Redirected Link Audit

The Redirects (3xx) filter lists destinations that send the request to another URL. A redirect can be correct for an old public address while the site's own links should usually point directly to the preferred final destination.

Analyze the complete path

1. Request the linked URL and record every redirect hop.
2. Confirm the final destination returns the intended successful response.
3. Compare the final page with the source link's anchor and surrounding context.
4. Open Source Pages and identify the component or content field generating the old URL.
5. Group links by redirect rule, source template, and final target.
6. Check whether sitemaps, canonicals, and navigation use the preferred URL.

HTTP/1.1 301 Moved Permanently
Location: https://example.com/current-guide

A one-hop permanent redirect from a historical URL can be useful. Chains add avoidable requests, loops fail completely, and temporary redirects should reflect genuinely temporary behavior. Review Google's redirect guidance.

Fix links you control

Update internal navigation, content, canonical references, and structured fields to the final preferred URL. Collapse redirect rules so legacy addresses reach the destination in one hop. Preserve valuable redirects for external links, bookmarks, and old campaigns even after internal cleanup.

Do not remove redirects merely to clear the filter. The Links report asks whether the source should link directly; the redirect itself may still protect users arriving through old URLs.

Example decision

Article cards link to /blog/old-slug, which redirects twice before reaching /guides/current-slug. Update the card template to the final URL and collapse historical rules into one redirect. Keep the old aliases because external references still use them.

Verify the fix

Recrawl and confirm controllable Source Pages link directly to the final URL, chains and loops are gone, and the destination returns 2xx. Residual external references to the redirected URL are not source-page defects on your site.

When a redirected link is worth fixing

A redirect is not automatically an error. It is useful for moved pages, protocol changes, and controlled migrations. The opportunity appears when your own pages still link to an old URL even though the final destination is known. Direct links reduce unnecessary requests and make the intended destination clearer.

Prioritize redirected links when they are sitewide, lead through multiple hops, change the destination unexpectedly, or sit in important conversion and navigation paths. Low-use legacy links can wait unless the redirect is unstable.

Read count changes carefully

After updating internal links, Redirects (3xx) should decrease and Success (2xx) may increase. If redirects remain:

• check whether canonical URL rules add or remove a trailing slash;
• compare HTTP and HTTPS variants;
• inspect locale, mobile, or authentication redirects;
• confirm that the crawler and a normal browser receive the same destination;
• look for links generated by cached templates or old CMS fields.

A sudden rise after a deployment often signals a routing or URL-generation change. A slow rise over time may indicate editors repeatedly copying legacy URLs.

Migration example

During a category rename, /guides/seo-tools may redirect to /guides/seo-software. Keep the redirect for external references and bookmarks, but update menus, breadcrumbs, XML sitemaps, canonicals, and body links to the new address. Then recrawl both the affected section and the whole site.

Google recommends permanent server-side redirects when a URL has permanently moved. See redirects and Google Search. The goal is not zero redirects; it is a clean internal graph with deliberate, single-hop migration paths.

Frequently asked questions

Should internal links ever point to redirects?

Sometimes a redirect is unavoidable, especially when the destination is controlled externally. For first-party URLs with a known final destination, direct links are clearer and more efficient.

Can a redirect chain hurt users?

Each hop adds another dependency and can increase latency or fail. Chains also make migrations harder to reason about. Consolidate internal paths and keep necessary redirects direct.

Related guidance

Return to the Links overview to inspect redirects in the context of their source pages. MDN's HTTP status reference documents the semantics of the 3xx responses behind redirected links.