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All lessons in Technical SEO Auditing Lesson 3.6 of 84

Module 1: Introduction to Technical SEO Auditing

  1. 1.1What Is a Technical SEO Audit?
  2. 1.2Technical SEO Audit vs. General SEO Audit
  3. 1.3When Should You Audit a Website?
  4. 1.4Types of Technical SEO Issues
  5. 1.5Defining Audit Scope and Objectives

Module 2: Website Crawling and URL Discovery

  1. 2.1How SEO Crawlers Discover URLs
  2. 2.2Configuring a Website Crawl
  3. 2.3Crawl Scope, Limits, and Exclusions
  4. 2.4Internal Links and Crawl Depth
  5. 2.5Orphan Pages and URL Discovery
  6. 2.6Crawl Data vs. Search Engine Data
  7. 2.7Identifying Crawl Coverage Gaps

Module 3: HTTP Status Codes and Redirect Auditing

  1. 3.1Understanding HTTP Status Codes
  2. 3.2Finding 4xx Errors and Broken Links
  3. 3.3Identifying 5xx Server Errors
  4. 3.4Redirect Chains and Redirect Loops
  5. 3.5Internal Links to Redirected URLs
  6. 3.6301 vs. 302 Redirects
  7. 3.7Auditing 404 Pages and Soft 404s

Module 4: Crawlability and Indexability Auditing

  1. 4.1Crawling vs. Indexing
  2. 4.2Robots.txt Audit
  3. 4.3Meta Robots and X-Robots-Tag
  4. 4.4Noindex and Canonical Conflicts
  5. 4.5XML Sitemap Validation
  6. 4.6Canonical URL Auditing
  7. 4.7Identifying Indexability Conflicts
  8. 4.8Comparing Crawl Data with Google Search Console

Module 5: URL Structure and Duplicate Content Issues

  1. 5.1URL Structure and Normalization
  2. 5.2Duplicate URLs and Duplicate Pages
  3. 5.3HTTP vs. HTTPS and Hostname Variations
  4. 5.4Trailing Slashes and URL Parameters
  5. 5.5Pagination and Faceted Navigation
  6. 5.6Canonicalization Strategies
  7. 5.7Internal Linking to Preferred URLs

Module 6: Technical On-Page Auditing

  1. 6.1Missing and Duplicate Title Tags
  2. 6.2Missing and Duplicate Meta Descriptions
  3. 6.3Missing, Duplicate, and Multiple H1 Headings
  4. 6.4Heading Hierarchy and HTML Structure
  5. 6.5Missing Image Alt Attributes
  6. 6.6Internal Link and Anchor Text Issues
  7. 6.7Empty, Thin, and Near-Duplicate Pages
  8. 6.8Auditing HTML Metadata at Scale

Module 7: Website Performance and Core Web Vitals

  1. 7.1Core Web Vitals: LCP, INP, and CLS
  2. 7.2Lab Data vs. Field Data
  3. 7.3Identifying Slow Pages
  4. 7.4Image and Resource Optimization Opportunities
  5. 7.5JavaScript and CSS Performance
  6. 7.6Mobile Usability and Responsive Rendering
  7. 7.7Prioritizing Performance Fixes

Module 8: JavaScript SEO and Rendering

  1. 8.1How Search Engines Process JavaScript
  2. 8.2HTML Source vs. Rendered HTML
  3. 8.3Client-Side vs. Server-Side Rendering
  4. 8.4JavaScript-Generated Content and Links
  5. 8.5Rendering Failures and Missing Content
  6. 8.6Lazy Loading and Crawl Accessibility
  7. 8.7Diagnosing JavaScript SEO Problems

Module 9: Structured Data and Schema Auditing

  1. 9.1Structured Data and Schema.org Basics
  2. 9.2JSON-LD and Structured Data Formats
  3. 9.3Finding Structured Data Across a Website
  4. 9.4Detecting Invalid or Incomplete Markup
  5. 9.5Schema Validation and Rich Result Eligibility
  6. 9.6Conflicting or Duplicate Structured Data
  7. 9.7Prioritizing Schema Fixes

Module 10: Analyzing Audit Data and Prioritizing Issues

  1. 10.1Reading Crawl Reports and Exports
  2. 10.2Grouping URLs by Issue Type
  3. 10.3Identifying Root Causes vs. Symptoms
  4. 10.4Evaluating Severity, Impact, and Effort
  5. 10.5Separating Sitewide and Isolated Issues
  6. 10.6Identifying False Positives
  7. 10.7Building an Actionable Issue Register

