How Long Should You Keep 301 Redirects in Place?

Keep a 301 redirect for at least a year, and longer if the old URL still receives links, bookmarks or visitors. Google has suggested a year as a minimum, but there is rarely a good reason to remove a redirect that costs almost nothing to keep. Permanent usually means permanent.

Why a year is the minimum

Search engines need time to process a move and update their records, and other sites need time to change their links. Removing redirects too early can break links and drop pages from search.

Reasons to keep them longer

• External sites still link to the old address.
• Visitors still arrive from bookmarks or printed material.
• The old page earned strong links or traffic.
• You moved domains, where redirects are best kept indefinitely.

How to decide for each redirect

1. Check whether the old URL still gets visits in your analytics.
2. Check backlinks pointing at the old address.
3. If neither exists after a long period, you can consider removing it.
4. If unsure, leave it in place.

The cost of too many redirects

A very large redirect list can slow the server and is hard to manage. Clean up chains first, using the redirect checker and the guide to redirect chains and loops, then keep the useful rules tidy.

Store your rules properly

Keep a spreadsheet of old URLs and their targets so future changes do not break earlier ones. You can generate server rules with the htaccess redirect generator.

Frequently asked questions

Next steps

For a redirect audit, contact me here. Also see whether 301 redirects pass link equity.

More in this series (redirect questions): start with Free Redirect and Status Code Checker, then explore:

• Do 301 Redirects Pass Link Equity and PageRank?