Free Redirect Checker
Trace the full redirect chain for any URL — see every hop, status code, and response time. Detects loops, HTTP↔HTTPS switches and temporary redirects. Follows up to 10 hops — no signup required.
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Enter a URL above to trace its full redirect chain, including every hop and status code.
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Why Redirect Chains Matter for SEO
Every redirect hop adds latency and potentially dilutes the link equity passed to the final destination. A chain that should be a single 301 can sometimes span 4 or 5 hops after years of site migrations and URL restructures.
Link Equity Loss
Each redirect hop can reduce the PageRank passed to the final URL. Minimising chains ensures maximum link equity reaches your target pages.
Core Web Vitals
Redirect chains increase Time to First Byte (TTFB). Each hop requires a full network round-trip, directly impacting LCP and user experience scores.
- 3+ hop chains signal accumulated technical debt from migrations
- 302 redirects tell Google the original page is still canonical
- Redirect loops cause crawlers and users to get stuck indefinitely
How It Works
Three steps to a complete redirect chain analysis.
Enter URL
Paste any URL — shortened links, HTTP URLs, or any page you want to trace.
Manual Following
We follow each redirect hop manually using fetch with redirect: manual to capture every step.
Visual Chain
Each hop is shown with its URL, HTTP status code, and individual response time.
Who Uses This Tool
Anyone auditing URLs for performance, correctness, or link equity.
Web Developers
Verify redirect rules after deploying nginx or .htaccess changes.
SEO Specialists
Audit backlink landing pages for redirect chains diluting link equity.
Site Migrations
Confirm every old URL redirects correctly after domain or platform changes.
QA Engineers
Validate that all marketing campaign URLs resolve to the right landing pages.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a redirect chain?
A redirect chain occurs when a URL redirects to another URL, which in turn redirects to yet another URL, and so on. Each hop adds latency and can dilute link equity passed between pages.
What HTTP status codes indicate a redirect?
301 (permanent), 302 (temporary), 303, 307, and 308 are all redirect status codes. For SEO, use a 301 (or 308) for permanent moves so search engines index the new URL.
How many redirect hops does this tool follow?
This tool follows up to 10 hops per URL, which covers the vast majority of real-world redirect chains. Chains longer than 10 hops are extremely unusual and often indicate a configuration error.
Do redirect chains hurt SEO?
Long chains (3+ hops) slow page load times and can dilute PageRank with each hop. Google recommends keeping redirect chains as short as possible — ideally a direct 301 from old to new.
What is the difference between a 301 and 302 redirect?
301 is a permanent redirect — it passes link equity and tells search engines the page has moved forever. 302 is temporary — search engines continue indexing the original URL. Use 301 for permanent moves.
Keep Redirect Chains
Short and Healthy
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Key terms explained
Plain-English definitions from the LazySEO SEO glossary.