ProRank SEO

Redirect Chains & Troubleshooting

Detect redirect chains, fix loops, and solve common redirect issues

Redirect Chain Detection

What are Redirect Chains?

A redirect chain occurs when multiple redirects are linked together (A → B → C → D). These chains slow down page loading, waste crawl budget, and dilute SEO value.

Example Chain

Bad Chain:
/old-page → /interim-page (301)
/interim-page → /temporary-page (301)  
/temporary-page → /final-page (301)

Fixed:
/old-page → /final-page (301)
/interim-page → /final-page (301)
/temporary-page → /final-page (301)
Problems with Chains
  • • Slower page load (each hop adds latency)
  • • Loss of link equity (10-15% per hop)
  • • Poor user experience
  • • Crawl budget waste
Solution
  • • Direct all URLs to final destination
  • • Regular chain detection scans
  • • Update internal links
  • • Monitor external backlinks

Using Chain Detection Tool

Automatic Chain Detection

  1. Run Detection:Click "Check for Chains" button in Redirect Manager toolbar
  2. Review Results:

    The tool will report:

    • • Number of chains detected
    • • Number of redirect loops found
    • • Affected URLs listed
    • • Suggested fixes
  3. Fix Chains:Update each redirect to point directly to the final destination
  4. Verify Fix:Re-run detection to confirm chains are resolved

ProRank SEO automatically deactivates redirect loops to prevent infinite redirects that could crash your site.

Redirect Loops

Understanding Redirect Loops

A redirect loop occurs when URLs redirect back to themselves, creating an infinite cycle. This results in a "Too many redirects" error.

Common Loop Patterns

Simple Loop:
/page-a → /page-b (301)
/page-b → /page-a (301)

Chain Loop:
/page-1 → /page-2 (301)
/page-2 → /page-3 (301)
/page-3 → /page-1 (301)

Self Loop:
/page → /page (301)

Common Causes

  • • Conflicting redirect rules
  • • Server-level redirects conflicting with plugin
  • • HTTPS/HTTP redirect conflicts
  • • WWW/non-WWW redirect conflicts
  • • Trailing slash inconsistencies
  • • Case sensitivity issues

How to Fix

  1. Check browser developer tools for redirect sequence
  2. Review all redirects involving affected URLs
  3. Check .htaccess for conflicting rules
  4. Verify SSL and WWW settings
  5. Remove or fix problematic redirects
  6. Clear all caches after fixing

Common Redirect Issues

Issue: Redirect Not Working

Symptoms

  • • Visiting source URL doesn't redirect
  • • 404 error instead of redirect
  • • Wrong destination

Possible Causes

  • • Redirect is inactive/disabled
  • • Cache not cleared
  • • URL doesn't match exactly (trailing slash, case)
  • • Higher priority redirect overriding
  • • Server-level redirect taking precedence

Solutions

  1. Verify redirect status is "Active"
  2. Clear all caches (browser, plugin, CDN)
  3. Test in incognito mode
  4. Check exact URL match including:
Trailing slash: /page vs /page/
Case: /Page vs /page
Protocol: http:// vs https://
WWW: www.site.com vs site.com
  1. Review redirect priority settings
  2. Check .htaccess for conflicts

Issue: Too Many Redirects Error

Error Messages

  • • "ERR_TOO_MANY_REDIRECTS" (Chrome)
  • • "The page isn't redirecting properly" (Firefox)
  • • "Safari can't open the page" (Safari)

Debug Steps

# Check redirect chain with curl
curl -I -L https://yoursite.com/problem-url

# Check specific redirect
curl -I https://yoursite.com/problem-url

# View all redirects
curl -v -L https://yoursite.com/problem-url 2>&1 | grep "Location:"

Issue: Slow Redirect Performance

Causes

  • • Too many active redirects
  • • Complex regex patterns
  • • Database not optimized
  • • Cache not working

Optimizations

  • • Remove unused redirects
  • • Simplify regex patterns
  • • Use redirect caching
  • • Optimize database tables

Regex Redirect Issues

Debugging Regex Patterns

Pattern Not Matching

Problem: Pattern ^/blog/(.*) not matching /blog/post

Debug:
1. Missing end anchor: ^/blog/(.*)$
2. Check for trailing slashes
3. Verify regex is enabled (is_regex = 1)
4. Test pattern in regex tester

