Follow the whole redirect chain.
Trace every hop a URL takes, with the status code at each step. Catch redirect chains, loops, temporary redirects that should be permanent, and dead destinations.
- Every hop shown separately, not collapsed into a destination
- Flags chains, loops, and temporary redirects that should be permanent
- Catches a destination that ends in an error
Free, no signup, no rate limit. Nothing you check is stored.
How to use the redirect checker
Paste the URL you want to trace
Use the address people actually reach — an old link, a campaign URL, a shortened link — rather than the destination you hope it lands on.
Count the hops
Each hop is a round trip before anyone sees content. One is normal. Two is tolerable. Three or more is worth removing.
Check the status codes
301 is permanent and passes signals. 302 is temporary and tells engines to keep the original indexed. Using 302 for a permanent move is the most common redirect mistake there is.
Watch for a protocol or www hop
http to https to www is two hops that most sites can collapse into one at the server or CDN.
301 or 302, and why it matters more than it looks
A 301 says the move is permanent: engines transfer ranking signals to the destination and eventually drop the old URL. A 302 says the original will return, so engines keep indexing the old URL and may not pass signals at all. Content management systems default to 302 more often than anyone expects, and the symptom is subtle — a migrated page that never quite ranks, while the old URL lingers in results for months.
What a redirect chain costs
Every hop is a full round trip before a byte of content arrives, which is felt hardest on mobile connections. Crawlers apply their own limits and will stop following a chain that runs long, leaving the destination undiscovered. Chains accumulate quietly during migrations — each one adds a rule and nobody collapses the old ones — so the fix is usually to point the first URL straight at the final destination rather than to delete anything.
Questions about this tool
- What is the difference between a 301 and a 302?
- 301 and 308 are permanent: engines update their index and pass ranking signals to the destination. 302, 303 and 307 are temporary: the original URL stays indexed and the destination may not inherit those signals. Using 302 for a permanent move is a common and costly mistake.
- Why do redirect chains matter?
- Each hop costs latency for the visitor and a little of the signal being passed. Crawlers also stop following after a handful. Point the first URL straight at the final destination rather than through two or three intermediates.
- How many redirects is too many?
- More than two is worth fixing. Search engines typically stop following somewhere around five, and every hop is an extra round trip on a slow connection.
- Does this follow redirects to other domains?
- Yes, as long as each destination is a public address. Hops that resolve to private or internal addresses are reported and not followed — a public URL redirecting into internal address space is exactly the attack this refuses.
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