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15-minute read
How to Find Internal Redirect Issues [Video Tutorial]
Internal redirects are the way we can direct traffic from one page to another. If applied in the wrong way, URL redirection can cause link juice loss and even ranking drops. In this video, you will find out how to find and fix all internal redirect issues on your website to keep your rankings safe.
Redirects are the way we can direct traffic from one URL to another. They’re easy to implement yet dangerous if managed improperly and can even cause sudden ranking drops.
So, how to check if there are any redirect issues on your website? Let’s find out.
Hey, it's Mary from SEO PowerSuite, the all-in-one toolkit that covers every aspect of SEO. Before we begin, make sure to subscribe to our channel and click the bell icon so you won't miss any upcoming tutorials.
The most common mistake even professionals make is misusing 301 and 302 redirect types. 301 is a server-side redirect indicating that the page is moved permanently. While a 302 is a temporary one.
In most cases, the default setting is 302 until you explicitly indicate the 301 redirection. And here lies the problem: if you use a 301 redirect, search engines stop indexing the old URL and some of its link juice is passed to the new destination.
On the other side, if you use a 302, search engines may continue to index the old URL, and consider the new one as a duplicate, dividing the link juice between the two versions. That may hurt your pages' rankings.
To detect any redirect issues, launch your project in WebSite Auditor and then go to the Site Audit dashboard. Here you should check the Redirect section. Everything that is marked in red should be fixed as soon as possible.
If page 1 redirects to page 2 and this one, in turn, redirects to page 3, and so on, you have a redirect chain. And if a redirect chain ends up with an initial URL, it’s a redirect loop.
As a rule, redirect chains and loops are created accidentally and are just a waste of resources (link juice, crawl budget, page speed).
Fortunately, they can be easily detected by WebSite Auditor in the same Redirects report:
If your site is available both with the www part in its URL and without it (and it should be), or if you have both an HTTP and an HTTPS version of the site, Make sure that these versions are redirecting correctly
To make sure HTTP/HTTPS and www/non-www versions of your site are set up correctly, take a look at those factors in the Site Audit module, under the Redirects section. If any problems are found, you'll get detailed how-to-fix advice in the right-hand part of your screen.
Proper management of redirects is essential to maintain a seamless user experience and uphold your website's SEO ranking. Keep an eye out for any signs of internal redirect issues and address them promptly. And remember, that you can always rely on WebSite Auditor to detect any redirect issue that may occur.
And that’s it for today. If you found this video helpful, make sure to subscribe to our channel and stay tuned for more valuable tips and tricks to optimize your website's performance. Until next time, take care, and happy optimizing!
