Free redirect checker

How to use it

1. Paste one address, or up to 20 with one on each line. Old page addresses and short links are all worth checking.
2. To test your domain, type it on the first line and press Add all four versions of my domain. That adds http and https, with and without www.
3. Press Check redirects. We follow each address through up to 10 redirects.
4. Read the verdict for each address. Fix anything marked Problem first, then look at the ones marked Check.
5. Download the CSV to send to your developer, or keep it as a record after a site launch.

What does a redirect checker show?

A redirect sends anyone who asks for one address on to another. The browser does this so quickly that you rarely notice how many steps happened on the way. A redirect checker slows it down and shows each step: the address asked for, the status code the server answered with, and where it pointed next, until a page finally loads or something breaks.

For each address we report the number of redirects, the final page and its status code. We flag chains with more than one hop, loops that never end, temporary redirects where a permanent one is usually meant, changes between http and https or between www and the bare domain, and chains that end on an error page. We also catch pages that send people on with a meta refresh tag instead of a server redirect. Redirects written in JavaScript are not followed, because the checker reads what the server sends without running the page's scripts.

Which redirect should you use: 301, 302, 307 or 308?

All four status codes send visitors to the new address. The difference is what they tell search engines. According to Google Search Central:

• 301 (moved permanently) and 308 (permanent redirect) tell Google the page has moved for good. Google treats this as a strong signal that the new address should be the one shown in search results.
• 302 (found), 303 (see other) and 307 (temporary redirect) say the move is temporary. Google follows them but may keep showing the old address, because it expects the page to come back.
• A meta refresh with no delay counts as permanent, and one with a delay counts as temporary. Google recommends server-side redirects where your platform allows them.

Between 301 and 308, and between 302 and 307, Google makes no difference for search. The newer codes, 307 and 308, also tell browsers to resend a form submission to the new address unchanged, which matters for web apps more than for normal pages. For a page that has moved and will stay moved, use a 301 or 308. Google's guide to HTTP status codes has the full list.

Why redirect chains matter when you redesign or migrate a site

A chain is a redirect that leads to another redirect. They build up quietly. A site moves from http to https, then from www to the bare domain, then gets redesigned with new page addresses, and each change adds a rule on top of the last. An old link to http://www.yoursite.com.sg/services.html can end up passing through three or four hops before it reaches a page.

Each hop is another round trip, so visitors wait longer, especially on mobile data. Google's crawlers follow up to 10 hops and then give up, and Google's site move guide advises redirecting straight to the final address. Where a chain cannot be avoided, the guide says to keep it short, "ideally no more than 3 and fewer than 5" hops. Links that other websites, directories and old emails point at your site are the ones most likely to sit at the start of a long chain, and they are often the links that bring in visitors.

How to map old URLs to new ones during a redesign

Before launch, build a simple two-column list: every old address on the left and its new home on the right. Collect the old addresses from your current sitemap, the Page indexing report in Google Search Console, the landing pages report in your analytics, and any addresses you have printed on brochures or packaging.

Send each old address to the page that now covers the same thing. A retired service page can go to the closest service that replaced it. Only fall back to a section page, such as your blog, when the content is gone for good. Write the redirect so it points straight at the final https address, not at an old address that then redirects again.

We did this ourselves when we moved jin-design.com from WordPress to Astro. Every old address on https://jin-design.com answers with a single 301 straight to its new page, for example /audit/ to /services/website-audit/. Running our own addresses through this checker also turned up the case this guide warns about. Typed as http://www.jin-design.com/audit/, the same old address takes three hops: http to https, then www to the bare domain, and only then to the new page. Each rule does its job, but together they add up to a chain, which is why it pays to test every version of your domain and not only the one you use.

After launch, update your internal links and sitemap to use the new addresses, run your list through this checker, and keep the redirects in place. Google suggests keeping them for at least a year, and longer is better because old links keep arriving.

How do you fix common redirect problems?

• Two hops for http and www. If http://www.yoursite.com.sg goes to https first and then drops the www, combine the rules so it reaches https://yoursite.com.sg in one hop. The Add all four versions of my domain button sets up this test for you.
• A certificate that misses www. If the security certificate only covers yoursite.com.sg, people who type https://www.yoursite.com.sg see a browser warning before any redirect can happen. The certificate needs to cover both names.
• Domain forwarding set to temporary. If an old domain forwards to your new site through your registrar, such as GoDaddy, the forwarding settings usually let you choose a permanent (301) or temporary (302) redirect. Choose permanent for a move that will not be undone.
• A 302 left in place. Some plugins and hosting panels create temporary redirects by default. If the move is permanent, change it to a 301.
• A redirect loop. Two rules point at each other, often after an SSL or caching setting changes. Visitors see a "too many redirects" error. Remove one of the rules and test again.
• A redirect to a missing page. The chain ends on a 404, usually because the new page was renamed after the redirect was written. Point the redirect at the live address.