How to use the Redirect Checker
- Enter a URL or a bare domain such as
example.com. - Click Check redirects (or press Ctrl+Enter).
- Read the chain from top to bottom: each hop shows its status code, whether it is permanent or temporary, and how long it took.
- Check the host variants table — all four versions of your domain should end at the same URL — and follow the tips to shorten chains or swap temporary redirects for permanent ones.
What is a redirect checker?
A redirect checker requests a URL without following redirects automatically, records each response, and then follows the Location header to the next URL until it reaches a final page. The result is the complete redirect chain — something a browser hides because it jumps straight to the destination.
Redirect status codes explained
| Code | Meaning | Permanent? | Typical use |
|---|---|---|---|
| 301 | Moved Permanently | Yes | Changed URLs, domain moves, http → https |
| 308 | Permanent Redirect | Yes | Like 301, but the request method and body must be kept |
| 302 | Found | No | Short-term moves, A/B tests, geo or login redirects |
| 307 | Temporary Redirect | No | Like 302 with the method preserved; browsers also show 307 for cached HSTS upgrades |
| 303 | See Other | No | After a form POST, send the user to a result page |
Google treats permanent redirects as a strong signal that the target should be the canonical URL, and temporary ones as a weak signal. If a move is permanent, use 301 or 308.
Redirect chains and loops
A chain happens when one redirect points to another: http://example.com → https://example.com → https://www.example.com → https://www.example.com/. Every hop is an extra round trip, which slows users down, especially on mobile. Googlebot follows up to 10 hops; beyond that the URL is reported as a redirect error. A loop is a chain that returns to a URL it already visited and never resolves. Aim for at most one hop, and point internal links straight to the final URL.
Why host variants matter
Your site can be reached in at least four ways: http or https, with or without www. If two of them serve the same page with a 200 instead of redirecting, search engines see duplicate content and have to guess the canonical version. The variants table shows where each one lands, so you can make sure they all 301 to a single https address.
Best practices
- Redirect old URLs to the most relevant new page, not blanket to the homepage.
- Update internal links, canonicals and sitemaps to the final URL after a migration.
- Keep redirects in place for at least a year after a move.
- Generate server rules with the Redirect Generator, and inspect caching or security headers with the HTTP Header Checker.
Tools that pair well with the Redirect Checker
- Broken Link Checker — Enter a page URL and every link on it — plus images, scripts and stylesheets if you like — is tested live, so you can fix 404s and redirect hops before visitors or Google run into them.
- SSL Checker — Verify an HTTPS certificate in seconds — see when it expires, who issued it, which hostnames it covers and whether the chain is trusted.
- SEO Checker & Site Audit — Paste a URL to run up to 70 on-page SEO checks in seconds.
- Meta Tag Checker — See exactly how Google is likely to display your page: title and description measured in pixels, desktop and mobile previews, and every meta tag in the <head>.