The Impact of Redirect Chains on Website Performance and SEO

SEO can be a tricky process with so many components that need to be considered. One component you may not have heard about is website redirects, and their impact on the performance of your site. Redirect chains are particularly significant if they involve multiple pages or organizations. In this blog post, we’ll explore what exactly redirects do and how they can affect your website performance as well as SEO rankings.

We'll examine some that are more beneficial than others and provide recommendations for best practices when using them. Whether you're relatively new to SEO or an experienced marketer, understanding how redirects work will give you the tools needed to boost website performance and rank higher in search engines.

What is a Redirect Chain?

Redirect refers to a process where entering or clicking an old URL sends you to a new URL. A redirect chain occurs when there are more than two pages involved. While three URLs remain the minimum, sometimes there are several URLs involved.

This generally happens over time due to oversight from the website owner.

Here is an example −

• Phase 1 − You created page A.

• Phase 2 − You replaced page A with Page B after a year.

• Phase 3 − You redirect Page A to B. This is necessary because when a user enters the URL for page A, it automatically redirects them to Page B.

• Phase 4 − After some time, you replaced Page B with Page C.

• Phase 5 − Redirect Page B to Page C.

• Phase 6 − A redirect chain between Page A and C is created.

The problem is people unaware of redirect chains are not thinking about Page A when setting Page C. Their aim here is to redirect Page B to Page C, completely forgetting what will happen when someone enters the URL of Page A.

Types of Redirect Chains

There are commonly two types of redirects: 301 and 302

301 Redirect

301 refers to an HTTP status code sent to your browser by a web server. It signals a permanent redirect from one URL to another.

It is commonly used when you have to plan to move or remove a page permanently from a website.

This is because 301 signals search engines that the content has been moved. This allows google and Bing to update their index. As a result, when you use 301 redirects to redirect URL A to B, B receives all the ranking power awarded to A by search engines.

302 Redirect

302 redirect is conducted temporarily, directing users and search engines to a desired page for a small timeframe. It is sometimes shown as 302 found (HTTP1.1) or moved temporarily (HTTP 1.0).

You can do a 302 redirect via Meta tag or JavaScript. You don't need to access server files or spend a long time or effort, unlike 301 redirects.

Most Webmasters use 302 instead of 301 redirects. This is because they don't know the difference. Google has to consider whether the 301 or 302 redirects were necessary. This is because google constantly works to improve the search experience of users.

Events where 302 redirects are recommended

• Getting feedback from customers on the new page structure and design without affecting the site's ranking.

• Updating a webpage in the background without hampering the user experience.

• Conducting A/B testing to check the functionality and design of a page.

• You need to fix broken web pages without ruining users' experience.

Causes of Redirect Chains

Redirect chains are often unintentional, as they are barely noticeable. Sometimes you may deploy a redirect without knowing the existence of a previous redirect. As a result, you end up creating a redirect chain.

Due to Content Updates

It may happen while changing backlinks when you update your page's content. In such events, you usually contact the site's owner of the backlink provider. You ask them to remove or redirect the link to the new URL.

However, as your website grows and contents change, it becomes more complicated for you to contact them repeatedly. This could be a contributing factor to redirect chains.

Due to URL Specifics

It happens when a business multiplies, and you forget to fix minor issues related to URL specifics. This leads to more significant redirect issues in the future.

For instance, the website address http://www.xyz.com/products doesn't have HTTPS. It is the latest standard for secure website browsing; every URL must have that.

The next step is to update the URL to http://www.xyz.com/products

That means you are redirecting the HTTP to the HTTPS URL. However, it creates another issue. Well, the link does not have a trailing slash. So you amend the URL to

https://www.xyz.com/products/

So, as you noticed, it turns from one redirect to three. It's way easier to create a redirect chain.

Does Redirect Chains Impact SEO?

Yes, redirect chains can have a strong negative impact on your SEO. First, it ruins the user experience. User experience is something google absolutely cares about while updating algorithms. Another reason is that it hinders the crawl ability of Google bots.

A single redirect is acceptable, but too many can be bad for SEO. They make it hard for crawlers to index the webpage. Sometimes, Googlebot would stop crawling due to a large number of redirects. These redirects can also significantly slow down the loading speed of the site. Overall, it dramatically affects your SEO.

You Lose Ranks in SERP

When you redirect one URL to another, the new URL receives all the PageRank from the old URL. This lets you update or create a new version of old pages without losing your SEO values.

However, there is a problem.

Once google detects a redirect chain, it treats it as a 404-page error. When that happens, google will not pass the PageRank beyond the second redirect. This can devastatingly bring down your search engine rank.

Site's Pages Will Load Slower

Page loading speed is linked with user experience. So, it is one of the crucial determinants for google search ranks.

Studies show that people will move on to another website even with a page loading delay of 2 seconds.

Since redirect chains have several URLs, loading would undoubtedly take longer. Overall, it would affect your site's traffic. Eventually, google will drop your ranking when it notices a massive bounce rate.

Internal Linking Will Suffer

Adding links to other pages on your website can end up with numerous chains. It can also happen with inbound links. Sometimes, you may have to change or redirect the final URL after you land a backlink on a new domain.

It is essential to regularly monitor your site for redirect chains and fix them immediately. Otherwise, it will ruin your internal links.

How to Find Redirect Chains?

You can review your website manually, evaluating and fixing every link and redirect. However, it is a time-consuming and resource-heavy task.

Alternatively, you can use online redirect checker tools like −

• Redirect-checker.org

• Sitebulb

• Screaming frog

• Deepcrawl

These tools check your entire website for redirect chains within seconds. Tools like Sitebulb evaluate the crawl-friendliness of your site, marks redirect issues and show how these links are displayed. Screaming frog helps you find broken links, duplicate content, and audit link redirects.

Once you get the list of redirect chains, you must check each page for possible issues.

If the issue is HTTP>HTTPS, change the 301 redirects, ensuring everything redirects to the final page.