Why WordPress Site Owners need this
You switch Settings > Permalinks from Day and name to Post name, tidy up a few things, and a week later you are not sure whether your old links still land anywhere sensible. Maybe the site is still not indexed by Google even though you unticked "Discourage search engines from indexing this site" under Settings > Reading. Maybe tag and author archives are crowding the index while old post addresses hop through two or three redirects before they load. Redirects are where WordPress sites quietly lose time: a plugin forces HTTPS, the host adds www, the permalink change adds a slug rewrite, and each rule stacks on the last. The Redirect & HTTP Status Checker takes one URL, requests it, follows every Location header up to ten hops, and lists the status at each step plus the final URL. That lets you test the addresses people actually have bookmarked or linked, instead of guessing from plugin settings. It reports what the server answers; it does not tell you whether the destination is the right post, whether Google has indexed it, or how fast it loads.
WordPress Site Owners specific guidance
Start with the URLs people really use
Open the checker and enter an address the way an outsider would, for example example-blog.com/2019/04/how-to-speed-up-wordpress/ if you used to run Day and name or Month and name permalinks. Leave the scheme off: the tool tests it as http://, so the HTTP-to-HTTPS step appears in the path. Then repeat for three more: a tag archive such as /tag/seo/, an author page, and your bare domain. Ten minutes is enough for that. The run is one URL at a time and sends HEAD requests, so choose representative samples, not your whole archive. A clean result does not prove every old post is redirected; it only covers the addresses you typed. Pull a few older URLs from Google Search Console or from an old sitemap to widen the sample.
Reading the Redirect Path
Check Chain Checks first. If Final status is 200 OK passes and the chain is two hops or fewer, the path is acceptable. Three or more hops raises a warning, and that is the typical WordPress stack: http to https, non-www to www, then the old date-based slug to the new post name. Compare Final URL with the post you meant; a 301 to the homepage or to a category page is a redirect that works technically and still loses the page. Look at the type label too. A 302 or 307 on a permanent move can mean a plugin or server rule was set up as temporary. Note what is invisible here: meta-refresh and JavaScript redirects are not followed, so a theme that redirects in script will look like a plain 200.
What to fix, and in what order
Fix the chain that most visitors hit first: the HTTP version of the homepage. Under Settings > General, make sure WordPress Address and Site Address both start with https:// and use one host form, with or without www. Next, if the permalink change produced long chains, open your redirect plugin or SEO plugin's redirect manager and point each old rule straight at the current URL instead of at another redirect. Then re-run the same samples. One caution: editing .htaccess by hand on a live site can take it offline, so copy the file first. Passing this check does not prove the site is indexed or fast; for that, use Search Console and a speed test separately.
Example scenarios
1. Old month-and-name post after a permalink switch
- Situation
- Illustrative example: A blog moved from Month and name to Post name permalinks, then a plugin forced HTTPS and the host added www. A post that earned links years ago is still shared with its old address.
- Input
http://example-blog.com/2019/04/wordpress-meta-description-guide/- Reading the result
- You would typically see three hops: a 301 to the https version, a 301 to the www host, and a 301 to /wordpress-meta-description-guide/, ending in 200 OK. The final status passes, but Short redirect chain warns at three hops. Collapse it by pointing the old rule straight at the final URL.
2. Bare domain typed without a scheme
- Situation
- Illustrative example: A site owner enabled an SSL plugin last month and wants to confirm that visitors who type only the domain reach the secure homepage in one step.
- Input
- example-blog.com
- Reading the result
- The tool tests it as http://, so a healthy result is one 301 to https://www.example-blog.com/ and a final 200 OK, with the HTTP to HTTPS upgrade shown in Redirect Summary. If you see two 301 hops instead, the scheme and the host are being fixed by separate rules and can be merged.
3. Deleted post redirected by a cleanup rule
- Situation
- Illustrative example: After pruning about 40 thin posts, an owner added a bulk rule sending every removed address to the homepage with a temporary redirect.
- Input
https://example-blog.com/old-tag-roundup-2018/- Reading the result
- Redirect Path would show one 302 temporary hop to the homepage and a final 200 OK, so every check passes. Yet Final URL is not the page you meant, and the 302 label signals a temporary move. Decide whether the address deserves a 301 to a related post or a plain 404 or 410.
Common mistakes
- Testing only the homepage. The homepage is the URL WordPress and your host handle best. Old post addresses and archive URLs are where permalink changes leave chains, so test those too.
- Accepting any 200 as success. A final 200 OK only means something loaded. Compare Final URL with the post you intended, because a redirect to the homepage also ends in 200.
- Stacking redirect rules from several plugins. An SSL plugin, an SEO plugin's redirect manager and a host-level rule can each add a hop. Keep one place responsible for each kind of redirect and re-test after changing any of them.
- Leaving a 302 on a permanent move. Temporary redirects tell search engines the old address may return. If the move is permanent, change the rule to a 301.
- Assuming the tool sees every redirect type. Meta-refresh and JavaScript redirects added by a theme or plugin are not followed, so a clean trace does not rule them out. Open the page in a browser as well when a URL behaves oddly.
Frequently asked questions
Will changing my WordPress permalink structure hurt SEO?
Often the old address redirects on its own, but you cannot know that from the Permalinks screen. Trace a handful of old URLs from before the change. A 301 to the matching post that ends in 200 OK is what you want. A 404 at the end means that address needs a manual redirect through your redirect or SEO plugin. The checker shows what each URL answers today; it cannot say how rankings will move.
Why is my WordPress site not indexed by Google, and can a redirect check help?
Sometimes. If your homepage ends in a 404, a 5xx error or a loop, crawlers cannot reach it, and the check flags that in the final status. But a frequent cause on a new site is the Discourage search engines from indexing this site box under Settings > Reading, which this checker cannot see. Check that box first, then test the redirect path. Neither step guarantees Google will index anything.
How many redirects is too many for a WordPress site?
The checker passes a chain of two hops or fewer and warns at three or more. A typical WordPress site can legitimately need two, for instance HTTP to HTTPS and then an old slug to the new one. Aim for a single hop from any old URL to its final address. Each extra hop adds a round trip for visitors and gives crawlers one more request to make. That is a SeoMods threshold, not a Google rule.
Should I use a 301 or a 302 when I move a WordPress post?
Use a 301 when the move is permanent, such as a new permalink structure or a merged post. A 302 or 307 says the move is temporary, so search engines may keep the old address. Check the type on each rule in your redirect plugin. Run the old URL through the checker; the Redirect Path labels each hop as permanent or temporary, so a 302 you did not intend shows up immediately.
Can I check redirects for a whole WordPress site at once?
No. The checker traces one URL per run, so it suits spot checks of the pages that matter most: the homepage, your top posts, a tag archive and an old-structure URL. For a wider crawl of a WordPress site, use the site audit; to find dead links inside one old post, run that post through the broken link checker. Run the same few samples after every plugin or theme change so you notice new chains quickly.
Reference: Ahrefs treats the search engine visibility setting as one of the first things to check, and its guide WordPress SEO: 20 Tips and Best Practices explains why leaving it on keeps Google from indexing your pages.