A redirect chain occurs when a URL redirects to another URL, which then redirects again to yet another URL, before finally reaching the actual destination page, rather than redirecting directly in a single step.
Redirect chains slow down page load times (since each additional hop adds latency) and can dilute link equity passed through the chain, while also wasting crawl budget as search engines follow each redirect step.
The fix is straightforward: update all redirects to point directly to the final destination URL in a single step, eliminating unnecessary intermediate hops entirely.
Redirect chain cleanup is a standard part of our Technical SEO audits.