HTTP Redirect Status Codes Explained
- 301 Moved Permanently — The page has moved for good. Passes most link equity (PageRank) to the destination. The URL to use for all future links and bookmarks.
- 302 Found (Temporary) — Temporarily at a different URL. Search engines keep the original URL indexed. Use when you intend to move the content back.
- 307 Temporary Redirect — Like 302, but explicitly preserves the HTTP method. The browser must not change POST to GET when redirected.
- 308 Permanent Redirect — Like 301, but preserves the HTTP method. Newer alternative to 301 for POST requests.
- 200 OK — Final destination. No further redirects.
- 404 Not Found — The destination doesn't exist. This is a broken redirect that needs fixing.
Why Redirect Chains Hurt SEO
Each additional redirect hop adds latency (typically 100–300 ms on a fast server) and dilutes link equity. Google recommends a maximum of 5 hops in a chain, and PageRank passes less cleanly through each jump. A chain of 5+ hops is a strong sign that redirects have accumulated over time without being cleaned up — often from CMS migrations, domain changes or URL restructures stacked on top of each other.
Best practice: always redirect directly from the old URL to the final URL, skipping intermediate steps.
Frequently Asked Questions
A 301 redirect is a permanent redirect. It tells search engines and browsers that a page has moved to a new URL permanently. The original URL's PageRank is largely transferred to the destination. Use 301 for pages you've moved for good.
A 301 is permanent and passes most link equity to the destination. A 302 is temporary — search engines keep the original URL indexed and don't transfer as much authority. Use 301 unless you genuinely intend to move the content back.
Each redirect in a chain adds latency and can dilute PageRank. Google recommends no more than 5 hops. Long chains slow down your pages and are a sign of accumulated technical debt — try to redirect directly to the final destination where possible.
A redirect loop is when URL A redirects to URL B, which redirects back to URL A (or through a longer cycle). The browser and this tool detect loops and stop following them. Loops prevent the page from loading entirely and should be fixed immediately.
Yes, this tool follows up to 15 redirect hops and shows each step in the chain. It handles both absolute and relative Location headers and detects redirect loops automatically.