Redirect Checker Guide

1) 301 vs 302 vs 307: Which to Use?

• 301 Moved Permanently: Permanent redirect, transfers link equity from old to new page. Use for site redesigns, URL structure changes, or consolidating duplicate content.
• 302 Found: Temporary redirect, search engines don't transfer equity. Use for short-term campaigns, maintenance notices, or A/B testing (though Google sometimes treats 302 as 301).
• 307 Temporary Redirect: HTTP/1.1 temporary redirect, more explicit semantics (guarantees POST won't become GET). Use when you need to preserve the original HTTP method.
• 308 Permanent Redirect: Like 301 but guarantees POST requests remain POST. Less common, mainly for API redirects.

Examples:
❌ Wrong: Using 302 after site redesign → equity won't transfer, new pages rank poorly
✅ Right: Use 301 for redesigns, 302/307 for short-term campaigns

❌ Wrong: A → 302 → B → 301 → C (mixing 301/302)
✅ Right: Uniform 301, and one-step (A → 301 → C)

2) Redirect Chain Impact on SEO

A redirect chain is A → B → C → D (multi-hop). Each extra hop requires another HTTP request, slowing indexing, wasting crawl budget, and potentially losing link equity along the way.

Example redirect chain:
https://example.com/old-page
  → 301 → https://example.com/new-page
    → 301 → https://www.example.com/new-page
      → 301 → https://www.example.com/new-page/

Issues:
- Crawler must make 4 requests to reach final page
- Each hop may lose 1-5% link equity (industry estimate)
- Poor user experience (slow loading)

Fix:
Directly redirect /old-page → 301 → https://www.example.com/new-page/ (one step)

Recommendation: Regularly check high-traffic pages with Redirect Checker. If chains exceed 2 hops, consolidate into a single-step 301.

3) How to Detect and Fix Redirect Loops

A redirect loop is A → B → C → A. Browsers show "too many redirects" errors, and search engines can't index the page.

Example redirect loop:
https://example.com/page-a → 301 → https://example.com/page-b
https://example.com/page-b → 301 → https://example.com/page-c
https://example.com/page-c → 301 → https://example.com/page-a

Detection:
- Tool tracks up to 10 hops
- If same URL repeats → flags as loop
- Report shows full redirect path

Common Causes:
- Conflicting rewrite rules in .htaccess or nginx conf
- Plugin conflicts (e.g., SEO plugin + Redirect plugin)
- Logic errors (e.g., language detection + canonical conflict)

Fix:
1. Review rewrite rules in .htaccess / nginx.conf
2. Disable related plugins, test one by one
3. Ensure canonical, hreflang, language detection logic don't conflict

4) Quick Check Workflow: Enter URL → Trace Full Chain → Fix

1. Open Redirect Checker, enter the URL to check.
2. Review the redirect path in the report—check for multi-hop chains or loops.
3. If chain found: Modify .htaccess or application logic to use a one-step 301.
4. If loop found: Check for conflicting rewrite rules or plugin issues.
5. After fixing, re-validate with the tool, and use Site Audit to ensure no other SEO issues.

Further Reading