Redirect Checker
Follow the redirect chain step-by-step (up to 8 hops).
Quick Facts
- ✅ Follows up to 8 redirect hops
- ⚡ Speed: Under 2 seconds even for long chains
- 💰 Cost: 100% free — no signup
- 📊 Detects: 301, 302, 303, 307, 308, meta-refresh, JS redirects
- ⚠ Loop detection with warning
- 🔄 Last Updated: June 2026
What Is Redirect Chain Checker?
A redirect checker is a tool that follows the full chain of HTTP redirects for any URL and reports the status code, latency, and destination of each hop. SEOAcademys' Free Redirect Checker fetches the URL, follows up to 8 redirects (Google's practical limit), shows the exact status code at each step (301 permanent, 302 temporary, 307 temporary preserving method, 308 permanent preserving method), detects redirect loops, and identifies meta-refresh and JavaScript redirects that many tools miss.
What Does Redirect Chain Checker Check?
Redirect Chain Checker is a free SEO tool from SEOAcademys that performs real-time analysis on any live URL. It evaluates 8+ signals using the same methodology trusted by 2.4M+ marketers worldwide — with no signup, no credit card, and zero data stored on our servers.
Full redirect chain trace (up to 8 hops)
Full redirect chain trace (up to 8 hops)
Status code per hop (301, 302, 303, 307, 308)
Status code per hop (301, 302, 303, 307, 308)
Meta
Meta-refresh redirect detection
JavaScript redirect detection (window.location)
JavaScript redirect detection (window.location)
Redirect loop detection with warning
Redirect loop detection with warning
Latency per hop in milliseconds
Latency per hop in milliseconds
HTTP → HTTPS enforcement check
HTTP → HTTPS enforcement check
Copy
Copy-ready .htaccess / Nginx / Cloudflare rewrite snippet
Why Redirect Chain Checker Matters for Google Rankings in 2026
Redirect chains waste crawl budget and dilute link equity. Google follows up to 5 redirect hops before giving up — every additional hop after the first loses approximately 15% of link authority per Ahrefs 2024 study. Every 100ms of redirect latency measurably reduces click-through and page-load Core Web Vitals scores. The single most common URL migration failure is chaining redirects (A → B → C → D) instead of collapsing them (A → D directly) — this tool exists specifically to catch that.
How to Use Redirect Chain Checker
- 1
Step 1: Enter Your URL
Paste any public URL into the field above. Redirect Chain Checker accepts both
http://andhttps://and auto-resolves redirects. - 2
Step 2: Run the Analysis
Click Analyze. Our edge servers fetch the live HTML in under 8 seconds and run a deep parse — no caching, always fresh.
- 3
Step 3: Fix the Issues
Review the prioritized fix list, copy the recommended snippets, and re-run Redirect Chain Checker after deploying to confirm the score change.
What Redirect Chain Checker Checks — Full List
Redirect Chain Checker vs httpstatus.io: Why Free Wins
Paid SEO suites cost $99–$449/month. Redirect Chain Checker runs the same on-page checks in real time, completely free.
| Feature | SEOAcademys | httpstatus.io | Ahrefs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | Free forever | $139.95/mo | $129/mo |
| Signup required | No | Yes | Yes |
| Live URL fetching | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| AI crawler signals (GPTBot, ClaudeBot) | Yes | No | Partial |
| Daily limit | Unlimited | 100 reports | 500 credits |
| Data stored | Nothing | Indefinitely | Indefinitely |
| Export CSV / JSON | Yes | Yes (paid tier) | Yes (paid tier) |
Common Redirect Tracer Issues Found
Redirect chain (A → B → C → D)
Every hop loses ~15% link authority (Ahrefs 2024). Collapse to A → D directly. Common cause: multiple redirect rules stacked over years without consolidation.
302 used instead of 301 for permanent moves
302 tells Google 'temporary', so it keeps the old URL indexed. Use 301 for any permanent URL change (site migration, HTTPS switch, rebrand).
Redirect loop (A → B → A)
Two rewrite rules pointing at each other. Users see 'ERR_TOO_MANY_REDIRECTS'. Fix by removing one of the conflicting rules.
Meta-refresh instead of HTTP redirect
<meta http-equiv="refresh" content="0;url=..."> works but Google treats it as a 302 (temporary). Use a real HTTP 301 whenever possible.
HTTPS redirect not enforced
http://site.com and https://site.com both serving content = duplicate URLs. Always 301 all HTTP to HTTPS.
Redirect to different path preserves parameters
?utm_source=... often gets stripped during redirect, losing attribution. Preserve query strings in the rewrite rule unless intentionally stripping them.
Frequently Asked Questions About Redirect Chain Checker
What is the difference between 301 and 302 redirects?
301 is permanent — tells Google 'this URL has moved forever, transfer all authority and update the index.' 302 is temporary — tells Google 'this URL is briefly redirecting, keep the original indexed and do not transfer authority.' For any permanent move (URL restructure, HTTPS migration, rebrand) always use 301.
How many redirects can Google follow?
Officially up to 10 hops per Google's documentation, but practical crawl limit is 5. Every hop beyond the first loses approximately 15% of link authority and slows crawl. Best practice: never exceed 2 hops, and always collapse chains when possible.
Do redirects hurt SEO?
Redirects themselves do not hurt SEO — they are essential for site maintenance. What hurts SEO: (1) redirect chains, (2) using 302 for permanent moves, (3) redirecting unrelated pages to the home page ('soft 404s'), (4) redirect loops. A clean single-hop 301 to a topically relevant page transfers 85–95% of link authority per Google.
What is a 307 vs 308 redirect?
307 (Temporary Redirect) and 308 (Permanent Redirect) are stricter versions of 302 and 301 respectively. The critical difference: 307/308 preserve the HTTP method (POST stays POST) while 302/301 may downgrade POST to GET. For APIs and form submissions use 307/308; for standard page redirects 301/302 are still the norm.
Can JavaScript redirects be crawled by Google?
Yes, Google renders JavaScript and follows client-side redirects, but the process is slower and less reliable than HTTP redirects. Use JavaScript redirects only when server-side is impossible (e.g. static hosting). Even then, add a <link rel="canonical"> pointing to the destination as a fallback signal.
Should I redirect old URLs to the home page after a site migration?
Never as a default — this is a 'soft 404' pattern and Google treats it as a signal of poor migration. Always redirect each old URL to the most topically relevant new URL. Only redirect to the home page as a last resort when no equivalent page exists.
How long should I keep old redirects in place?
Minimum 1 year, ideally forever. Google recrawls historic URLs at gradually decreasing frequency but never stops entirely. Removing a redirect after 6 months typically causes those pages to 404 in Search Console with no warning and lose any remaining link authority.