Module 11: Technical SEO Audit Reporting

  1. 11.1Structuring a Technical SEO Audit Report
  2. 11.2Documenting Evidence and Affected URLs
  3. 11.3Writing Developer-Ready Recommendations
  4. 11.4Mapping Issues to Business and Search Impact
  5. 11.5Creating a Prioritized Remediation Roadmap
  6. 11.6Presenting Findings to Stakeholders
  7. 11.7Tracking Fixes and Ownership

Module 12: Fix Verification and Technical QA

  1. 12.1Re-Crawling After Fixes
  2. 12.2Comparing Before-and-After Crawl Results
  3. 12.3Verifying Redirects, Canonicals, and Indexability
  4. 12.4Detecting Regressions and Newly Introduced Issues
  5. 12.5Testing Website Changes Before Deployment
  6. 12.6Confirming Fixes with Search Console and Other Evidence
  7. 12.7Closing Audit Findings and Recording Results

301 vs. 302 Redirects

Covered here

  • The difference between permanent and temporary redirects
  • How Google treats 301, 302, 307, and 308
  • When each redirect type is the right choice
  • How to audit redirect types in a crawl

Short answer

A 301 redirect says a page moved permanently, so Google transfers signals and indexes the new URL. A 302 says the move is temporary, so Google may keep showing the old URL. Use 301 or 308 for permanent changes like migrations, and 302 or 307 only for short-term moves like sales or maintenance.

An Iloilo furniture shop moved to a new domain. The developer used 302 redirects because the plugin chose them by default. Months later, Google still showed the old domain in many results, and the new pages struggled to take over. One number made the difference.

Permanent vs. temporary

CodeTypeGoogle’s indexing behavior
301PermanentIndexes the new URL
308PermanentSame as 301
302TemporaryMay keep the old URL indexed
307TemporarySame as 302

All server redirects pass signals. The type mainly tells Google which URL to show in results.

When to use each

  • 301 or 308: domain migrations, HTTPS moves, URL restructures, merged pages, retired products with a replacement.
  • 302 or 307: a sale page that returns next week, a product temporarily out of stock, maintenance, A/B tests.

If you are not planning to undo it, it is permanent.

How to audit redirect types

  1. Filter your crawl’s 3xx URLs and add the status code column.
  2. Flag every 302 and 307 and ask: is this truly temporary? How long has it existed?
  3. Check for meta refresh and JavaScript redirects (your crawler lists meta refresh separately). Replace them with server redirects where possible.
  4. Check old redirects in your redirect map for the same issues.

Practice: which type fits?

Sort each item into the right group.

  • Moving from example.com to example.ph

  • Product out of stock for 5 days

  • Merging two similar blog posts into one

  • Holiday sale page redirect for one weekend

  • HTTP to HTTPS

Common mistakes

  • Plugin default 302s on permanent moves. Check every migration.
  • Temporary redirects that last years. Convert them to 301.
  • Meta refresh redirects. Slower and less clear than server redirects.
1. Which redirect fits a permanent domain migration?
2. What does Google often do with a 302?
3. Google treats 308 like which code?

Your action

Next, you will audit your 404 page and find soft 404s.

Key terms

301 Moved Permanently
A permanent redirect. Google treats the target as the new canonical URL.
302 Found
A temporary redirect. Google may keep the original URL indexed for a while.
307 and 308
Newer temporary (307) and permanent (308) redirects that keep the request method, such as POST. Google treats 308 like 301 and 307 like 302.
Meta refresh and JavaScript redirect
Redirects done inside the page instead of by the server. Google may follow them, but server redirects are clearer and faster.

Questions beginners ask

Do 302 redirects pass link value?

Google says all redirect types pass signals. The difference is which URL it chooses to index. A long-standing 302 is usually treated like a 301 eventually, but that is slower and less predictable.

When is a 302 correct?

For genuinely temporary situations: an out-of-stock product redirecting to its category for a week, a geo or language test, or a short campaign.

Why do so many sites use 302 by mistake?

Many CMS plugins and server frameworks default to 302. Developers often do not change the default.

Are HSTS 307 redirects real?

Browsers show an internal 307 for HTTPS upgrades when HSTS is active. Crawlers check the server's actual response, which should be a 301 or 308.

Related lessons

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