Page with redirect in Search Console: meaning and fix

What "Page with redirect" means

Google's definition is short: the URL is a non-canonical URL that redirects to another page, so this URL will not be indexed. Google requested the URL, got a redirect (a 301, 302, 307, 308, or a meta refresh), and followed it to a different address. The address that was redirected is never indexed itself; the page at the end of the redirect is the one that can be.

So the report isn't saying a page is missing from Google. It's saying "this address is an old or alternative way to reach a page that lives somewhere else". The question to answer is whether that is what you intended.

http://example.com/shoes      301 →  https://www.example.com/shoes/
(listed as "Page with redirect")       (the URL that can be indexed)

When it is normal

Most URLs in this report are there on purpose. You don't need to do anything when they are:

• HTTP versions of pages that redirect to HTTPS.
• The other hostname: example.com redirecting to www.example.com, or the reverse.
• Trailing-slash variants, such as /shoes redirecting to /shoes/.
• Old URLs from a redesign or migration that redirect to their new homes.
• Deleted pages redirected to a close replacement.

Google keeps finding these through old links, both on other sites and in its own memory of your site, so they can sit in the report for years. That is expected. The count going up after a migration is a sign the redirects work.

When it is a problem

It's worth acting when a URL in the list is one you want in search results, or when the redirect goes somewhere it shouldn't:

• The URL is in your XML sitemap. A sitemap should list final, canonical URLs. A redirecting URL in the sitemap is a mixed signal and usually means the sitemap is out of date or uses the wrong protocol or hostname.
• Your internal links point at it. Every visit, and every crawl, goes through an extra hop. Over time this adds up to slower pages and wasted crawling.
• The canonical tag points at it. If page A says its canonical is URL B, and B redirects back to A or elsewhere, Google receives contradictory signals.
• The redirect target isn't indexed either. The report only covers the redirecting URL. If the destination is a 404, noindex, or itself redirects, the content isn't indexed anywhere.
• A page you need redirects by accident: a plugin rule, a language or geo redirect, or a login wall that sends Googlebot to the homepage.
• Many old URLs redirect to the homepage. Google's site-move guidance warns that redirecting many old URLs to one irrelevant destination, such as the homepage, confuses users and may be treated as a soft 404. See soft 404 errors.

How to check the URLs

Open the report in Search Console (Indexing, then Pages, then Page with redirect) and export the example URLs. Then trace each one, so you can see every hop and where it ends:

For each URL, note three things:

1. Where it ends. The final URL should return 200 and be a relevant page, not the homepage or a 404.
2. How many hops it takes. More than one is a redirect chain worth flattening.
3. The type of redirect. Use a permanent redirect (301 or 308) for anything that has moved for good. Google treats a permanent redirect as a signal that the target should be canonical, and a temporary one as a signal to keep the original. See 301 vs 302 redirects.

Then check that the destination itself is indexable. Inspect it with the URL Inspection tool in Search Console, or check robots.txt, noindex and status for many destinations at once with the Noindex & Indexability Checker.

Finally, check whether any of the redirecting URLs appear in your sitemap. The Sitemap URL Extractor lists every URL in it, and you can paste that list into the redirect checker. Any sitemap URL that redirects is worth fixing.

How to fix it

1. Leave intended redirects alone. HTTP to HTTPS, hostname, trailing-slash and migration redirects are doing their job. Don't remove them; links from other sites still use the old URLs.
2. Update your sitemap so it lists only the final URLs. Most sitemap plugins and platforms do this automatically, but hand-made or old sitemaps often still list http:// or non-www addresses.
3. Update internal links in menus, footers, templates and content to point straight at the final URL.
4. Make canonical tags point at final URLs, never at an address that redirects.
5. Fix accidental redirects. If a page you want indexed redirects, find the rule: in your server config, a redirect plugin, your CDN, or the platform's URL redirect settings. Geo or language redirects should not send Googlebot away from the page it asked for.
6. Redirect old pages to their closest match, not to the homepage. If there is no equivalent, a 404 or 410 is the honest answer.

WordPress

Check Settings, then General: the WordPress Address and Site Address must use the same protocol and hostname as your live site, or every URL gets an extra redirect. Redirect plugins (Redirection, Yoast Premium, Rank Math) keep their own lists, so look there for rules that catch more than intended. The sitemap your SEO plugin generates should only contain final URLs.

Shopify

Shopify redirects the myshopify.com address and non-primary domains to your primary domain, so those show up here and are fine. Your own redirects are in the admin's URL redirects list (search the admin for "URL redirects"). Check for redirects that point at pages which no longer exist.

Should you click Validate fix?

Only if you changed something. For URLs that are meant to redirect, there's nothing to validate, and they will stay in the report because they keep redirecting. Validation is optional in any case; Google recrawls the URLs over time regardless. For the pages you fixed, use URL Inspection and Request indexing on the most important destination URLs.

Questions