redirect-chain

# Avoid multi-hop redirect chains Redirect chains waste crawl budget, reduce PageRank flow to destination pages, and add latency that harms user experience—Googlebot may abandon long chains entirely, leaving destination pages undiscovered. ## Quick Reference - A redirect chain is A→B→C — Googlebot may stop following after 5 hops - Each hop loses PageRank and adds page load latency - Flatten chains by pointing A directly to C with a single 301 - Audit after every URL migration to catch newly created chains ## Check Follow all redirect rules configured on the site. Identify any URL where the redirect target itself also redirects (chain of 2+ hops). Report the full chain (URL A → URL B → URL C → final), the number of hops, and the HTTP response code at each step. ## Fix For each redirect chain, update the first redirect to point directly to the final destination URL. Example: if A→B→C, update A's redirect to point directly to C, eliminating the B hop. Verify the chain is gone by following the URL and confirming a single 301 or 302 followed by a 200. ## Explain A redirect chain occurs when page A redirects to page B, which also redirects to page C. Googlebot follows redirect chains up to a certain number of hops (reportedly 5), then stops—meaning the final destination may not be crawled. Each redirect also loses a portion of the PageRank that would have passed through a direct link. ## Code Review Test each redirect rule configured on the server. For each source URL, follow all redirect hops and record the full chain. Flag any chain with 2 or more hops (source → intermediate → final). Check for redirect loops (A→B→A). Verify that the final destination returns 200. Report: source URL, intermediate URLs, number of hops, final URL, and HTTP status at each step. --- For full implementation details, code examples, and framework-specific guidance, see `references/rule.md`. Rule page: https://frontendchecklist.io/en/rules/seo/redirect-chain