HTTP Status Code & Redirect Checker

Understanding HTTP Status Code Classes

1xx: Informational

Rarely seen in standard web requests. 100 Continue tells a client to proceed with a request body. 101 Switching Protocols is used when upgrading to WebSocket. These codes are handled transparently by browsers and are not meaningful for SEO purposes.

2xx: Success

The request completed successfully. 200 OK is the standard response for a loaded page. 201 Created confirms a resource was created via POST. 204 No Content means success with no body (common for API endpoints and analytics beacons). 206 Partial Content indicates a range request, used for video streaming and resumable downloads.

3xx: Redirection

The resource has moved or is temporarily elsewhere. 301 Moved Permanently is the SEO-safe redirect: it passes full link equity to the destination and tells Google to update its index. 302 Found is temporary and does not reliably pass link equity. 307 Temporary Redirect and 308 Permanent Redirect are HTTP/1.1 equivalents that preserve the request method (important for POST requests). 304 Not Modified means the cached version is still valid, used with ETags and Last-Modified headers.

4xx: Client Errors

The problem is with the request. 400 Bad Request means the server could not parse the request. 401 Unauthorized requires authentication. 403 Forbidden means the server understood the request but refused it (often a firewall or bot-blocking rule). 404 Not Found means the resource does not exist. 410 Gone confirms permanent deletion (stronger signal to Google than 404). 429 Too Many Requests is a rate limit response.

5xx: Server Errors

The server failed to complete a valid request. 500 Internal Server Error is a generic server fault. 502 Bad Gateway means an upstream server returned an invalid response (common with reverse proxies and load balancers). 503 Service Unavailable means the server is overloaded or in maintenance. 504 Gateway Timeout means an upstream server did not respond in time. Repeated 5xx responses on crawled pages will eventually cause Google to reduce crawl frequency or de-index the page.

Why Redirect Chains Matter for SEO

Every redirect hop adds latency and reduces the link equity passed to the final destination. A redirect chain like A to B to C means the PageRank intended for A reaches C diluted through two hops. Google's John Mueller has confirmed that each redirect hop reduces the signal strength passed through the chain.

Beyond link equity, long redirect chains slow down the first byte for users and crawlers. Googlebot has a crawl budget: if it takes three HTTP round trips just to reach your content, it will crawl fewer pages per session. For large sites, this directly affects how quickly new content gets indexed.

• Chains of 3 or more hops should be collapsed to a single 301 pointing directly to the canonical destination.
• Mixed HTTP/HTTPS redirects should always go HTTP to HTTPS in one hop, not through multiple protocol changes.
• 302 redirects on permanent moves should be changed to 301. Using 302 for a page that has been permanently relocated means Google keeps the original URL in its index.
• Redirect loops (A to B to A) cause crawlers to give up and leave the page uncrawled. This tool detects them at 10 hops.

What to Do With Your Results

Fix 5xx errors first: they mean your server is failing and Google is likely already seeing them during crawls. Then address 4xx errors: 404s on pages that used to exist should either be restored or redirected to a relevant page. Finally, review redirect chains and collapse any that are longer than one hop.

• Use the Sitemap Validator to find all the URLs Google is being told to crawl, then bulk-check their status here.
• Use the SEO Content Analyzer on pages with a 200 status to check whether the content itself is optimized.
• Switch the user agent to Googlebot and re-run the check. If a URL returns a different status for Googlebot than for a regular browser, the site may be serving different content based on user agent. Note that real crawler identity also depends on IP verification, not just the user agent string.
• Check with GPTBot to see which pages are blocked for AI crawler training. Use the AI Readiness Checker for a full robots.txt and meta tag analysis.
• Use the Robots.txt Generator to check if your robots.txt is blocking crawlers from reaching pages that should be accessible.
• Run the Schema Markup Validator on pages that return 200 to verify your structured data qualifies for rich results.
• Use the Meta Tag Analyzer on healthy pages to check whether titles and descriptions are optimized for clicks.

Further Reading

HTTP status codes are one piece of the SEO puzzle. These guides go deeper into how redirects, crawl budget, and technical health affect your rankings.

• Crawl Budget Explained covers how redirect chains and 5xx errors eat into the pages Google crawls per session.
• Core Web Vitals Guide explains how redirect latency affects Time to First Byte and Largest Contentful Paint.
• SEO Audit Checklist includes status code checks as a core step in any technical SEO audit.
• Duplicate Content and SEO explains when 301 redirects are the right fix for canonicalization issues.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does this tool check?

It sends an HTTP request to each URL you provide and records the final status code, total response time, all redirect hops with their individual status codes and timing, and the complete response headers from the final destination. You can also simulate how each URL responds to different user agent strings, including Googlebot, GPTBot, or Bingbot, by selecting a different user agent before running the check.

How many URLs can I check at once?

Up to 20 URLs per check. Paste them one per line into the input box. All URLs are checked concurrently, so 20 URLs typically complete in the time it takes the slowest server to respond. The rate limit is 10 checks per hour per IP address.

What do the different status code classes mean?

Status codes fall into five classes. 1xx codes are informational and rarely seen in browser requests. 2xx codes mean success: 200 is a normal page load, 201 means something was created, 204 means no content was returned. 3xx codes are redirects: 301 is a permanent redirect (good for SEO), 302 is temporary (does not pass full link equity), 307 and 308 preserve the HTTP method. 4xx codes are client errors: 404 means the page does not exist, 403 means access was denied, 429 means you hit a rate limit. 5xx codes are server errors: 500 is a general server fault, 503 means the service is temporarily unavailable.

How does redirect chain detection work?

Instead of following redirects automatically, the tool intercepts each redirect response and records the URL, status code, response time, and headers before following the next hop. This gives you a complete picture of the redirect journey, including how long each hop takes and whether any intermediate URLs return unexpected status codes. The tool follows up to 10 hops per URL.

Is my data stored anywhere?

No. The tool fetches each URL in real time on the server and returns the results directly to your browser. Nothing is logged or stored. URLs, status codes, headers, and redirect chains are discarded after the request completes.

Can this tool verify if Googlebot is being blocked?

This tool simulates Googlebot's user agent string, which reveals whether a server uses user-agent-based blocking. However, some sites verify crawlers by reverse DNS lookup on the requesting IP, not just the user agent. A URL that returns 403 for a simulated Googlebot user agent may still be accessible to the real Googlebot. For definitive verification, check your Google Search Console coverage report.

What is the difference between a 301 and 302 redirect?

A 301 redirect tells search engines the page has moved permanently. Google will update its index to the new URL and pass ranking signals to the destination. A 302 redirect signals a temporary move. Google keeps the original URL in its index and may not transfer ranking signals to the destination. Use 301 when a page has moved for good. Use 302 only when you genuinely plan to bring the original URL back, such as during A/B tests or temporary maintenance pages.