Why Redirects Matter for SEO

Redirects tell search engines when content has moved. 301 redirects (permanent) pass ~90-99% of link equity to the new URL. 302 redirects (temporary) don't pass link equity. Redirect chains (A→B→C) waste crawl budget and dilute link equity — always redirect directly to the final destination.

⚠️ Browser Limitation

Due to browser security restrictions (CORS), we can't check redirects directly from this page. Use these trusted external tools instead:

HTTPStatus.io Redirect-Checker.org WhereGoes

📖 Understanding Redirect Types

301 - Permanent Redirect ✓

Use when content has permanently moved. Passes link equity to the new URL. Search engines will update their index to the new URL.

Redirect 301 /old-page /new-page

302 - Temporary Redirect

Use when content is temporarily moved (maintenance, A/B testing). Doesn't pass link equity. Search engines keep the original URL in the index.

Redirect 302 /page /temp-page

307 - Temporary Redirect (HTTP/1.1)

Similar to 302 but guarantees the request method won't change. Better for POST requests.

308 - Permanent Redirect (HTTP/1.1)

Similar to 301 but guarantees the request method won't change.

🔧 How to Set Up Redirects

Apache (.htaccess)

RewriteEngine On
RewriteRule ^old-page$ /new-page [R=301,L]

Nginx

location /old-page {
    return 301 /new-page;
}

Cloudflare (Redirect Rules)

When: URI Path equals "/old-page"
Then: Dynamic Redirect to "/new-page" (301)

Vercel (vercel.json)

{
  "redirects": [
    { "source": "/old", "destination": "/new", "permanent": true }
  ]
}

❌ Common Redirect Problems

  • Redirect Chains
    A → B → C → D
    Each hop loses ~10% of link equity. Fix by redirecting A directly to D.
  • Redirect Loops
    A → B → A
    Creates an infinite loop. Browser shows error. Fix the circular reference.
  • Wrong Redirect Type
    Using 302 when you mean 301. The old URL stays indexed and doesn't pass link equity.
  • Redirecting to 404
    Redirect points to a page that doesn't exist. Verify the destination URL works.

✅ Redirect Best Practices

  • Always use 301 for permanent moves (most cases)
  • Redirect directly to the final URL — avoid chains
  • Update internal links to point to the new URL (don't rely on redirects)
  • Keep redirects for at least 1 year after migration
  • Monitor in Search Console for crawl errors
  • Test after implementing to confirm they work correctly

🔍 Quick Check Tools

These tools will trace the full redirect path for any URL: