Redirect, Canonical & Hreflang Checker

See exactly where a URL ends up

This redirect checker requests a public URL from our server, follows each redirect one hop at a time and shows you the whole chain. When it reaches the final page it also reads the tags search engines use to decide which version to index: the canonical link, meta robots, the X-Robots-Tag header and hreflang alternates.

How to use it

1. Enter a URL in Page URL. Without a scheme, https is assumed.
2. Click Check URL.
3. Read the Redirect chain: each hop shows its status code, address and the Location header it sent.
4. Review the Final page panel for status, canonical, robots and hreflang values.

What it reports

• Redirect hops – up to 10. Codes such as 301, 302, 307 and 308 are shown as the server returned them.
• Loops and long chains – a repeated URL is reported as a redirect loop, and a chain longer than 10 hops is stopped with a message. The hops collected so far stay visible.
• Canonical – the first rel="canonical" link in the HTML, made absolute. It is flagged if it differs from the final URL.
• Meta robots – meta tags named robots or googlebot. A noindex in either of them or in the X-Robots-Tag header triggers a notice.
• Hreflang – every rel="alternate" link with an hreflang attribute, listed with its language code and address.

Limits to know about

• Only public http and https pages can be checked. Localhost, private network addresses and URLs with a username or password are refused.
• The whole check has a 20 second limit, and only the first 1.5 MB of HTML is read.
• Tags are read from the HTML the server returns. Values added later by JavaScript are not seen.
• A canonical in the HTTP Link header is not checked, and the tool does not confirm that hreflang pages link back to each other.
• Meta refresh and JavaScript redirects are not followed, since they are not HTTP redirects.

Frequently asked questions

What is a redirect chain and why does it matter?

A chain happens when one URL redirects to another that redirects again. Every extra hop slows the page down, so it is better to redirect the first URL straight to the final one. The tool points this out when it finds more than one redirect.

What is the difference between 301 and 302?

301 means moved permanently, 302 means moved temporarily. Both are shown exactly as the server sent them, so you can confirm the right type is in use.

Why does the canonical differ from the final URL?

That can be intentional, for example when several URLs show the same content. It can also be a mistake, such as a canonical pointing to the http version. The tool highlights the difference so you can decide.

Why was my URL refused?

To protect against misuse, the checker will not fetch localhost, internal network addresses or URLs that contain login details.