# 301 redirect

> What a 301 redirect is, why it transfers accumulated visibility to the new address, and which mistake happens most often during a relaunch.

Synonyms: 301, permanent redirect, redirect, URL redirect

Every page has an address. When it changes — in a relaunch, a restructure or a migration — every existing link to the old address leads nowhere. A 301 redirect catches that: anyone opening the old address arrives at the new one without a detour.

The 301 is the *permanent* variant. It tells search engines and AI systems not only "carry on here" but also "transfer what you knew about the old address to the new one". That is precisely why a properly handled migration keeps the visibility that was built up. Its counterpart, the 302, means "temporarily only" — using it by mistake gives away exactly that transfer.

The most common mistake in a relaunch is not the wrong redirect but the missing one. Every old address needs a destination, ideally the one that matches in substance rather than the homepage by default. Chains of several redirects should be resolved, and destinations that lead nowhere need checking before the old site is switched off.

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Source: https://btlabs.dev/en/glossary/301-redirect
Last-Modified: 2026-08-16T05:08:14.235Z
Languages: [de](https://btlabs.dev/llms/de/glossary/301-weiterleitung) · [it](https://btlabs.dev/llms/it/glossary/reindirizzamento-301)
See also: [llms.txt](https://btlabs.dev/llms.txt) · [ai.txt (Policy)](https://btlabs.dev/ai.txt) · [identity.json](https://btlabs.dev/identity.json)