Shall I use a 301 or 302 redirect when people leave the company?

[Stuart26]

Hello,

At my company, we have instances where client-facing people leave the company and so we need to remove their profile page from the website. As opposed to people receiving a 404 when they search for them, I thought it would be best to divert visitors to a generic landing page to explain that the person they are looking for has left the company with details on how to get in touch.

I'm tempted to use a 302 redirect so the person they are searching for stays in the search results longer. But longer-term, will this cause any harm? Should it be eventually be turned into a 301 redirect? Or should I just use a 301 in the first instance.

Thanks in advance,

Stu

[Stuart26]

Many thanks both.

Stu

[Alick300]

Hi,

In my opinion you should use 301 redirect at first instance to pass all link value. Unlike the 301 redirect, the 302 redirect is a “temporary move” of content. This redirect lets the search engine know that any URL value should remain with the old page.

In your case there is no use of it if person left the company.

Thanks

[StelinSEO]

Hi Stu,

I like your idea for directing people to a page after people have left.

If they've got any links directed at their profile page you won't get any of that link value with a 302 redirect, and a 302 is a temporary redirect, whereas if someone leaves it's a permanent change I'd think.

I'd recommend 301 as this is a permanent redirect and you'll ensure you don't lose any link value.