Redirect Chain Detector

Why You Must Avoid Redirect Chains

A Redirect Chain occurs when a URL redirects to another URL, which then redirects to yet another URL (A -> B -> C). While redirects are necessary for site migrations or URL changes, chaining them together is harmful to your website's health.

The Impact on SEO

• Crawling Efficiency: Search engine bots have a "crawl budget." Wasting it on multiple redirects means fewer of your important pages get indexed.
• Link Equity Loss: While Google says 301 redirects pass 100% of PageRank, historically, some value was lost with each hop. It's safer to link directly to the final destination.
• Page Speed: Every redirect triggers a new HTTP request, adding latency. On mobile networks, this can add hundreds of milliseconds to your load time, increasing bounce rates.

Types of Redirects Explained

Understanding status codes is key to fixing issues:

• 301 Moved Permanently: The best method for SEO. Tells search engines the change is permanent and to transfer ranking signals.
• 302 Found (Temporary): Tells search engines to keep the old URL in the index because the move is only temporary. Do not use this for permanent changes.
• 307 Temporary Redirect: The HTTP 1.1 successor to 302. Treated similarly by Google.
• Meta Refresh: A client-side redirect (in HTML). Generally bad for SEO and user experience; avoid if possible.

How to Fix Redirect Chains

1. Identify the Chain: Use our tool to see the full path.
2. Find the Source: locate the link on your site pointing to the start of the chain (URL A).
3. Update the Link: Change the link on your site to point directly to the final destination (URL C), bypassing the middleman (URL B).