What is the "Redirect Logs" page for?

The Redirections logs page helps you find links that pass through a redirected URL, so that you can update them when appropriate.

For each recorded entry, read the three URLs as follows:

• Referer URL: the referring address sent with the request, which can help you find the page containing the link. Depending on the information sent by the browser, it may contain only the origin of the site.
• Target URL: the requested URL that the link points to before the redirect.
• Redirect URL: the destination recorded for this step. If that destination redirects again, it is not yet the final page.

The table also shows the redirect type, a count and the associated dates. Recorded requests with the same combination of referring, target and redirect URLs are grouped together.

How should you use this information?

1. Find the link on the referring page, if you can edit that page.
2. Open the destination and check that it contains the expected content. If it redirects again, identify the final destination first.
3. If the link should now point to that destination, replace its old URL with the final URL, then check the updated link.

For example, if a link on page A points to B and B redirects to C, change the link from B to C if C is the intended destination. For a temporary redirect, first check whether changing the link is appropriate.

Linking directly to the relevant page avoids an extra step for visitors. Google also recommends updating internal links and avoiding long redirect chains; this does not mean that every redirect is a problem.

What are the limits of this log?

This log is not a complete inventory of every link or redirect on your site. For the logging mechanism to create an entry, the module must have a valid referring URL, requested URL and destination, among other conditions. A request without a referrer may therefore be absent. The module settings also limit how many entries are retained.

Viewing the log does not fix links by itself. Automatic internal link correction is a separate feature that must be configured; you can also edit the links yourself.

Nonexistent URLs are covered by a different page: see the explanation of the 404 error log.