Why check redirects?
Redirects send visitors and search engines from one URL to another. They are essential when you move to HTTPS, change domains or restructure your site, but chains of several redirects slow down page loads, waste crawl budget and can lose ranking signals. Loops lock users out entirely. This tool requests each URL from our server without following redirects automatically, so you see exactly what browsers and Googlebot see at every step.
Redirect types
| Code | Type | When to use it |
|---|---|---|
| 301 | Moved Permanently | Permanent moves: HTTP→HTTPS, old URL→new URL, domain migrations. |
| 308 | Permanent Redirect | Like 301 but guarantees the request method (e.g. POST) is kept. |
| 302 | Found (temporary) | Short-term moves such as maintenance or A/B tests. |
| 307 | Temporary Redirect | Temporary, method preserved. Browsers also use 307 internally for HSTS upgrades. |
| 303 | See Other | After a form submission, to send the browser to a results page. |
Redirect best practices for SEO
- One hop: redirect directly to the final canonical URL, including protocol,
wwwchoice and trailing slash. - Use permanent redirects (301/308) for permanent changes so search engines transfer signals to the new URL.
- Update internal links to point at final URLs instead of relying on redirects.
- Avoid meta refresh and JavaScript redirects for important pages; server-side redirects are clearer for crawlers.
- Keep old redirects in place for at least a year after a migration.
More: HTTP status codes explained.
Frequently asked questions
How many redirects is too many?
Aim for one. Google follows up to 10 hops, but every hop adds latency, and browsers give up on loops.
Do redirects lose PageRank?
Google has said 301, 302 and 308 redirects do not lose PageRank, but chains still slow crawling and pages, so keep them short.