URL Redirection Checker

What is Website Redirection Checker?

This tool is designed to trace the URL's path with status code and headers.

Simply put, it shows all the hops it takes for the URL to finally load in the browser from the moment you enter it in your address bar.

What is Website Redirection?

Website redirection (aka URL redirection, URL forwarding, link forwarding, etc.) is when you click something but land somewhere else.

This is a routine activity that happens to us mostly without our knowledge. This technique is used for referrals between partner websites or to avoid users visiting a defunct web page.

However, sometimes websites opt for a new domain name when they go over something like rebranding.

This creates an immediate revenue loss with the users still hitting old URLs. But thanks to the web redirection, those reach the updated web address regardless of typing in the old URLs.

Based on the use case, here are various types of redirections:

301 Redirect: This is a permanent redirection meaning the old web property is no longer available.

This is the most efficient way to pass the SEO benefits in case you transfer a well-ranking webpage (or complete website) to a new address.

Still, search engines can take their own time to detect the 301 redirects and award the previously earned SEO value to the current version.

302 Redirect: This is a temporary arrangement in which you keep the original URL indexed and yet send visitors to other destinations.

The motive behind this can be the maintenance of the former. Besides, you might not want to update the original web address but need to send visitors to a new version based on the content needs.

Meta Refresh: This occurs at the web page rather than at the servers like 301s, 302s, etc. Meta Refresh is when you see something like Click here if you aren’t redirected to a certain page with a countdown.

There are more depending on the use case, like 303 redirects or 307 redirects, but most are out of scope for the bulk of the websites.

Why Is This Useful?

This can assist in troubleshooting the redirected links to see if they are working as intended and not going the 404 way.

In addition, you can also use this to check the path of shortened URLs created with tools like Bitly, TinyURL, etc. This can be useful to see the entire path and the final server to which a short URL points.

And you can check the status code of the redirects and opt for the URL shortening service using 301 redirects for maximum SEO advantage.

While some Google employees have indicated similar treatment for 301 & 302 redirects, some SEO advocates believe in the former for best chances to get into SERPs.

In addition to this, one can use the Website Redirection Checker to trace the redirections to remove the trackers and use the intended web source without any kind of data logging.

Another nifty application can be tracking the affiliate links. You can utilize this tool to ensure that you’re attached to the original affiliate program and not any subset that might be eating away commissions in between.