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Redirect Checker
See every redirect a URL goes through before it lands: each hop’s HTTP status code — 301, 302, 307 or 308 — the address it points to, and the status of the page at the end of the chain.
Without a scheme the check starts at https://. Type http:// first to check the redirect to HTTPS.
Reading a redirect chain
Each line of the result is one request and the status code it was answered with. A redirect sends a Location header with the next address; the chain ends at the first answer that is not a redirect.
- 301 Moved Permanently
- The address has moved for good. Browsers and search engines treat the target as the new address, and browsers may remember the redirect.
- 308 Permanent Redirect
- The same as a 301, except the request method may not change: a form POST is sent on as a POST.
- 302 Found
- A temporary redirect: the original address is expected to come back, so it stays the one to remember.
- 307 Temporary Redirect
- The same as a 302, except the request method may not change.
- 303 See Other
- Go and GET another address, usually after a form was sent. Rare on ordinary pages.
- 200 OK
- The chain ended on a page that answered normally.
- 404 / 410
- The chain ended on a page that does not exist, or is gone for good. A redirect to a missing page is a broken redirect.
- 5xx
- The server failed to answer the request at that hop.
Moved a site and want to see where it stands? The DR checker shows the Ahrefs Domain Rating every site on the ranking is ordered by.
Redirect questions
What does a redirect checker show?
Every step a URL takes before it lands on a page. The checker requests the address without following redirects automatically, records the HTTP status code and the Location header of each answer, and requests that location next, until a response that is not a redirect arrives. You see the whole chain — for example http:// to https://, then to www, then to the final page — and the final page's own status, such as 200 or 404.
What is the difference between a 301 and a 302 redirect?
A 301 says the page has moved permanently; a 302 says the move is temporary. Google's documentation says a permanent redirect is a signal that the target should be the URL shown in search, while a temporary one is not, so the old URL usually stays in results. For a site move, an http-to-https switch or a changed URL that will not change back, use a 301 (or a 308).
What are 307 and 308 redirects?
The strict versions of 302 and 301. With a 307 or 308 the client must repeat the request with the same method and body, so a form POST stays a POST; with a 301 or 302 most clients switch to GET. A 303 always means: GET the other address. For ordinary pages a 308 works like a 301 and a 307 like a 302.
How many redirects is too many?
Every hop is another round trip before the page starts to load, so one is best. Google says Googlebot generally follows up to 10 redirect hops when it crawls a page. Link straight to the final address where you can, and collapse chains such as http → https → www into a single redirect. The checker stops at 10 redirects as well.
Why doesn't the checker follow my meta refresh or JavaScript redirect?
It reads HTTP headers only and never downloads the page itself, so a <meta http-equiv="refresh"> tag or a redirect run by JavaScript is not seen. Google can follow both, but says a server-side redirect (such as a 301 or 308) has the best chance of being read correctly, and JavaScript redirects should be the last resort.
What does the checker request?
One GET per hop, to public addresses only, identifying itself as the domainrating.lol metadata bot, with up to 10 redirects, 8 seconds per request and 25 seconds in all. It does not follow a redirect to a private network, a custom port or a non-web address; the chain shows where it stopped and why. A server can redirect browsers differently by country, cookie or user agent, so your browser may land somewhere else. Nothing about the check is stored.