Redirect checker for 301 and 302 chains

What does a redirect checker do?

A redirect checker requests a URL and follows every redirect the server answers with. This one lists each hop in order, with its status code, protocol, target and response time, so you see what a visitor or a crawler sees. Use it as a 301 redirect checker after a migration, a redirect chain checker for slow pages or a URL redirect checker to confirm that an old address ends on the right page.

How do you use this redirect checker?

1. 1

   Enter the URL

   Type the address as people or links use it. Keep http:// to see the upgrade to HTTPS, or leave the protocol out to start with HTTPS.

2. 2

   Pick a user agent

   Browser is the default. The Googlebot, Bingbot and GPTBot options send that crawler’s user agent string.

3. 3

   Read the chain

   Each card is one hop with its status code, protocol, response time and the Location it points to. The last card is marked Final.

4. 4

   Fix what the recommendations name

   Errors and warnings come first. Change the rule at the start of the chain, then run the check again.

What is a redirect chain, and how many hops are too many?

A redirect chain is a series of redirects between the URL you request and the page that finally answers, for example http://example.com to https://example.com to https://www.example.com. Every hop costs a round trip, so a chain slows the page down and delays crawlers.

Google’s crawlers follow up to 10 redirect hops by default. RFC 9110 tells clients to detect and intervene in redirect loops, and notes that an older version recommended a maximum of five redirects. Aim for one hop. This tool warns from two redirects, reports a loop as soon as a URL repeats and stops after 10 redirects.

301, 302, 303, 307 and 308: which redirect should you use?

Use 301 or 308 when a page has moved for good, and 302 or 307 when the move is temporary. Google treats 301 and 308 as a strong signal that the target should be canonical, and 302, 303 and 307 as a weak signal. The status also decides what happens to the request method, as RFC 9110 defines.

What are the most common redirect problems?

These findings appear most often, each with its fix:

• Redirect chain. Several rules stack up, for example HTTP, www and path rules. Redirect the first URL straight to the final one and update internal links and your sitemap.
• Redirect loop. Two rules send a URL back and forth, for example one that adds www and another that removes it. Decide on one canonical URL and delete the rule that contradicts it.
• Temporary redirect for a permanent move. A 302 or 307 on a page that moved for good sends only a weak signal. Switch to 301 or 308.
• Downgrade to HTTP. A hop from HTTPS to HTTP leaves the connection unencrypted. Redirect to the https:// URL instead.
• Ends at an error. A chain that finishes at 404 or 410 leads nowhere. Point it at a live replacement, or remove the redirect and return the error from the old URL. A 5xx at the end means the server failed.
• Everything goes to the homepage. Google asks for a 301 when a clear replacement exists and a 404 or 410 when none does. Our guide to soft 404 errors explains why a blanket redirect fits neither.

How do you redirect HTTP to HTTPS and www to non-www?

Choose one canonical version of your site, for example https://example.com. Send the other combinations of protocol and host to it in a single 301, then test each one. This nginx block redirects both HTTP hosts. The HTTPS www host needs its own server block with its certificate.

server {
    listen 80;
    server_name example.com www.example.com;
    return 301 https://example.com$request_uri;
}

On Apache, Redirect 301 /old-page https://example.com/new-page moves a single path, and these rules in .htaccess send every other host and every HTTP request to the canonical URL:

RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} !^example\.com$ [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTPS} off
RewriteRule ^ https://example.com%{REQUEST_URI} [R=301,L]

In Next.js, permanent: true sends a 308 status and permanent: false a 307. Our Next.js SEO guide covers the rest of the setup.

import type { NextConfig } from "next";

const nextConfig: NextConfig = {
  async redirects() {
    return [
      { source: "/old-page", destination: "/new-page", permanent: true },
    ];
  },
};

export default nextConfig;

Do meta refresh and JavaScript redirects count?

A <meta http-equiv="refresh"> tag redirects the browser from the page HTML, and a script can change location. Google treats an instant meta refresh and a JavaScript location redirect as permanent, and a meta refresh with a delay as temporary. It advises JavaScript redirects only if server-side or meta refresh redirects aren’t possible, because rendering can fail and Google may never see the redirect. See our JavaScript SEO guide.

What does this redirect checker not do?

• It doesn’t run JavaScript, so it can’t see redirects that a script performs. It reports a meta refresh or Refresh header on the final page but never follows it.
• It sends GET requests only, so it can’t show how a POST request is redirected.
• The request comes from Serpel’s servers, asks for English pages with Accept-Language: en and sends no cookies, so redirects that depend on your country, language or login can differ from what you see.
• The user agent strings are imitations. Google notes that its user agent is often spoofed and verified by reverse DNS or published IP ranges, so a site that checks IP addresses can answer differently from how it answers the real crawler.
• It checks one URL at a time. Serpel’s site audit reports redirect chains and loops across every URL it crawls.