A redirect tells browsers and search engines that a web address has moved and points them to a different one. When pages are removed, renamed, or consolidated, redirects keep visitors and search engines from landing on dead ends. An SEO company treats redirects as a routine but high-stakes part of technical work, because a sloppy redirect setup can quietly erode rankings and traffic. Here is how a competent provider approaches the job.
Choosing the right type of redirect
The first decision is whether a move is permanent or temporary. A 301 redirect signals a permanent change, and search engines treat the destination URL as the lasting replacement, passing along most of the ranking signals the old page had earned. A 302 redirect signals a temporary change, so search engines generally keep the original URL in their index and expect it to return.
An SEO company uses 301 redirects for the situations that actually call for them: a retired page, a renamed URL, a consolidated piece of content, or a domain change. It reserves 302 redirects for genuinely short-term cases, such as a maintenance page, a seasonal landing page, or an A/B test that will be removed. Using a 302 when a 301 is correct is a common mistake, because the move never gets treated as final and ranking signals may not transfer. A reputable provider checks the actual status code returned by the server rather than assuming the intended type was implemented correctly.
Redirecting removed and moved pages
When a page is deleted or replaced, an SEO company does not simply send every visitor to the homepage. It maps each old URL to the closest equivalent page, so someone who followed an old link still reaches relevant content. A retired product might point to its replacement or to the relevant category page. An outdated article might point to an updated version on the same topic. If no reasonable equivalent exists, the provider may decide that letting the URL return a proper 404 or 410 status is the honest answer, rather than forcing an irrelevant redirect that confuses users and search engines.
Avoiding chains and loops
A redirect chain happens when one URL redirects to a second URL that redirects to a third, and so on. Chains slow down page loads, waste crawl resources, and increase the chance that a search engine stops following before it reaches the final page. A redirect loop is worse: two or more URLs point back at each other, so the request never resolves and the page becomes unreachable.
An SEO company audits redirects to flatten chains, updating each old URL so it points directly to its final destination in a single hop. It checks for loops and fixes them as a priority, since a loop is a hard failure rather than a slow inconvenience. This kind of cleanup is part of ongoing maintenance, because routine CMS or hosting changes can introduce new chains over time.
Mapping redirects during migrations
Migrations, such as moving to a new domain, changing a URL structure, or replatforming, are where redirects matter most. Before launch, an SEO company builds a complete inventory of existing URLs by combining a site crawl with XML sitemaps, top landing pages from analytics, paid campaign destinations, and any redirects already living in the CMS or content delivery network. Every legacy URL is then assigned an intentional destination.
The provider tests these mappings against a staging environment, confirming that each old URL returns a 301 to the correct final page in one hop. After launch, it monitors crawl reports and Search Console for redirect-related errors and verifies that important pages keep their visibility.
Fixing redirects to or from broken URLs
An SEO company also reviews existing redirects that point to URLs that no longer work, since a redirect leading to a 404 page leaves the visitor stranded. It repoints those redirects to a working page and corrects internal links so they reference the final URL directly instead of relying on a redirect at all. Treating redirect health as a recurring check, rather than a one-time fix, keeps the site clean as it grows and changes.