Redirect Chain Checker

A redirect chain happens when a URL redirects to another URL, which then redirects to yet another URL. For example: Page A redirects to Page B, which redirects to Page C, which finally loads. Each hop in the chain adds latency and can cause issues for both users and search engines.

The ideal scenario is a direct path - either no redirect at all, or a single redirect that goes straight to the final destination.

Redirect chains create several problems for your website.

• Slower page loads. Each redirect adds a round-trip to the server. A chain of 3-4 redirects can add hundreds of milliseconds to your load time.
• Lost link equity. Google has said that some PageRank is lost with each redirect. Chains multiply this loss.
• Crawl budget waste. Search engine bots have limited time to crawl your site. Redirect chains waste that budget on unnecessary hops.
• Potential indexing issues. Long chains or redirect loops can prevent pages from being indexed properly.

The main redirect types you'll encounter are 301 and 302.

• 301 (Permanent). This tells search engines the page has moved permanently. Link equity is passed to the new URL, and search engines will update their index.
• 302 (Temporary). This signals a temporary move. Search engines may keep the original URL indexed and might not pass full link equity.
• 307 and 308. These are HTTP/1.1 versions of 302 and 301 respectively. They work similarly but preserve the request method.

For permanent URL changes, always use 301 redirects. Using 302s for permanent moves is a common mistake that can hurt your SEO.

Fixing redirect chains is usually straightforward.

• Update the source redirect. Change the first redirect to point directly to the final destination instead of an intermediate URL.
• Update internal links. Find and update any internal links that point to URLs in the chain. Link directly to the final URL instead.
• Check your .htaccess or server config. Redirect rules can accumulate over time. Audit and consolidate them.
• Update external links when possible. If you have control over external sites linking to you, update those links to point to the final URL.

A redirect loop happens when URL A redirects to URL B, and URL B redirects back to URL A (or through a longer chain that eventually returns to A). This creates an infinite loop that prevents the page from ever loading.

Browsers will eventually stop following redirects and show an error like "This page isn't redirecting properly" or "ERR_TOO_MANY_REDIRECTS". Redirect loops are critical issues that need to be fixed immediately since they make pages completely inaccessible.