If you are checking the Page Indexing report in Google Search Console and see “Page with redirect”, don’t immediately assume that something is wrong with your website.
In most cases, this status simply means that Google found a URL that redirects to another URL. Google generally does not index the old or redirected URL. Instead, it may index the final destination URL.
For example:
https://example.com/old-page/
redirects to:
https://example.com/new-page
Google will normally exclude /old-page/ from its index and consider /new-page/ as the page that should potentially be indexed.
What Does “Page with Redirect” Mean?
A Page with redirect is a URL that sends visitors and search engine crawlers to another URL.
This can happen because of:
- A page URL was changed
- HTTP was redirected to HTTPS
- An old URL was permanently redirected
- A website migration was completed
- A URL structure was changed
- Duplicate URLs were consolidated
- A product, service, or blog page was moved
For example:
Old URL:example.com/seo-guide
Redirects to:example.com/seo-guide-for-beginners
If the redirect is intentional and the destination page is correct, there is usually nothing wrong to fix.
Is “Page with Redirect” an SEO Error?
No, not necessarily.
This is an important point.
Google specifically states that redirected URLs are not indexed. The target URL may be indexed depending on Google’s evaluation of that page.
So, don’t try to remove every “Page with redirect” URL from Search Console.
Instead, ask:
Is the redirect intentional and does it point to the right page?
If the answer is yes, you can normally leave it alone.
When Should You Fix It?
You should investigate the redirect when:
- The URL redirects to the wrong page
- An important page redirects unexpectedly
- The redirect points to the homepage without a good reason
- There are multiple redirects before reaching the final page
- The final URL returns an error
- Your internal links still point to the old redirected URL
- Your sitemap contains redirected URLs
For example:
old-page → page-2 → page-3 → final-page
This is a redirect chain. It is better to update the old URL so it redirects directly to the final relevant page.
Google also reports separate “Redirect error” issues when it encounters problems such as redirect loops, excessively long redirect chains, invalid redirect URLs, or URLs that become too long.
How to Fix “Page with Redirect”
1. Check the Redirect
Open the URL reported in Google Search Console.
Check where it redirects.
You can also use the URL Inspection tool to understand Google’s information about the URL and its indexing status.
If the redirect goes to the correct page, you probably don’t need to do anything.
2. Check the Final URL
Inspect the destination URL separately in Google Search Console.
For example:
old-page → new-page
Don’t just inspect the old URL. Inspect new-page and check whether Google has indexed it.
The final URL should ideally:
- Return a successful HTTP response
- Be accessible to Googlebot
- Not have an unwanted
noindexdirective - Not be blocked by robots.txt
- Have useful, unique content
- Use the correct canonical URL
Google’s URL Inspection tool can help check whether Google can crawl and index the destination page.
3. Update Internal Links
If your website still links to the old URL, update those links to the final URL.
For example, instead of:
example.com/old-page
use:
example.com/new-page
This avoids unnecessary redirects when users and Google follow your internal links.
4. Check Your Sitemap
Your XML sitemap should normally contain the URLs you actually want Google to index.
If your sitemap contains:
old-page → new-page
remove the old redirected URL and include the final destination URL instead.
This helps Google understand which URLs are important on your website.
5. Check the Canonical Tag
Make sure the final page has the correct canonical URL.
For example, if:
/old-page/ → /new-page/
then the final page should generally identify /new-page/ as its preferred URL.
Avoid situations where redirects and canonical tags point Google toward different URLs.
6. Use the Correct Redirect
When permanently moving a page, a 301 redirect is commonly used to tell search engines that the old URL has permanently moved to another URL.
For temporary changes, a temporary redirect may be more appropriate.
The important thing is that the redirect should match the actual reason for the URL change.
What If the Redirect Goes to the Homepage?
This is something worth checking.
Suppose you deleted:
example.com/old-seo-guide
and redirected it to:
example.com/
If the homepage doesn’t provide a meaningful replacement for the old content, this may not be the best solution.
If there is a closely related replacement page, redirect the old URL there instead.
If the content was permanently removed and there is no suitable replacement, Google recommends allowing the old URL to return an appropriate 404 or 410 rather than automatically redirecting everything to the homepage.
Should You Request Indexing?
You don’t request indexing for the redirected URL simply because Search Console shows “Page with redirect.”
Instead, inspect the final destination URL.
If you have corrected the destination page and want Google to recrawl it, you can use Test Live URL and then Request Indexing through URL Inspection.
Quick Checklist
If you see Page with redirect, check these things:
- Is the redirect intentional?
- Does it go to the correct page?
- Does the final URL return a successful response?
- Is the final page indexable?
- Is the canonical URL correct?
- Is the final URL included in your sitemap?
- Do internal links point directly to the final URL?
- Are there unnecessary redirect chains?
- Does the destination page contain relevant content?
If everything looks correct, you don’t need to fix the “Page with redirect” status itself.
Final Thoughts
“Page with redirect” is often a normal result of website maintenance, URL changes, migrations, and content consolidation.
The goal isn’t to make the number of redirected URLs in Google Search Console reach zero. The goal is to make sure your important pages have clean URLs, correct redirects, strong internal linking, and are accessible for indexing.
So before making changes, inspect the redirect and its destination. If the redirect is intentional and the final URL is the page you want Google to index, you can usually leave the status as it is.
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