Wrong Capture Groups

Problem: Backreferences not working

Source: ^/(d{4})/(d{2})/(.*)$
Target: /archive/$3/$2/$1

Debug:
- Count parentheses for groups
- $1 = first (), $2 = second (), etc.
- Non-capturing groups (?:) don't count

Performance Issues

Slow Pattern: ^.*something.*$
Fast Pattern: something

Slow: ^(.*).html$
Fast: .html$

Tip: Avoid .* at beginning when possible

Server Conflicts

Server-Level Redirect Conflicts

Server-level redirects (in .htaccess, nginx.conf, or hosting panel) execute before WordPress redirects and can cause conflicts.

Apache .htaccess

# Check for these common conflicts:

# Force HTTPS
RewriteCond %{HTTPS} off
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ https://%{HTTP_HOST}/$1 [R=301,L]

# Force WWW
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} !^www\.
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ https://www.%{HTTP_HOST}/$1 [R=301,L]

# Remove trailing slash
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
RewriteRule ^(.*)/$ /$1 [R=301,L]

Nginx Configuration

# Common nginx redirect conflicts:

# Force HTTPS
if ($scheme != "https") {
    return 301 https://$server_name$request_uri;
}

# Remove WWW
if ($host ~* www.(.*)) {
    return 301 $scheme://$1$request_uri;
}

Resolution Steps

  1. Document all server-level redirects
  2. Check hosting control panel redirect rules
  3. Review CDN redirect settings (Cloudflare, etc.)
  4. Consolidate redirects at one level when possible
  5. Use ProRank for content redirects, server for protocol/domain

Testing Tools

Redirect Testing Methods

Browser Testing

  • • Open Developer Tools (F12)
  • • Go to Network tab
  • • Check "Preserve log"
  • • Visit redirect URL
  • • View redirect chain in Network tab

Command Line Testing

# Follow all redirects
curl -L -I https://yoursite.com/redirect-url

# Show redirect chain
curl -L -I -s -o /dev/null -w "%{url_effective}" https://yoursite.com/redirect-url

# Verbose output
curl -v -L https://yoursite.com/redirect-url

# Test with specific user agent
curl -A "Googlebot" -I https://yoursite.com/redirect-url

Online Tools

  • • Redirect Checker tools
  • • HTTP Status checkers
  • • SEO crawlers (Screaming Frog)
  • • Google Search Console URL Inspector

Best Practices

Prevention Tips

  • ✓ Regular chain detection scans
  • ✓ Document all redirect purposes
  • ✓ Test before going live
  • ✓ Monitor 404 errors weekly
  • ✓ Keep redirect count reasonable
  • ✓ Update internal links directly
  • ✓ Use consistent URL formats

Maintenance Schedule

  • Daily: Monitor critical redirects
  • Weekly: Check 404 errors
  • Monthly: Run chain detection
  • Quarterly: Audit all redirects
  • Yearly: Clean up old redirects
  • As needed: Test after updates

Emergency Recovery

Critical Issue Recovery

Site Inaccessible Due to Redirects

  1. Access site via FTP/SSH
  2. Temporarily rename .htaccess to .htaccess.backup
  3. Disable ProRank redirects via database:
    -- Deactivate all redirects
UPDATE wp_prorank_redirects SET status = 'inactive';

-- Or delete problem redirect
DELETE FROM wp_prorank_redirects WHERE source_url = '/problem-url';
  4. Clear all caches
  5. Access WordPress admin
  6. Fix redirect configuration
  7. Restore .htaccess if needed

Always backup your database before making direct SQL changes. Consider using WP-CLI if available for safer database operations.

Getting Help

Support Resources

Information to Provide

  • • Exact source and target URLs
  • • Redirect type and settings
  • • Error messages
  • • Browser/device used
  • • Cache plugins active
  • • Server type (Apache/Nginx)

Debug Information

  • • Export of problem redirects
  • • Chain detection results
  • • Network tab screenshots
  • • curl command output
  • • Relevant .htaccess rules
  • • PHP error logs

Related Documentation

Overview

Redirect Manager basics

Managing

Create and edit redirects

Regex

Advanced pattern matching