Speed
Send visitors straight to the final address
Getting to your page takes more than one redirect, so every visitor makes a series of extra round trips before they see anything.
Why it matters
Each redirect is a complete extra conversation with a server, and none of it draws a single pixel. A visitor following an old link pays that cost before the real page even begins to load, which is why a slow page is often not slow at all: it is busy hopping. Redirects are also usually a sign of two rules fighting each other, so the same visitor may land on two different addresses for the same page over time.
How you would notice it
- Pasted links from old emails take noticeably longer to open than links from your own site.
- Entering your address without www takes a visible pause before the page starts.
- A link checker reports a chain rather than a single hop.
What to do
Stage 1
- See the chain for yourself. Enter your address into a redirect checker and read the list of hops it reports.
Try all four variants: with and without www, and with and without a trailing slash. Each one should reach the site in a single hop.
https://www.redirect-checker.org/Stage 2
- Find the rules causing the hops. Two rules pointing at each other is the usual cause, such as a forced www and a forced trailing slash applied in the wrong order.
The aim is one rule that goes from any variant straight to the final address, rather than two rules each handling half the journey.
# nginx
server {
listen 80;
server_name example.com www.example.com;
return 301 https://www.example.com$request_uri;
}Stage 3
- Update the links you control so they point at the final address directly. On an old site this is usually the navigation, the footer, and any links in your email signature.
This is the half of the problem that lives in your content rather than your configuration, and it is the half owners usually miss.
- Ask anyone linking to you to point at the final address, starting with your directory listings and social profiles, which are the easiest to change.
How to check it worked
Confirm it worked
Run the redirect checker against the old address again and confirm it reaches the site in one hop. Then click a link from your own navigation and watch the address bar: it should not change at all after the page starts loading. Re-run the Siege Test and confirm the redirect recommendation is gone.