Website Redirect Checker

Trace Redirect Path

Trace URL redirects, inspect status codes, analyze header variables, and uncover potential SEO bottlenecks.

Note

Enter the URL with http or https protocol to capture HTTP header details accurately.

Understanding Website Redirects

Redirects are crucial instructions to ensure that users as well as search engine crawlers are directed to another URL. The server responds with a status code for redirect whenever a request is made by the browser for a page that contains redirects.

Redirect management is an important aspect of technical SEO. The correct implementation of redirects helps prevent any negative impact on the user experience or indexation due to updates or other such changes in your website.

Incorrectly set up redirects may cause delays in loading, loss of link equity, and poor user experience. It is always beneficial to use a trace tool to understand how requests make it to the destination URL.

Best Practices for SEO Redirects

Using these strategies will protect your search ranking and maintain the health of your search index.

301 Redirects

When removing pages permanently or restructuring folders and domains, use permanent redirects so that users can find correct information and the index of the search engine is refreshed without any loss of ranking power.

302/307 Redirects

For marketing campaigns which are temporary in nature or while testing page layouts or user interface, you can use 302/307 redirects so that you keep the URL structure intact in your search engine's index.

Chains Avoided

Whenever possible, make links go directly to the target URL. If you need to use redirects, then modify your intermediate links so that they link to the target URL directly.

Common Redirect HTTP Status Codes

Compare standard redirect codes to understand their characteristics on the server side and when indexed by the search engine.

Status CodeStandard DefinitionSEO Impact
301 Moved PermanentlyThe page has moved to another URL permanently.Transfers 90-99% of ranking authority. Recommended for SEO purposes.
302 Found (Temporary)The page is temporarily located on another URL.Not transferring any ranking authority. Original URL gets indexed.
307 Temporary RedirectA 302 redirect for HTTP/1.1 requests.Preserves original request method. No transfer of ranking authority.
308 Permanent RedirectA 301 redirect for HTTP/1.1 requests.Preserves original request method. Transfers ranking authority.
200 OKTarget page loaded without redirecting.Standard status code when page is successfully requested.

Why Use Our Website Redirect Checker?

Whether it is for auditing the linking structure, migrating sites, or routing problems, we have a utility that provides profound diagnostics.

Redirect Chaining Identification

Find redirect chains that take a user through URL A to B and then to C, increasing latency and page load time.

Redirect Loop Troubleshooting

Find redirects where the URL loops back to itself and causes browser errors and prevents crawlers from reaching the site.

Affiliate Link Auditing

Check the journey through the URL shortening, affiliate network and any other tracking URLs used.

Link Equity Preservation

Check if redirects have been set as 301 permanent redirects and not 302 temporary redirects to preserve PageRank.

Analyze HTTP Response Header

Check the HTTP header for each redirect step, looking at server information, caching policy, and security policy.

Check Redirect for Multiple User-agents

Check the redirects as regular user agents like Chrome, Googlebot Desktop, or Googlebot Mobile.

Test Website Migrations

Test redirects on websites during migrations or structure changes to make sure that all traffic ends up at the right HTTPS addresses.

Speed Up Page Loads

Reduce convoluted paths to one simple step to increase the speed of your website.

Get answers to common questions regarding redirects, status codes, and optimization.

Website Redirect Checker FAQ

Redirects are server-side commands that automatically direct a visitor or spider from one URL to another. It is typically set up when pages are shifted, directories restructured, or domains moved.
The use of a 301 redirect means that there is going to be a permanent movement whereby the search engines will transfer the SEO ranking and the indexing to the new address. On the other hand, the use of 302 redirect means that the initial address is still indexed.
Redirect chains (multiple successive redirects) slow down your page load speed by requiring multiple round-trips. This degrades user experience, wastes your search engine crawl budget, and can dilute the ranking authority passed to the final URL.
A loop redirection occurs if there is a situation where the URL configuration has created a circular pattern, such as where URL A redirects to URL B, and then URL B redirects to URL A. This makes it impossible for the browser to load the web page.
Websites often configure unique redirect rules based on the device or crawler visiting the page. Testing as Googlebot or a mobile browser helps verify that mobile routing works correctly and that search bots are not served redirect errors.
Currently, our redirect checking service checks URLs one by one to deliver detailed analysis, timings, and header information for all the hops within the redirection sequence.
In order to test your redirects within WordPress site, enter your URL into the checker and if there is more than one hop within it (e.g., from HTTP to HTTPS, and then non-WWW to WWW), you may solve the problem by entering a proper canonical URL in your WordPress General Settings. Also, make sure that your .htaccess or Nginx file correctly redirects to your final URL.
Absolutely. While Google says that contemporary 301/302 redirects pass PageRank, redirect chains negatively affect the page speed metrics. As search engines consider the loading speed as one of the ranking factors, the additional time to load the page via redirect chains can affect the overall ranking power.
One can detect a circular redirection loop by putting in your URL into the redirect tracer, which will show you the circular loop path. This can be fixed by checking your server-side rewrite rules or Page Rules at Cloudflare for inconsistencies with the forward path that leads to the original URL.

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Disclaimer

The Website Redirect Checker is an HTTP header tracer that queries public servers using the URL you provide. We do not retain or cache trace results, nor do we index your destination sites.