What Is Soft 301 in SEO?
Use Cases
Helps SEO teams identify pages that appear to be redirected but aren’t passing proper HTTP status codes, leading to indexation problems.
Used in technical audits to optimize crawl budget by fixing Soft 301s that waste search engine crawler resources.
Ensures that link value is properly passed from old URLs to new URLs by replacing Soft 301s with true 301 redirects.
Supporting AI-Powered SEO Audits
Traffic dropped? Find the 'why' in 5 minutes, not 5 hours.
Spotrise is your AI analyst that monitors all your sites 24/7. It instantly finds anomalies, explains their causes, and provides a ready-to-use action plan. Stop losing money while you're searching for the problem.
Frequently Asked Questions
What’s the difference between a Soft 301 and a real 301 redirect?
A real 301 returns a proper HTTP status code signaling a permanent redirect. A Soft 301 may visually redirect users but returns a '200 OK', confusing search engines.
Why are Soft 301s bad for SEO?
They prevent search engines from correctly passing link equity and may lead to duplicate indexing or poor crawl efficiency.
How can I detect Soft 301s?
Use SEO audit tools or crawlers like SpotRise, Screaming Frog, or Google Search Console's inspection tool to check HTTP status codes.
Are Soft 301s a Google penalty?
Yes. If the redirect behavior differs across devices, it can cause inconsistent indexing and ranking issues.
Can Soft 301s affect mobile and desktop differently?
Update your server configuration to return a proper 301 status code and ensure the URL truly redirects at the server level.
Tired of the routine for 50+ clients?
Your new AI assistant will handle monitoring, audits, and reports. Free up your team for strategy, not for manually digging through GA4 and GSC. Let us show you how to give your specialists 10+ hours back every week.
