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Redirect checker

Paste a tagged link to follow it through every redirect and see, hop by hop, whether its UTM parameters and ad click IDs reach the final page.

Paste the exact link you share, short links included. We follow it once to show you the result.

Tag the final URL, not the redirect. The free UTM builder builds the link and the UTM link checker reads its tags. A free account keeps every campaign link in one place for your team.

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When a landing page redirects, the campaign information appended to it can be lost on the way. Google's troubleshooting help for Ads clicks and Analytics sessions names GCLID and UTM parameters as the information that is lost when a landing page redirects. Google's own test is to add parameters such as ?utm_source=test to a landing page URL and see whether they persist after the redirect and on the final landing page. Paste your tagged link into the checker above.

Redirects

Why a redirect drops campaign tags

A redirect is a response with a 3xx status code. RFC 9110 defines that class as a sign that further action needs to be taken by the browser to fulfil the request. The status codes 301 (Moved Permanently), 302 (Found), 307 (Temporary Redirect) and 308 (Permanent Redirect) say the page might be available at a different URI, given in the Location header. A 301 means the page has been assigned a new permanent URI; a 302 means it resides temporarily under a different URI.

For a 3xx response, the Location value is the preferred target for redirecting the request automatically.

Google's page on (direct) / (none) traffic lists redirects among the things that can strip UTM parameters from the URL, for example a redirect from one site to another or from a secure site (https) to a non-secure one (http).

Google Ads auto-tagging adds a parameter called GCLID, short for Google Click Identifier, to the URLs people click through from an ad. If your website uses redirects, Google asks you to make sure the GCLID is passed to the final landing page in order to track conversions.

Fix

How to fix a redirect that loses tags

If the redirect is not needed, put the final landing page URL, tagged, in the campaign instead.

If the redirect has to stay (a short link, an old campaign URL, a move to a new domain), run the same test again after changing it. Google's troubleshooting help describes it: add parameters such as ?gclid=test or ?utm_source=test to the landing page URL and check that they persist after the redirect and on the final landing page. Google also advises making sure your Google tag (for Google Analytics) fires before any redirects occur.

The part of a link after the # behaves differently. When the Location value of a 3xx response has no fragment, the browser must process the redirect as if it inherits the fragment of the original link.

Then check the tags in the link itself with the UTM link checker, and run the campaign link preflight checklist before the campaign goes out.

Limits

What the checker cannot see

  • The checker follows HTTP redirects and meta refresh tags, up to 10 redirects. It does not run the page's JavaScript, so a redirect made by a script is not followed.
  • It requests the link from our server, not from your visitor's browser or country. A site that sends visitors elsewhere by location, device or cookie can answer a visitor differently, and some sites answer automated requests with a bot challenge. It connects over IPv4 only, so a site with IPv6 addresses alone is not followed.
  • It reads the URL on each hop. It does not check that your analytics tag is installed or that the final page records the visit.
  • Tracked: the UTM parameters, Google Ads click IDs (gclid, gbraid, wbraid), dclid, _gl, fbclid, msclkid, ttclid, li_fat_id and twclid.

Questions, answered

Before you send the link.

Why do redirects remove UTM parameters?

A 3xx redirect sends the browser on to the URL in its Location header. Google notes that redirects, for example from one site to another or from https to http, can strip UTM parameters from the URL.

Does a redirect keep the part of the link after the #?

Yes, when the Location value has no fragment of its own. The browser must treat the redirect as if it inherits the fragment of the original link.

What is the difference between a 301 and a 302 redirect?

A 301 (Moved Permanently) means the page has been given a new permanent URI. A 302 (Found) means it is temporarily at a different URI.

Does the Google Ads click ID need to survive redirects too?

Yes. Google Ads adds a GCLID to the URLs people click through from an ad, and asks sites that use redirects to make sure the GCLID is passed to the final landing page so conversions can be tracked.

Sources