Broken redirect: an old URL now returns an error

In brief

A page you had removed cleanly (redirect + removed from the sitemap) now returns a 4xx error: its redirect broke and link equity from backlinks pointing to the old URL no longer flows. Restore the 301 redirect to the equivalent page still online.

WarningP1 — Direct ranking

What is it?

A page you had removed cleanly (redirect + removed from the sitemap) now returns a 4xx error: its redirect broke.

Why it hurts SEO and AI

As long as the redirect worked, the backlinks accumulated by the old URL passed their signals to the target — a 301 should stay in place for at least a year, and forever if external links still point to it. Once broken, the old address becomes a dead end: Google finds an error where it used to follow a path, and link equity stops flowing. The typical cause is silent: a routing refactor that deleted the redirect rule, or the deletion of the target page. Nobody visits these old URLs, so nobody notices — which is exactly why we monitor them.

When it is NOT a problem

The old URL never received backlinks or traffic: the broken redirect has little real impact.
You now want to signal a deliberate permanent deletion with an explicit 410 rather than redirect.
The redirect target has legitimately disappeared and no equivalent page exists: a clean 410 is then consistent.

Before

GET /old-product
-> HTTP/1.1 404 Not Found

After

GET /old-product
-> HTTP/1.1 301 Moved Permanently
Location: https://site.com/new-product

The alert keeps the redirect's original target: no need to dig through your configuration to find it.

How to fix it

Confirm the status the old URL returns (curl -I): does it answer a 4xx instead of redirecting?
Get the redirect's original target (shown in the alert) and check it is still online.
Restore the 301 redirect rule to that target, or to its new address if it moved.
Re-crawl the old URL to confirm it redirects cleanly again.

This scan checks the HTTP status, noindex and canonical of every page

Is this issue on your site?

Do your old redirects still hold? Enter a URL: Seogard watches removed URLs and alerts you when a redirect that was passing backlinks starts returning an error. Free, no credit card.

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Result in ~30 s

What you get back

Signals from historical backlinks flow back into the right page instead of being lost on an error.

Seogard catches this regression automatically — through its monitoring for your metas and canonicals.

Frequently asked questions

How long should a 301 redirect stay in place?

At least a year, and ideally forever as long as external links still point to the old URL, to keep passing their signals.

Why monitor URLs nobody visits anymore?

Precisely because nobody visits them: a broken redirect goes unnoticed for months while it loses the benefit of historical backlinks.

Updated July 10, 2026