HTTP Status Code Checker & Redirect Tracer

Enter a URL to see its status code, each redirect it passes through, the final destination and every response header, with plain-language notes on what matters for SEO.

All options in SEO Utilities

How to Use HTTP Status Checker

1

Enter a URL

Type or paste the full address of the page you want to check, including https://.

2

Choose the request method

Use GET for a normal request, or HEAD to fetch only the headers. Advanced Request Options let you adjust how the request is made.

3

Analyze the response

Press Analyze URL to see the status code, each redirect hop, the final URL and the response headers, with notes on caching, compression, HTTPS and indexing directives.

4

Or analyze headers you already have

If the site blocks automated requests, paste response headers copied from your browser's developer tools and press Analyze Headers.

HTTP Status Checker Guide

What the checker shows

Every web response starts with a three-digit status code: 2xx means success, 3xx a redirect, 4xx a problem with the request such as a missing page, and 5xx a server error. The checker sends a GET or HEAD request to the URL and reports the code, the response time and every header the server sent back, each with a short explanation.

Checks run through the UtiliStudio server rather than your browser. Browsers can only read another site's response when that site allows cross-origin requests, which most do not, so a browser-only checker fails on most of the web. Requests to private and internal network addresses are blocked.

Tracing redirects hop by hop

When a URL redirects, the checker follows each Location header one step at a time and records the real status code of every hop, up to ten. A common chain is http://example.com → https://example.com → https://www.example.com/, which is two redirects where one would do.

For SEO, use a single permanent redirect (301 or 308) from the old URL straight to the final one. Each extra hop slows down visitors and crawlers, and temporary redirects (302 or 307) tell search engines to keep the old URL indexed. Turn off "follow redirects" to see only the first response.

Headers worth checking

X-Robots-Tag can carry noindex for a whole file type, such as PDFs, and is easy to miss because it never appears in the page source. Cache-Control decides how long browsers and CDNs keep a copy. Content-Encoding shows whether text is compressed. Strict-Transport-Security, Content-Security-Policy and X-Content-Type-Options are the security headers most audits ask about.

If you need to check a page that is not publicly reachable, such as a staging site behind a VPN, paste its response headers into the manual analyzer to get the same review.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between a 301 and a 302 redirect?

A 301 means the page has moved permanently, so search engines transfer signals to the new URL and update their index. A 302 means the move is temporary, so the original URL usually stays indexed. Use 301 or 308 for site migrations and HTTPS moves.

Why does the checker show a different status than my browser?

Some sites respond differently depending on the client, location or cookies. A site behind bot protection may return 403 or a challenge page to automated requests while showing the page to you. Compare with headers copied from your browser to be sure.

How many redirects are too many?

Aim for a single hop. Googlebot follows up to 10 redirects, but each hop adds latency for visitors and slows crawling. Update internal links and old redirects so they point straight to the final URL.

What is a soft 404?

A page that says "not found" or shows almost no content but returns status 200. Search engines treat it as an error and may drop it from results. Return a real 404 or 410 for missing pages, and a 301 when there is a relevant replacement.