Checks / Links, canonical and speed
Meta refresh redirect
A <meta http-equiv=refresh> redirect is slow and not every crawler follows it.
meta_refresh · Links, canonical and speed · Notice
What triggers it
A page has a meta refresh tag (<meta http-equiv="refresh">).
What to change
Replace it with a server-side 301 redirect.
Example
Server setting:
# nginx
location = /old-page { return 301 https://example.com/new-page; }How to confirm the fix
- View Source and search for http-equiv="refresh": no match
- Run curl -sI on the old address: a 301 status and a Location header
How common it is
We have not measured how common this is on a sample of sites. Counts appear here when a study covers it.
About this check
| Check ID | meta_refresh |
|---|---|
| Report section | Links, canonical and speed |
| Severity | Notice |
| How it is decided | Measured: read directly from the page or the server's response. |
| Added | Version 3, 19 October 2026 |
| Status | Measured in every report |
| Report gives the code | No, the fix is described in words |
Related checks
- Internal links point to redirects
- The home address changes language with the visitor's browser
- Pages cannot be revalidated
- Indexable page missing from the sitemap
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