Internal links pointing to redirects: fix them
Internal links that hit a redirect waste crawl budget and dilute link equity. Find links pointing to redirected URLs and update them to the final target.
What it means
An internal link on your site points to a URL that ultimately resolves to a different destination through one or more redirects. The browser or crawler follows the chain to the final page, but the link itself doesn't land directly on it.
Why it matters
Each redirect adds latency and costs a crawl budget unit, so chains of redirects can slow Googlebot and waste its crawl budget on repeated hops. AI agents and search snippets also prefer direct paths, since they parse the first resolved URL rather than tracking the full chain. Over time, this dilutes link equity and can push pages lower in ranking.
How to fix it
- Audit internal links pointing to redirected URLs and update them to the final destination.
- Replace 301 redirect chains with single-step redirects where possible.
- Check your canonical tags and hreflang links to ensure they reference the same target as the internal links.
- Verify that your sitemap lists the final URLs, not intermediate redirect URLs.
When it's not a problem
A single redirect is acceptable when it's intentional—such as a permanent site migration or a clean URL shortening. If the redirect chain is short and the final page loads quickly, the impact on crawling and ranking is minimal.
How common is it?
5090 audited sites in our corpus currently show this issue. The breakdowns below show which platforms, gatekeepers, verticals and countries are most exposed.
Related guides
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