What is the difference between 301 and 302?

301 is permanent redirect — Google transfers link authority to the new URL. 302 is temporary — Google keeps the authority on the old URL. Use 301 for permanent changes and 302 only when you plan to restore the old URL.

How many redirects are too many?

Google follows a maximum of 5 redirects before giving up. But ideally you should have max 1 redirect per URL. Each extra redirect adds load time and risks link authority being lost.

What is a redirect loop?

A redirect loop occurs when URL A redirects to URL B which redirects back to URL A — an infinite cycle that makes the page never load. This is a common problem after migrations and can be hard to detect without tools.

Do redirects affect SEO?

Yes, in multiple ways. Long chains waste crawl budget, wrong redirect types (302 instead of 301) prevent transfer of link authority, and slow redirects increase load time which affects Core Web Vitals.

Toolsscout

Redirect Checker

What it does

Follows all redirects from a URL and shows the entire chain — 301, 302, meta-refresh and JavaScript redirects.

Redirect chains slow down your website and confuse search engines — but you cannot see them without testing

Redirects are invisible to regular visitors but have a big impact on SEO and performance. Each redirect in a chain adds 100-500ms extra load time, and Google follows a maximum of 5 redirects before giving up. After site migrations, URL changes and domain switches, long redirect chains (A → B → C → D) often arise that nobody is aware of. These chains waste crawl budget, delay users and can lead to pages not being indexed.

Invisible redirect chains — when you change URLs over time, chains arise where an old URL redirects to another old URL that redirects to the new one — 3-4 hops that nobody sees
Performance loss per hop — each redirect hop adds 100-500ms extra load time, so a chain of 3 redirects can add over 1 second to load time
Crawl budget is wasted — Google uses crawl budget following redirects instead of indexing new content, which delays indexing of important pages
Wrong redirect type — 302 (temporary) instead of 301 (permanent) means Google does not transfer link authority to the new URL, which weakens ranking

Visualize the entire redirect chain from start to finish — with status codes, response times and SEO recommendations

Redirect Checker follows all redirects from a URL and shows the entire chain visually — from the original URL to the final destination. For each hop you see the HTTP status code (301, 302, 307, 308), response time and URL. The tool identifies problems like unnecessarily long chains, wrong redirect types and redirect loops, and gives concrete recommendations for fixing them.

Visual chain display: see the entire redirect chain from start to finish with status codes and URLs for each hop — immediately understandable
Status code analysis: identifies wrong redirect types — 302 that should be 301, 307 that should be 308 — with explanation of SEO consequences
Response time per hop: see how long each redirect hop takes — identify slow servers that delay the entire chain
SEO recommendations: get concrete suggestions for shortening chains, fixing wrong status codes and eliminating unnecessary redirects

Features

Chain visualization: see the entire redirect chain as a visual flow — from original URL via all hops to final destination with status codes and response times
Loop detection: detects redirect loops (A → B → A) that make the page never load — a common problem after migrations
Bulk check: test multiple URLs simultaneously — perfect for checking all old URLs after a site migration
Header display: see all HTTP headers for each hop — including Location, Cache-Control and Server for detailed troubleshooting

How it works

Enter the URL you want to check — the tool follows all redirects automatically to the final destination
See the entire redirect chain visually with status codes, URLs and response times for each hop
Get SEO recommendations for shortening chains, fixing wrong status codes and improving performance

Use cases

SEO specialists checking redirect chains after site migrations to ensure all old URLs point directly to the new ones without unnecessary intermediate hops
Web developers troubleshooting slow pages who suspect long redirect chains are adding unnecessary load time
Marketers checking that campaign URLs and QR codes lead to the correct destination without unexpected redirects or error pages

Why use Redirect Checker?

Redirects are one of the most common sources of SEO problems — but they are invisible to regular visitors. After site migrations, URL changes and domain switches, redirect chains often arise that nobody is aware of. Redirect Checker makes these invisible problems visible in seconds.

Performance is directly affected by redirects. Each hop in a redirect chain adds 100-500ms extra load time. For a page with 3 redirects that means up to 1.5 seconds extra before the user sees the content — which affects both user experience and Core Web Vitals.

After a site migration redirect checking is critical. Hundreds of old URLs must redirect to new ones, and it is easy to create chains (old → intermediate → new) instead of direct redirects (old → new). Bulk checking all old URLs reveals these problems before they affect ranking.

FAQ

What is the difference between 301 and 302?: 301 is permanent redirect — Google transfers link authority to the new URL. 302 is temporary — Google keeps the authority on the old URL. Use 301 for permanent changes and 302 only when you plan to restore the old URL.
How many redirects are too many?: Google follows a maximum of 5 redirects before giving up. But ideally you should have max 1 redirect per URL. Each extra redirect adds load time and risks link authority being lost.
What is a redirect loop?: A redirect loop occurs when URL A redirects to URL B which redirects back to URL A — an infinite cycle that makes the page never load. This is a common problem after migrations and can be hard to detect without tools.
Do redirects affect SEO?: Yes, in multiple ways. Long chains waste crawl budget, wrong redirect types (302 instead of 301) prevent transfer of link authority, and slow redirects increase load time which affects Core Web Vitals.

Try Redirect Checker free