Redirect Chain Checker
Follow every hop from a URL to its final destination — status codes, redirect loops, HTTPS problems, and how many hops link value passes through.
Free, no signup. Rate-limited per visitor to keep this fast for everyone.
How this checker follows a URL
This tool follows a URL through every redirect hop until it reaches a final destination, recording the status code and target at each step. It shows the full chain, not just the end result — a redirect that eventually lands somewhere valid can still be a problem if it takes three or four hops to get there.
Why redirect chains matter
Every extra hop adds real page-load delay for visitors and makes a search engine spend more of its limited crawl budget just following redirects instead of reading actual content. A long chain, or a loop that never resolves, is also a common cause of a page quietly dropping out of search results — Google eventually gives up following it.
What counts as a problem here
A single 301 redirect straight to the final page is normal and healthy. Multiple chained redirects, a redirect that ends in a 404 or 5xx error, or a loop that returns to a URL already seen in the chain are all worth fixing — usually by pointing the original link directly at the final destination instead of through the whole chain.
Temporary versus permanent redirects
A 301 tells search engines the move is permanent and to transfer ranking credit to the new URL; a 302 signals it's temporary and ranking credit generally stays with the original. Using a 302 for a move that's actually permanent is a common, easy-to-miss mistake that can leave ranking strength stuck on a URL that's no longer the real destination.
What to do next
Fix the source of the redirect (an internal link, a sitemap entry, or an old bookmark) to point straight at the final URL. To check every internal and external link across a whole site instead of one URL at a time, a free account covers up to 100 pages per crawl.