Does Googlebot treat 308 the same as 301?

Yes. Google has officially confirmed that 308 redirects pass full link equity and are treated identically to 301 Moved Permanently.

When should an API use 308 instead of 301?

Use 308 whenever redirecting RESTful API endpoints where clients transmit POST, PUT, PATCH, or DELETE requests.

How can I test a 308 redirect chain?

Run your URL through our HTTP Header & Redirect Checker to verify the status code and Location header.

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HTTP Status Code Reference

HTTP 308: Permanent Redirect

Permanent redirect guaranteeing that the HTTP request method and body remain unchanged on subsequent requests.

Status Code

308

Classification

3xx Redirection

Reason Phrase

Permanent Redirect

Specification

RFC 9110, Section 15.4.9

Inspect Live HTTP Headers & Status Codes

Test any URL to verify whether it returns HTTP 308 Permanent Redirect, measure TTFB latency, and trace redirect chains.

Loading HTTP header checker...

Common Causes & Triggers

Permanent REST API endpoint migrations requiring POST/PUT method preservation.
Modern permanent web migrations adhering strictly to RFC standards.

Troubleshooting & Resolution

Verify that legacy HTTP client libraries support 308 without throwing connection exceptions.
Ensure redirect targets support the original HTTP methods and payloads.

Search Engine (Googlebot) SEO Impact

Identical to 301 Moved Permanently. Googlebot treats 308 as a permanent redirect, transferring PageRank and indexation to the new URL.

Inspect via Terminal (cURL)

Execute this command to inspect headers and response codes from your terminal:

curl -I https://api.example.com/old-endpoint

Frequently Asked Questions

Technical answers and debugging guidelines for HTTP 308 Permanent Redirect.

Both represent permanent redirects with identical SEO benefits, but 308 strictly forbids the client from changing the HTTP method (e.g., rewriting POST to GET).