Redirect chain checker
Enter any URL and trace every redirect hop — status code, destination and latency for each step, plus loop detection and HTTP→HTTPS upgrade checks.
Flatten your redirects, keep your rankings
Redirects accumulate silently: a URL shortener wraps a marketing link, the landing page 301s to a new information architecture, the new page 302s to a campaign variant, and suddenly four round-trips happen before the user sees anything. Search engines stop following long chains, mobile users on slow connections abandon, and PageSpeed scores drop.
This tool walks your URL hop by hop from an external monitoring node — exactly the way Googlebot or a first-time visitor experiences it — and shows you where the chain can be flattened. It also flags redirect loops, which return a browser error and burn crawl budget until fixed.
SiteFlux can monitor any URL for redirect changes around the clock: if a 301 starts pointing somewhere unexpected, you'll know in minutes, not at the next audit.
Frequently asked questions
Why do redirect chains hurt SEO?
Each hop adds latency and dilutes link equity. Google follows multiple redirects but recommends keeping chains as short as possible — ideally a single hop. Long chains waste crawl budget, slow down users, and if one hop breaks the whole chain stops passing signals.
What is the difference between a 301 and a 302 redirect?
A 301 is permanent and passes most of the ranking power to the destination. A 302 is temporary: search engines keep the original URL indexed. Using a 302 for a permanent move is one of the most common SEO mistakes this tool helps you catch.
How many redirects is too many?
Browsers allow many hops, but search engines and performance budgets do not. Best practice is zero or one redirect between the original URL and the final destination; anything above three hops should be flattened by pointing the first URL directly at the last.
Does this tool follow JavaScript or meta-refresh redirects?
No — it traces HTTP-level redirects only (3xx status codes with a Location header), which are what search engines primarily act on. Meta refresh and JS redirects are invisible to crawlers following links and are generally not recommended for SEO moves.
Trace your redirects once — let SiteFlux watch them 24/7 and alert you the moment a hop changes or a loop appears.
Create a free monitor →