The Effect of Redirect Chains and Loops

2. Let’s Begin with Redirect Chain An initial URL requested and its final destination are both redirected at least once. This is known as a redirect chain. This means visitors and search engine crawlers will take longer to load URL C because of URL A redirects to URL B. What Causes a Redirect Loop? It is common for redirect loops to occur because of poorly configured redirects. Incorrect redirect rules in the configuration of your web server or CMS, CDN redirect rules, or a misalignment betweenthese systems are all possible causes. Think about when you have redirects configured for old URLs on your web server, but then move all future redirects to your CMS’s redirect manager. Having a redirection from URL A to URL B in the configuration of your web server is one thing. Implementing a redirection from URL B to URL A is another.

3. Difference between redirect chains and loops In contrast to redirect loops, redirect chains are different. A redirect chain knows where to go, whereasa redirect loop involves a closed redirect chain, an infinite circle of redirects. This is what a redirect loop looks like:

4. Why are redirect loops bad for SEO? Browsers display errors when they encounter redirect loops. The destination page will never be displayed because of this issue. When search engines figure out they’re caught in a redirect loop, they’ll stop following the redirections. When a redirect loop occurs, this process never finishes, because the final URL never resolves, so ranking signals (such as example link authority) are transmitted from one URL to another. The rankingsare thus affected.

5. How do I resolve a chain redirect? The time has come to learn how to correct redirect chains if you believe they are a serious problem. To assist with this process, you can use an array of technical SEO tools. We will look at Screaming Frog in this blog, as it is the most popular tool of all. In order to begin, you must identify which redirect chains and loops you have. Look under Reports > Redirects > Redirect Chains in ScreamingFrog for the Redirect Chains tool. Using the filter, run the report on pages that return 301 or 302 status codes. An entire list of URLs is displayed for each chain or loop. To use this report as your worksheet,you can export it to an Excel or Google Doc.

6. Here are the four ways redirects could be hurting your SEO efforts: 1. Your redirection chains are set up 2. Using redirects for internallinks 3. Too many 301s are being generatedfor no reason 4. You have canonical tags that redirect to your website Why are redirect chains bad for SEO In any case, why are redirect chains such a big deal? What does it matter if there are a few extra steps if the links point users and search enginesin the right direction? Several factors can have a significant impact on your rank in SERPs when you have large redirect chains:

7. 1. Reduced Link Juice You may be familiar with the term “link juice” which refers to the boost your site gets from reputablebacklinks – as you get more juice, the stronger your search ranking will be. 2. Reduced Site Performance Link after link leads to a longer loading time on your destination page as servers work through the links one by one. Now that site performance is a crucial component of boosting SEO, more redirects meanlower page rankings. 3. Crawling Concerns Eventually, search engine bots will stop crawling. Search spiders are not likely to exceed their crawl budget before reaching the end of most smaller websites– unlessredirects escalate.

8. How to Find Redirect Chains It is possible for you to go through each page, each link, and every redirect on your site manually, but this is a resource- and time-intensive – especially if you are in the process of expandingyour site. What’s the best option? Online redirect checkers can help you identify which links are working correctly and which are causing problems. Among the most popular solutions are: 1. Screaming Frog 2. Redirect-checker.org Search for broken links, audit links, and find duplicate content with the SEO Spider from Screaming Frog. In addition to the free version, SEO Spider also offers a paid version that offers unlimited redirect reports. The main difference between the two is that the free version crawls only 500 URLs. Find out if a page has been redirected 301 or 302 by typing in your http:// or https:// address. Free URL checking tools can be useful for specific URLs, but they aren’t designed to scan wholewebsites.

9. 3. DeepCrawl 4. Sitebulb The company offers three plans: Light, Light Plus, and Enterprise, and bills itself as the “world’s best website crawler.”. For example, the Light plan allows you to submit 10,000 URLs per month for one project, while the Light Plus plan allows you to submit 40,000 URLs, and the Enterprise plan provides unlimited redirection reports. Sitebulb provides a host of reports that measure your site’s crawl-friendliness and where redirect issues are occurring, as well as what links are spread out around it. The free trial period runs for 14 days, then Sitebulb offers a monthly subscription.

10. How to Remove a Redirect Chain In the event you find redirect chains, removing them is straightforward – simply provide a link pointing toward the final URL and not another redirect instead of the first destinationpage. For example, URL C will redirect URL A instead of URL B in the example above, allowing you to skip the middle step and protect your SEO ranking. You can leave URL B’s redirect to URL C intact if it is still backlinked by other sites. It may be worthwhile to delete or archive the page if it only serves to bridge older URL A to the newerURL C. The link juice you gain from an initial jump is approximately 15% lost with every 301 redirects after that. Cut down on redirects whereverpossible to fill up your SERP cup. How to Prevent Redirect Chains Using redirect tools such as those mentioned above will help you prevent redirect chains from building up over time. A good idea is to keep track of new URLs at the time they’re created, either by using a shared spreadsheet or by using automated tools, in order to make sure that new URLs are associated with the first redirect instead of the ones furtherdown.

11. Redirect chains should be avoided for three reasons. 1. Crawling with a delay: Google generally does not follow more than five redirect hops in any one crawl. It then aborts the crawl in order to conserve crawl resources and prevent getting stuck. You may experience indexingissues as a result of this. 2. During redirects, not all link equity or page authority is preserved. Thus, even a single extra hop decreases the amount of page authority passed on. The target URL will only receive 85.7% of the link equity originally passed on in a chain of three redirects, and you lose 5% with every redirect. 3. The page will load more slowly: Redirecting users to other pages in the same domain increases page loading times, reducing crawl budget. Search engine bots need to request an additional URL any time they receive a 3xx status code. As a result, search engine bots can spend less time crawling other pages if they are forced to wait.

12. What's the best way to reverse a 301 redirect 301 redirects are permanent redirects that pass between 90 and 99% of the link equity (ranking power) to the redirected page. Redirections on a website are most often implemented using the 301 redirects. Suppose you wanted to reverse a 301 redirect so users would be directed back to the original page? Can it be done? Yes, in a nutshell. Despite its technical permanence, the redirect may not work as you’d hope and could lead to additional problems. Breaking Bad (Chains) Despite the fact that backlinks and other dofollow sources have redirect chains, SEO starts suffering from them as the chains grow longer and longer. Is there a better option? Develop URL management frameworks to decrease redirect risk by using powerful redirect tools to identify long-tail chains and tackling them as smallerpieces as possible.