301 and 302 for same link

[MichaelEka]

Just trying to find out if this may be the root of a slight traffic dip and also if we should be redirecting differently.

We relaunched and did 301 redirects to the new site, initially. Then, we decided to change from http to https. Our HTTP status now looks like this when using the MozBar:

HTTP/1.1 301 Moved Permanently – http://site.com/oldurl
HTTP/1.1 302 Found – https://site.com/oldurl
HTTP/1.1 200 OK - https://site.com/new

Should we be changing that 302 to a 301? Are we losing link equity due to this?

Thanks.

[MichaelEka]

This is really great, I appreciate your help

[Linda-Vassily]

And here is Matt Cutts talking about multiple redirects: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1lVPrYoBkA

[Linda-Vassily]

Use the infographic. Seriously. That is what I did to explain the concept to our developer and it worked better than any long-winded descriptions I had tried.

[MichaelEka]

Ok. How would you suggest I clarify this for the coder? (I am not that person )

[Linda-Vassily]

According to your description, http://site.com/oldurl is the link with equity and https://site.com/new is the final destination link. Is this correct? To get from one to the other you go via a 302 and at that point you lose your equity. Whether it is a redirect of a redirect or not.

And in general, multiple redirects should be avoided. Google will follow multiple redirects, but you will lose some authority with each jump, and at some point, maybe more than 3 or so, Google will give up.

[MichaelEka]

Given there are two levels of redirects, does this act in the same way? I know 302s lose equity, but given we have a double redirect going on, I wasn't sure if it carries the same loss of link juice?

Also, if we do change that 302 to a 301, is the damage already done?

Thanks for your reply and yes, I agree that infographic is great.

[Linda-Vassily]

Yes, using a 302 redirect loses link equity. You can take a look at: http://moz.com/learn/seo/redirection for more information. "A 302 redirect is a temporary redirect. It passes 0% of link juice (ranking power) and, in most cases, should not be used. "
*I also love this infographic: http://moz.com/learn/seo/http-status-codes