Long redirect chain
Each redirect adds a round trip. When several stack up, pages load slowly and link signals erode along the way.
What it is
This check flags URLs that pass through two or more redirects before the final page.
Why it matters for SEO
Long chains waste crawl budget, add latency that hurts Core Web Vitals, and leak a little signal at every hop. Some crawlers stop following after a few.
Example
/a -> 301 /b -> 301 /c -> 200 /final (3 hops)
How to fix
- Redirect the original URL straight to the final destination in one hop.
- Update internal links and sitemaps to the final URL.
- Audit redirect rules for loops or stacking.
- Re-crawl to confirm one redirect maximum.