Redirect Checker

Enter a URL to follow it through every redirect until it reaches a final destination. You get each hop's status code, the URL it points to, and how long the round trip took.

Redirect chains are invisible in a browser — the address bar only shows the destination — yet each hop is a full round trip that delays the page for every visitor.

How it works

A redirect is a response telling the client to request a different URL. Each one costs a complete round trip: DNS, TCP, TLS, request, response. On a mobile connection a single unnecessary hop can add 300ms or more before the real page even starts loading.

The status code carries meaning that matters for search:

• 301 Moved Permanently — the move is permanent. Browsers cache it aggressively and search engines transfer ranking signals to the new URL. Note that browsers cache 301s so persistently that a mistaken one is painful to undo.
• 302 Found and 307 Temporary Redirect — the original URL stays canonical. Using these for a permanent move means search engines keep indexing the old URL and ranking signals never transfer.
• 308 Permanent Redirect — like 301, but guarantees the request method is preserved. 301 and 302 historically allowed clients to convert a POST into a GET; 307 and 308 forbid it.

The most common accidental chain looks like this:

http://example.com → https://example.com → https://www.example.com → https://www.example.com/

Three hops where one would do. Configure the first redirect to go straight to the final canonical URL, handling protocol and hostname in a single step. Search engines also limit how many redirects they will follow — typically around five — and a long chain risks the destination simply not being indexed.

Frequently asked questions