1.2 Indexability & statusCriticalVerified
Redirect loop
A redirect loop is a dead end. The URL never resolves, so neither users nor crawlers ever reach content, and the page is effectively gone.
What it is
Redirects cycle endlessly.
Why it matters
The page is unreachable, so it cannot be indexed or served.
How to fix it
Fix the loop logic.
How to find it on your site
- Run curl -IL on the URL and watch for a cycle that never reaches 200.
- Crawl the site, which will flag URLs that exceed the redirect limit.
- Identify the conflicting rules, often a mix of server, CDN and application redirects.
- Fix the rules so the URL terminates at a single 200 response.
Cross-reference to ranking and citation factors
A looping URL cannot be crawled, indexed, ranked or cited. This is a hard blocker that I fix immediately.
Impact
Severe/blocking for the URL. Direct.
Evidence
Loops make a URL uncrawlable. Google Search Central, Redirects and Google Search; Google Search Central, How HTTP status codes affect Google Search
Sources