Link Building
Redirect Chain
Quick definition
A redirect chain is when one URL redirects to another, which redirects to another — creating multiple hops between the original request and the final destination.
Chains slow page load, waste crawl budget, and can leak link equity at each hop. Most redirect chains build up over years of site migrations and URL changes.
Why Redirect Chain matters
Google generally follows up to 5 redirects per chain. Beyond that, equity transfer becomes unreliable and crawlers may abandon the path entirely.
How Redirect Chain works in practice
Audit redirect chains using Screaming Frog or Sitebulb, then update each one to point directly from the original URL to the final destination.
Best practices
- Always redirect from old URL → final destination in a single hop.
- Audit chains after every site migration.
- Avoid redirecting redirected URLs again later.
- Update old internal links to the final URL when possible.
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Related terms
301 Redirect
A 301 redirect is a permanent HTTP redirect that tells browsers and search engines a page has permanently moved to a new URL.
Link Equity
Link equity is the SEO value passed from one page to another through hyperlinks — sometimes informally called 'link juice'.
Crawl Budget
Crawl budget is the number of pages a search engine bot will crawl on your site within a given period, based on crawl rate limit and crawl demand.