Free tool
Follow every redirect, hop by hop
Enter a URL to see each status code and Location on the way to the final page, how long each hop took, and whether your http, www and trailing-slash variants all land on one URL.
What the checker shows
Every hop
- Status and Location
- Each response's status code and where it points, followed one hop at a time, up to 10.
- What changed
- HTTP to HTTPS, www added or removed, trailing slash, letter case, path and query.
- Time per hop
- How long each response took. Every hop is another round trip for visitors and crawlers.
Problems
- Chains and loops
- More than one redirect, a URL that redirects back to itself, or more than 10 hops.
- Temporary codes
- 302, 303 or 307 where the move looks permanent, such as HTTP to HTTPS.
- Bad endings
- A redirect to a 4xx or 5xx, a downgrade to HTTP, or a host that doesn't respond.
The final page
- Meta refresh
- A <meta http-equiv="refresh"> or Refresh header that redirects again in the browser.
- Canonical
- A canonical that points somewhere other than where the redirects end.
- noindex
- A final page that tells search engines not to index it.
Variants
- http and https
- Both protocols, so you see whether HTTP redirects to HTTPS in one hop.
- www and apex
- With and without www, so every form lands on your canonical host.
- Trailing slash
- With and without a final slash, for paths other than the homepage.
How it follows redirects
The checker requests each URL itself instead of letting the HTTP client follow redirects, so no hop is hidden. It stops at 10 hops, the number Google's crawlers follow, and at the first repeated URL. Permanent and temporary codes are judged the way Google's redirect documentation describes them.
It follows robots.txt on every host it visits and never requests private or local network addresses. JavaScript redirects aren't run.
Fix what it finds
- GuideStatus codes and redirects in Next.jsPermanent redirects in next.config and middleware, without chains.
- GuideCanonical tags, explainedMake redirects, canonicals and internal links agree on one URL.
- GuideSEO for AI-built websitesThe redirect and domain settings AI app builders get wrong.
- Free toolSEO checkerCheck the final page: content, title, canonical, noindex and more.
Questions
What is the difference between a 301 and a 302 redirect?
A 301 (or 308) says the page has moved permanently, and Google takes it as a strong signal that the target should be the canonical URL. A 302, 303 or 307 says the move is temporary, so Google may keep showing the old URL. Use a permanent redirect for HTTPS, domain changes, www and trailing-slash rules and moved pages.
How many redirects will Google follow?
By default, Google's crawlers follow up to 10 redirect hops. Long chains still cost time on every visit, so redirect each old URL straight to its final destination and link to the final URL directly.
Are redirect chains bad for SEO?
A chain of two or three hops still works, but each hop is a round trip that slows visitors down, and a broken middle hop takes the whole chain down. Collapse chains into one redirect, and update internal links, canonicals and the sitemap to the final URL so crawlers don't need the redirect at all.
What causes a redirect loop?
Two rules that undo each other, for example an app that adds a trailing slash while the host removes it, or an app that forces HTTPS behind a proxy that talks to it over HTTP. The checker shows every hop, so you can see which pair of URLs keeps bouncing.
Is a meta refresh or JavaScript redirect as good as a 301?
Use a server-side redirect when you can. Google treats an instant meta refresh as a permanent redirect and a delayed one as temporary. JavaScript redirects only work when Google renders the page, and many other crawlers don't run JavaScript at all.