Redirect Checker

A redirect is any HTTP response that sends the browser somewhere else — usually a 301 (permanent) or 302 (temporary). Every redirect adds a round trip to the network: DNS lookup, TCP handshake, TLS negotiation, HTTP request. On a fast connection that's 100–300ms per hop. On mobile, it can be 500ms or more. A three-redirect chain from http://example.com → https://example.com → https://www.example.com → https://www.example.com/en/ can add 1.5 seconds before your page starts loading.

Google also loses some ranking signal at each hop. A single 301 passes ~99% of link equity; three chained 301s pass noticeably less. And after five hops, most search engines just give up and don't index the destination at all.

301 = permanent. Tells browsers and search engines "this URL moved forever, update your bookmarks and indexes." Google transfers ranking signals from the old URL to the new one. Use 301 for site migrations, HTTPS upgrades, URL structure changes, and anything else you don't plan to reverse. 302 = temporary. Tells everyone "we're serving from a different URL right now, but keep the old one in your records." Google does NOT transfer ranking signals for 302s.

The most expensive SEO mistake we see monthly: someone did a site redesign, used 302s for all the old URL redirects, and lost 40–60% of their organic traffic. Then it took 6 months of rankings recovery after switching them to 301s. Get this right the first time.

Use redirects for: URL structure changes (/old-blog-slug → /new-blog-slug), domain migrations, HTTPS enforcement, canonical enforcement (non-www → www or vice versa), and consolidating duplicate content. Don't use redirects for: A/B testing (use rel=canonical and server-side rendering instead), geo-targeting language versions (use hreflang), or as a bandaid over broken internal links (fix the links).