Redirect chain checker: trace HTTP redirects + detect loops.
Redirect chains kill SEO. A URL that redirects through 5 hops before reaching the final destination loses page-load speed (bad for Core Web Vitals), can lose link equity at each step (research shows 1 to 3 percent loss per 301 hop), and can confuse Googlebot's crawl budget. This tool traces redirects step by step so you can see exactly what's happening.
About this tool.
Redirect chains are one of the most common and most overlooked SEO problems. Every 301 redirect technically loses a small amount of PageRank equity. Research from 2018 onward suggests the loss per hop is small (estimates range from 0 to 5 percent) but accumulates: a 5-hop chain can lose 10 to 20 percent of incoming link equity before reaching the final destination.
Beyond SEO, redirect chains hurt user experience and Core Web Vitals. Each redirect adds a full HTTP round trip — typically 100 to 500 milliseconds. A 4-hop chain on a mobile connection can add 1 to 2 seconds to page load time, which directly impacts LCP (Largest Contentful Paint) scoring and bounce rate.
The most common causes of accidental redirect chains: (1) cumulative 301s left in place over years (every URL change adds another hop), (2) HTTPS upgrade chained with www-to-apex normalization chained with trailing-slash normalization (3 hops just to land on the canonical URL), (3) tracking parameter strip-and-redirect, (4) regional or language redirects.
Best practices for 2026: maintain a redirect map document, consolidate multi-hop chains into single 301s (point old URL directly to new URL, not through intermediates), avoid mixing 301 and 302 in the same chain, redirect at the application layer not the CDN layer when possible.
Browser CORS restrictions limit what client-side redirect tracers can read. For full chain analysis with HTTP status of each hop, you need a server-side tool. ThatDeveloperGuy uses a combination of curl -ILv, httpie, and Screaming Frog SEO Spider for comprehensive redirect audits across client sites.
Real-world example: a TDG client's legacy URL structure routed every old WordPress post through 4 redirects (HTTP to HTTPS, www to apex, trailing slash, /blog/ to /insights/) before landing on the final page. Consolidating these into single 301s reduced average page-load time by 1.3 seconds and recovered ~12 percent of organic traffic over 90 days.
FAQ.
Why does my browser say my URL redirected only once when curl shows 3 hops?
Browser fetch APIs respect redirect: 'follow' but only report the final URL by default. For full hop visibility, use curl -I -L or a dedicated server-side tracing tool.
How many 301 hops is too many?
Google has stated they will follow up to 5 hops, but recommends keeping chains to 1-2 hops maximum for best SEO performance. Beyond 3 hops, you start losing meaningful equity.
What's the difference between 301 and 302?
301 is permanent — preserves SEO equity. 302 is temporary — does not preserve SEO equity reliably. Use 301 for permanent URL changes; reserve 302 for A/B tests and maintenance pages.
Can I have a redirect that doesn't use SEO equity?
Yes — 307 (Temporary Redirect) preserves the request method without claiming permanence. 303 is rare. For SEO purposes, 301 is what you want for permanent URL moves.
Does the redirect type affect crawl budget?
Long chains consume more of Googlebot's crawl budget. Each hop is a separate HTTP request. For sites under 10K URLs this rarely matters. For sites over 100K URLs, chain consolidation can free up significant crawl budget.
Should I redirect HTTP to HTTPS at the edge or in my application?
Both. Edge (Cloudflare/nginx) should redirect first for performance. Application should also enforce HTTPS as a defense-in-depth measure. Most sites only do one or the other.
Built by Joseph W. Anady at ThatDeveloperGuy. Need professional help? Get a free 48-hour audit.