Faceted Navigation SEO: Taming Filter & Parameter URLs
Filters and sort options can spawn millions of near-duplicate URLs that drain crawl budget and split ranking signals. Here is how to control them without hiding your best pages.
Read article →How it works
- Enter the URL you want to trace (for example
http://example.com). - The tool requests the URL and follows each redirect the server returns.
- It records the status code and destination at every step in the chain.
- You get the full hop-by-hop path and the final status code, all from live data.
What it shows
- Each hop — every URL in the chain in the order it is visited.
- Status code — the response code at each step, such as
301or302. - Redirect type — whether each hop is permanent (301) or temporary (302/307).
- Destination — the
Locationeach redirect points to. - Final URL — the address where the chain ends.
- Final status — the last response code, ideally a clean
200. - Hop count — how many redirects it took to get there.
- Scheme changes — any HTTP to HTTPS or www to non-www jumps.
Common use cases
- Auditing migrations — confirm old URLs 301 to the correct new pages after a move.
- Finding redirect chains — spot multi-hop chains that waste crawl budget and slow loads.
- Verifying HTTPS enforcement — check that HTTP requests redirect cleanly to HTTPS.
- Catching loops — detect redirect loops or chains that never reach a
200.
Example
Trace http://example.com and you might see it 301 to https://example.com, then 301 again to https://www.example.com, ending in a 200 — a two-hop chain you could shorten to a single redirect to save crawl budget and load time.
Frequently asked questions
Is the Redirect & HTTP Status Checker free?
Yes — completely free, with no signup and no usage limits. Trace as many URLs as you need.
What's the difference between a 301 and a 302?
A 301 is a permanent redirect that passes ranking signals to the new URL, while a 302 (or 307) is temporary and tells search engines the move may be reversed. For permanent moves you almost always want a 301. Learn the details in our 301 vs 302 redirects guide.
Why should I avoid long redirect chains?
Each extra hop adds latency for users and consumes crawl budget, and ranking signals can dilute across the chain. Collapsing multi-hop chains into a single redirect keeps pages fast and clean. To inspect the headers behind any hop, use the HTTP Header Checker and confirm the final certificate with the SSL Certificate Checker tool.
