Redirect chains occur when a URL does not lead directly to the target page but passes through a further redirect, sometimes even three or four. They build up gradually, particularly after repeated migrations and structural changes, when new rules are added to old ones without cleaning up. The consequence is slower loading for the user, wasted crawl budget, and, with longer chains, the risk that a bot never reaches the target at all. A loop, where the redirects spin round in circles and the page never loads, is especially dangerous. The solution is mechanical: map the existing rules, rewrite each redirect so it leads directly to the final URL, and remove rules that no longer have a source. Likewise, fix internal links that still point to the old URLs.
See also: Website migration without losing rankings, Crawl budget, Soft 404.
