What is a redirect chain and why is it bad?

A redirect chain is a series of redirects in a row, such as A to B to C, before a visitor reaches the final page. It is bad because each extra hop adds delay, wastes crawling effort and gives more places to break. Fix it by pointing the first URL straight at the last one in a single redirect.

Why it matters

Every redirect needs its own round trip between the browser and your server, so a chain makes the page appear later. Search engines also have limits: Google's documentation says Googlebot follows up to 10 redirect hops, and a longer chain may not be followed to the end. Chains usually appear after several site changes pile up, for example HTTP to HTTPS, then non-www to www, then an old page rename.

How to find and fix it

Pick a URL you suspect, such as an old http:// address, and follow it with curl:

curl -sIL http://example.com/old-page

The -L flag follows redirects, and the output shows every response in turn. 2. Count the hops. More than one redirect between the typed address and the final 200 page is a chain. 3. Write down the first URL and the final URL. 4. Change the rule for the first URL so it redirects directly to the final URL with a 301. Remove any middle rules that are no longer needed. 5. Combine protocol and host redirects into one rule. For example, send http://example.com/x straight to https://www.example.com/x instead of first adding https and then adding www. 6. Update internal links, canonical tags and sitemap entries so they use the final URL directly, which means nobody needs the redirect at all. 7. Run a crawler or a site scan to catch chains you did not think of, then repeat the curl test on the fixed URLs.

Crawvix's scan checks for redirect loops and long redirect chains, which makes the problem easy to spot across a whole site.

Common mistakes

Fixing only the first redirect and leaving old rules that still add hops.
Redirecting an old URL to a new URL that is itself redirected.
Forgetting that the CDN, the web server and the CMS can each add their own redirect.
Leaving internal links on old addresses after adding redirects.
Creating a loop by sending a URL back to an earlier step.

Frequently asked questions

How many redirects are too many?

Aim for one hop at most between any old address and the final page. Google can follow up to 10 hops, but long chains still slow visitors and add risk.

Do redirect chains lose ranking value?

Google says it follows redirects and treats permanent ones as a strong signal. Chains are mainly a speed and reliability problem, and flattening them removes the question.

Is a redirect loop the same thing?

A loop is a chain that never ends, because the URLs point back at each other. Browsers stop and show a "too many redirects" error.

Want to see whether your site has chains? Try the free website sample.