What is a redirect chain?

A redirect chain is several hops in a row: A redirects to B, and B redirects to C. Chains usually build up over time as rules stack: first http → https, then non-www → www, then old URL → new URL. If the chain ever comes back to the start, it becomes a redirect loop and the page never loads.

#Why it matters

Every hop slows the page down and wastes bots' time. Google follows only a limited number of hops in a chain, and on very long chains it may never reach the final target. Loops make the page completely unreachable. Linking straight to the final address protects both users and crawl budget.

#Where you see it in SEOAsist

The Technical Audit crawl follows redirects step by step:

Click the issue name and the panel shows each URL's hop count and final target. See Technical Audit for how to read it.

#Example

http://site.com/boiler
  → 301 https://site.com/boiler
  → 301 https://www.site.com/boiler
  → 301 https://www.site.com/boiler-service   (final target)

Fix: redirect every old address to https://www.site.com/boiler-service in a single step and update internal links to point straight at it.

#Common mistakes

• Adding a new redirect on top of an old rule's target instead of updating the old rule.
• Keeping separate redirect rules on the server, CDN and CMS without noticing how they collide.
• Fixing the chain with redirects but leaving menu and content links on the old URL.