Code 302 says that the page has moved, but only temporarily. So, unlike 301, it is likely that the page will return to that location in the future and there is no need to migrate the links and its history to the new page.
However, if a 302 redirect has been on for a long time, Google may start treating it as if it were a 301 redirect.
Using 302 in practice
In general, you can say that you use 302 redirection mainly when you want to send visitors to another address only temporarily.
Typically when updating content or making more complex changes to a page.
In these cases, however, I would always recommend trying to use the staging option and uploading the changes to the page when it is done.
I believe that 302 redirection is also a good way to influence which landing pages will pop up in the search engine for certain search terms (you simply redirect the page that pops up now to the page you want to pop up) – however, I’m still experimenting with this, and I definitely don’t recommend it yet.
How to redirect 302?
There are many ways. The most common method is probably to edit the .htaccess file, which you can find in the root folder of the site.
If you use WordPress, however, you can, like me, use the Rank Math SEO plugin to redirect, where you basically primitively click the redirect:
How to solve problems with status code 302?
If you didn’t set up the 302 redirect on purpose, but it’s happening sort of “without your knowledge”, you can try some tips from the Kinsta blog article, and I’ll just list three recommendations here to get you started.
1. Check plugins
Plugins can have 302 errors on their conscience quite often.
Try turning one plugin off and on at a time, and watch to see if this action has an effect on any of the plugins changing the status code – removing the error.
2. Make sure you have the correct addresses set up in WordPress
Now it’s not even about getting the url addresses to look right. First of all, you want the WordPress installation and the site’s homepage to have the same url:
You can find out directly in Settings -> General. If the addresses are not the same, then overwrite them (and then replace the overwritten version in the database), otherwise there may be problems.
3. Check with your hosting provider
If you are having problems with 302 status codes and you are not a programmer who can look into configuring hosting servers on your own, contact your hosting provider.
Most hosting providers have helpful support to help you sort the matter out.
Other errata you may encounter
Error message Error 404.
Success message http 200.
Redirect http 301.
Code http 500.
Code http 503.
