Redirect errors sabotage your website’s search engine rankings and frustrate users—problems no website owner wants. Redirect errors prevent Google’s crawler from properly indexing of your content. Left unchecked, they can waste valuable crawl budget and hurt your site’s visibility in search results. The good news is that these issues are not difficult to solve once you’ve identified them. But before we do, let’s define a few terms:
A redirected URL – is a web address that automatically sends users or search engines from one page to another, usually after a webpage has been moved, renamed, or deleted. Redirects guide users and search engines to updated URLs but if misconfigured or excessive, can cause errors.
Google’s crawler – is an automated program (also called a spider or bot) that browses, or crawls, the internet and systematically discovers and indexes new and updated content including web pages, images, videos, etc. Crawling is essential because it allows search engines like Google to:
- Discover new pages and updates on existing ones.
- Understand the structure and content of your site.
- Make your website accessible in search results for relevant queries.
Without proper crawling, your site’s pages may not be indexed or ranked effectively in search results and redirect errors are one of several types of issues that can prevent Google from accessing and indexing your site’s content. Redirect errors also waste crawl budget which refers to the amount of time and resources that search engines, like Google, will allocate to crawling a website within a specific timeframe.
If Google spends too much time following unnecessary redirects, important pages like your product listings or a blog post may not get crawled at all.
Common Causes of Redirect Errors
Before we can focus on fixing redirect errors, it’s important to understand their root causes. Here are some of the most common causes of redirect errors:
- Misconfigured URLs in Internal Links or XML Sitemap
- URLs typed in error that point to non-existent pages or URLs that reference pages that have been renamed or deleted are common causes of redirect errors. For instance, linking to http://example.com instead of https://example.com can lead to a redirect error if not properly configured.
- Your sitemap.XML file is used to provide Google and other search engines with a roadmap of your website, listing all of the URLs you want indexed. When the file contains misconfigured URLs or references to pages that have been renamed or deleted, it can lead to redirect errors which can confuse search engines.
- Excessive Number of Redirects
- Too many hops in a redirect chain can exceed Google’s limit (10 hops) and result in crawl issues.
- Circular Redirects (Redirect Loops)
- These occur when URLs point back to themselves due to configuration errors.
- Incorrect HTTP Response Codes
- Using soft 404s (pages that return a “200 OK” status but display an error message) or unsupported status codes can confuse search engines.
- External links pointing to broken or outdated redirected URLs on your site.
How to Identify Redirect Errors in Google Search Console
Google Search Console is one of the best tools for diagnosing redirect issues on your website. Here’s how you can use it effectively:
Step 1: Navigate to the Pages Section
- Log into your GSC account, go to “Indexing” and then “Pages”
- Look for URLs flagged with “Redirect error” status.
Step 2: Use the URL Inspection Tool
The GSC “URL Inspection Tool” provides detailed insights into specific URLs:
- Enter the URL(s) that show redirect errors into the tool.
- Check the HTTP response code (e.g., 301, 302) and review the redirect path.
- Confirm whether the final destination page is accessible.
Step 3: Analyze Crawl Issues
- Check for crawl issues under the “Page Indexing Report” for submitted pages that failed due to redirect problems.
- Look for patterns among affected URLs (e.g., duplicate URLs or excessive chains).
Step 4: Use External Tools for Deeper Analysis
While Google Search Console (GSC) is great for identifying redirect errors, using other tools in combination can provide deeper insights into your website’s structure and redirect paths. Below are some highly recommended and free tools that are especially useful for diagnosing issues like redirect chains or redirect loops that GSC may not fully display:
- Screaming Frog SEO Spider
- What It Does: Screaming Frog crawls your website like a search engine, identifying redirect chains, loops, and broken links. It is ideal for large websites because it crawls thousands of URLs quickly and identifies redirect chains and loops in one report.
- How to Use It: Run a crawl of your site and filter for 3xx (redirect) status codes in the “Response Codes” tab. Review the redirect paths to ensure they lead directly to the final destination.
- Why It’s Helpful: It provides a clear view of all redirects on your site, making it easy to spot inefficiencies.
- Link Redirect Trace
- What It Does: This browser extension traces individual redirect paths in real time.
- How to Use It: Install the extension, visit a URL with suspected redirect issues, and review the full redirect chain it displays.
- Why It’s Helpful: It’s quick and focused, perfect for diagnosing specific URLs.
- Google Lighthouse
- What It Does: Lighthouse is built into Chrome DevTools and analyzes page performance, including redirects.
- How to Use It: Open DevTools in Chrome, go to the “Lighthouse” tab, and generate a report. Look for recommendations related to redirects.
- Why It’s Helpful: It highlights how redirects may affect page speed and user experience.
Step 5: Fixing Different Types of Redirection Issues
Once you’ve identified problem areas, follow these steps to resolve them depending on the specific problem you identified:
Fixing Redirect Chains
- Simplify chains by linking directly from the original page (URL A) to the final destination page (Final URL) without intermediate steps (URL B → URL C). A common example of a redirect chain would be example.com/page1 → example.com/page2 → example.com/page3. Instead, directly linking page1 to page3 avoids unnecessary hops.
- Keep the number of redirects under five hops as per SEO best practices.
Fixing Redirect Loops
- A redirect loop occurs where URLs point back to themselves (e.g., URL A → URL B → URL A). Identify these occurrences and reconfigure them correctly.
- Ensure each redirect points to the correct destination.
Fixing Broken Redirects
- Replace broken target URLs with valid ones that lead to live pages.
- Update internal links and your XML sitemap file with corrected URLs.
Fixing Wrong Types of Redirects
- Replace temporary redirects (302) with permanent ones (301) for long-term changes.
- Ensure proper use of HTTP response codes based on your intent.
Addressing External Links
- Reach out to webmasters if external links point to outdated redirected URLs on your site.
- Use canonical tags where necessary to consolidate duplicate content caused by external links.
Step 3: Test Your Fixes
After implementing changes:
- Use GSC’s “Validate Fix” option for affected URLs.
- Perform live tests using the “Live URL Testing Tool” in GSC.
- Verify that all redirects lead directly to their intended destination without loops or chains.
Conclusion
Fixing redirect errors is essential for improving your website’s SEO performance and user experience. While these issues are not difficult to solve, they can wreak havoc on your search rankings if left unchecked. Redirect errors waste valuable crawl budget, prevent search engines from indexing important pages, and create frustrating user experiences.
By proactively monitoring and fixing redirect issues, you ensure that search engines can efficiently crawl and index your site, improving your SEO rankings and providing a better experience for your visitors. Regular audits and best practices will keep your website optimized and free of redirect-related errors.
