Redirect Auditor: check every redirect chain on your domain
Enter a domain and the Redirect Auditor tests all four canonical variants at once — https, https-www, http and http-www — follows every redirect chain to its destination, and grades each one for the correct target, status, single-hop and permanent (301) redirects. It then hands you ready-made server rules to fix anything it finds.
What the Redirect Auditor checks
Most redirect checkers test a single URL. The Redirect Auditor tests the four addresses every site has — https://, https://www, http:// and http://www — in one run, then follows each one's redirect chain hop by hop to its final destination. It auto-detects your canonical target from the https variant and grades every other variant against it: does it reach the right canonical URL, does the final page return 200, does it get there in a single hop, and does it use a permanent 301 rather than a temporary 302? You can also add a deep subpage path to confirm your redirects preserve the full path instead of collapsing visitors onto the homepage.
Redirect chains, loops and extra hops
Every redirect chain is laid out hop by hop, with the URL and HTTP status at each step, so you can see exactly where a request travels before it lands. The auditor flags any variant that takes more than one hop and tells you to consolidate it to a single 301 — each extra hop adds latency and leaks link equity, and search engines stop following long chains. Because it walks the chain step by step rather than jumping to the end, it surfaces the multi-hop detours and circular forwarding that a final-URL-only checker would hide.
301 vs 302, HTTP to HTTPS and www canonicalisation
The auditor reads the status code of every hop and distinguishes permanent redirects (301/308) from temporary ones (302/303/307), because only permanent redirects reliably consolidate ranking signals onto the destination. It checks that your http:// and http://www variants are forced to HTTPS, and that your www and non-www addresses all resolve to one canonical host. If variants land on different hosts it raises an inconsistent-canonicalisation issue — the classic split that dilutes a site across two versions of itself.
Issues, recommendations and AI explanations
Findings are grouped into a prioritised issue list — high, medium and low severity — covering temporary redirects, multi-hop chains, HTTP not forced to HTTPS, dropped subpage paths, inconsistent canonicalisation and a missing HSTS header. The 'Ask AI to explain' button turns that list into a short, plain-English brief of what is wrong and the exact fix, ordered by impact. If a site sits behind a firewall that answers our checker with a 403 or 429, that hop is clearly marked unverifiable with its status code, so the report always tells you exactly what was reached at every step.
One-click redirect rules for Apache, NGINX and Caddy
Once you know your canonical, the built-in redirect generator writes the server config to enforce it. Pick www or non-www and it produces single-hop, path-preserving 301 rules for Apache (.htaccess), NGINX server blocks and Caddy — each covering http to https and www to non-www in one redirect. Copy the block for your stack, paste it into your server config, and re-run the audit to confirm every variant now reaches your canonical in a single permanent hop.
- Reaches the correct canonical target (one chosen host + scheme)
- Final status is 200 (the page actually loads)
- Gets there in a single hop (no chained redirects)
- Uses a permanent 301/308 (not a temporary 302/303/307)
A free auditor inside a full SEO suite
The Redirect Auditor is free with a RankNibbler account and saves every audit to a history you can revisit or share by permalink. It sits alongside the rest of the suite, so the redirect issues it surfaces connect straight to a full Site Audit and to Change Monitoring that watches for redirects appearing or breaking after a deploy. No per-check limits, no paid gate — just the checks and the fixes.
How to audit your domain's redirects
Three steps:
1. Enter your domain
Type your domain (for example example.com) and, optionally, a deep subpage path to test as well. The starting scheme is just the entry point — the auditor tests all four variants.
2. Run the audit
Run it and the tool follows the redirect chain for https, https-www, http and http-www, detects your canonical target and grades every variant for target, status, single-hop and permanent 301.
3. Fix and re-check
Open the issue list, copy the generated single-hop 301 rules for Apache, NGINX or Caddy into your server config, then re-run the audit to confirm every variant lands on your canonical in one permanent hop.
Frequently asked questions
What does a redirect auditor do?
It traces the path a URL travels from the address you enter to its final destination, recording every redirect hop and its HTTP status along the way. RankNibbler's Redirect Auditor goes further by testing all four variants of your domain at once — https, https-www, http and http-www — and grading each against your detected canonical for the correct target, a 200 status, a single hop and a permanent 301.
How do I check the redirect chain for my domain?
Enter your domain, optionally add a deep subpage path, and run the audit. The tool follows each variant's redirects step by step and shows the full chain — every URL and status code — so you can see exactly where a request goes and how many hops it takes before it lands.
How can I tell if a redirect is a 301 or a 302?
The auditor reads the status code at every hop and labels it. A 301 (or 308) is a permanent redirect that passes ranking signals to the destination; a 302, 303 or 307 is temporary. If any redirect in your chain is temporary, the tool flags it and recommends switching to a permanent 301.
How many redirects in a chain is too many?
Aim for none — a single hop straight to the destination. Search engines typically follow only around five hops in a chain before giving up, and each extra hop adds latency and bleeds link equity. The Redirect Auditor flags any variant that takes more than one hop and tells you to consolidate it to a single 301.
How do I check if www redirects to non-www correctly?
The auditor tests your www and non-www addresses together and checks that they all resolve to one canonical host in a single permanent redirect. If your variants land on different hosts, it raises an inconsistent-canonicalisation issue so you can pick one version and 301 the rest to it.
Does it check that HTTP redirects to HTTPS?
Yes. It tests the http:// and http://www variants and confirms each is forced to HTTPS with a 301. If HTTP isn't redirected to HTTPS, the tool flags it as a high-severity issue, and the redirect generator produces the rule to fix it.
Can it detect a redirect loop?
Yes. Because the auditor follows each chain hop by hop and caps how far it will travel, circular forwarding and runaway chains surface in the hop-by-hop breakdown rather than silently failing, so you can see where the loop occurs.
Is the Redirect Auditor free?
Yes. It's free with a RankNibbler account, with no per-check limits, and it's part of the wider RankNibbler SEO toolset alongside the Site Audit and Change Monitor.
Audit your redirects
Enter your domain and the auditor traces all four variants, grades them and hands you the fix — it's free.