font:14px/1.5 system-ui,sans-serif">Source: <a href="https://www.pagespeedmatters.com/resources/data-studies/302-vs-301-redirects">302 vs 301 Redirects: 12.4% of Internal Redirects Are 302s - PageSpeed Matters</a></p>
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between a 301 and a 302 redirect?
A 301 says a page has moved permanently and a 302 says the move is temporary. Google treats a 301 as a strong signal that the target URL should be canonical and a 302 as a weak one.
How common are 302 redirects?
Across 293 crawled ranking sites, 12.4% of 14,350 internal redirects are temporary 302, 303 or 307 redirects and 86.5% are 301s. 40.4% of sites with internal redirects use at least one temporary redirect.
Are 302 redirects bad for SEO?
Not always. 29% of the temporary redirects we found involve login, account, cart, checkout or admin URLs, where a 302 is usually intentional. For pages that have moved for good, use a 301.
Most redirect problems trace back to a few rules, and fixing those rules cleans up redirects across the whole site. Need help with this? See our technical SEO services.