Internal links that go through a redirect
What it is
The page links to one or more addresses on your own site that redirect to a different URL. The links still work, but each one costs an extra request and names an address you have retired. The finding lists each link with the URL it ends at.
Why it matters
Every redirect adds a round trip before the page loads, which visitors on slow connections notice. Google follows up to 10 redirect hops and advises avoiding long redirect chains , so a single hop does no great harm, but links that name the final URL send a clearer signal about which address is the real one. When you move pages, Google recommends changing internal links to the new URLs.
How Asky checks it
Asky reads the page’s links from its raw HTML (JavaScript links are not seen) and looks up each target on the page’s own host among your audited pages. A link is reported when its target’s last fetch ended at a different URL, unless the redirect only changes a trailing slash, http to https or www. Asky does not request link targets itself, so only pages from your sitemap are judged. The redirecting URL is also reported as a redirect while your sitemap lists it. It runs in full-site audits and selected-page audits of up to 8,000 pages, with Link analysis on, that reached every page without blocks or errors; error pages are skipped.
Reported as a warning with medium severity.
How to fix it
- Open the finding: each link shows the address it ends at.
- Change each link to that final address. For links in menus, footers or reusable blocks, fix the template once.
- If the final address is not the page you meant, fix the redirect first, then link to the right page.
- Keep the redirect itself in place, so bookmarks and links from other sites still arrive.
- List the final URL in your sitemap instead of the redirecting one.
Example
The pricing page moved from /plans to /pricing, and https://example.com/blog/pricing-guide still links to the old address:
<!-- Before: /plans answers 301 to /pricing -->
<a href="/plans">Compare plans</a>
<!-- After -->
<a href="/pricing">Compare plans</a>