What is a 301 vs a 302?

A 301 and a 308 are permanent redirects. A 302 and a 307 are temporary. Permanent redirects tell browsers and crawlers that the destination is the URL to keep. Temporary redirects say the move might not last. 307 and 308 also preserve the HTTP method, while 301 and 302 may be replayed as GET. Use 301 or 308 when the target is the canonical URL, including an HTTPS or www change. Use 302 or 307 only for something short-lived, such as a login bounce or a test.

Do redirects lose link value?

A single permanent redirect passes link value through more reliably than a temporary one. Google has said that 30x redirects can pass PageRank, but a 301 or 308 is the signal that consolidates the old URL into the new one. A 302 or 307 can leave the old URL indexed or be treated as short-lived, so backlinks may not consolidate on the destination. Extra hops waste more of that signal than one hop does, and a chain that ends on a 404 or 500 passes it nowhere.

How many hops is too many?

One hop is the goal. Two or more is a chain: each extra redirect adds latency and another chance for a browser or crawler to stop. This checker follows at most 10 hops. If HTTP, HTTPS, and www each redirect on their own, collapse them so the URL people link to sends visitors to the final URL in a single 301 or 308.

Why check before launching or after getting a backlink?

Before a launch, confirm that HTTP sends people to HTTPS and that the non-canonical host sends them to the canonical host, in one permanent hop, and that the final URL returns 200. After a backlink, paste the exact URL they linked. A 302, a loop, or a final 404 means the link is weaker than the one you counted. Use the dofollow link checker at /tools/dofollow-link-checker when you also need the rel value on that page.

Is this redirect checker free?

Yes. Paste a URL. There is no account and no paywall. The check runs on our server, follows up to 10 hops with an 8 second limit on each hop, and shows the status code, Location header, time, final URL, and plain-English flags.

Free SEO Tool

Free Redirect Checker

Paste a URL. See every redirect hop: status code, Location header, and time. The final URL and final status are called out, with plain-English flags for chains, loops, and 302s. Free, no signup.

Check a URL

Paste any http or https address. We follow each redirect ourselves and list the hop. No signup.

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301 vs 302 and redirect chains

301 vs 302

Status codes in the 300s are not all the same instruction. A 301 Moved Permanently and a 308 Permanent Redirect mean the destination is the URL that should replace the one you requested. A 302 Found and a 307 Temporary Redirect mean the client should go there for now and may come back to the original URL later. Browsers will follow all four. Crawlers use the difference when they decide which URL to index and which URL should keep the backlinks.

HTTPS upgrades, www canonicalization, trailing-slash cleanup, and a move to a new domain are permanent. Those hops should be 301 or 308. A 302 or 307 is the right code for a login round-trip, a short test, or a destination that changes by request. If a permanent move is published as a temporary redirect, backlinks pass through less reliably: the old URL can stay in the index, and link equity may not consolidate on the page you want. This checker flags a 302 or 307 only when the hop looks like that kind of permanent move.

What an extra hop costs

One redirect is normal. http://yoursite.com can 301 to https://yoursite.com and stop. A chain is two or more redirects: HTTP to HTTPS, then to www, then to a trailing slash. Each hop adds a round trip before the first byte of the page. Some clients and tools give up on long chains. This checker stops at 10 hops and says so when the last response is still a redirect.

A loop is a chain that returns to a URL it already visited. Browsers stop, and so do we, once the same address appears again. A final 404 or 500 means everyone who followed the links lands on an error. Neither one passes the value of a backlink to a page that can rank. The fix is usually a single 301 or 308 from each old URL straight to the URL that returns 200.

Check before launch and after a backlink

Launch checklists often stop at the homepage design. The redirect in front of it decides what URL is indexed. Before you announce a product, paste the HTTP URL and the www URL. You want one permanent hop to the canonical HTTPS host, then a 200. A missing HTTPS redirect, a www swap that takes its own hop, or a 302 on that path is worth fixing before the first backlink is pointed at the wrong address.

After someone links to you, paste that exact URL, not the homepage you wish they had used. The chain shows whether their link reaches the page you care about, and the flags show whether a temporary redirect or an error is in the way. The rel attribute is a separate question. The dofollow link checker reads dofollow, nofollow, ugc, and sponsored on a listing page. A premium launch on Aura++ includes a dofollow backlink from this domain. See pricing.

How this check works

Step 1

Paste a URL

Use the address you share, or the exact URL a backlink points at.

Step 2

We request each hop

The check runs on our server. Redirects are followed manually, one hop at a time, up to 10. Each hop tries HEAD and falls back to GET.

Step 3

Read status, Location, and time

Every hop shows the status code, the Location header when one was sent, and how long that response took.

Step 4

Read the flags

Plain-English notes call out a missing HTTPS upgrade, a www swap, a temporary redirect that looks permanent, a chain, a loop, or a final error.

Frequently asked questions

Check the link, not just the hop

A 200 on the final URL still needs a dofollow backlink if you want the mention to pass signals. Premium launches include a dofollow link from Aura++.

Dofollow link checker View launch pricing

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