Flatten the redirect chain

Problem

Reaching the final URL takes more than one redirect hop. The most common chain is http → https → www → apex — three requests before any content.

Why it matters

• Each hop adds a full round trip (DNS + TCP + TLS on host changes) before the page loads.
• Search engines follow limited chains and dilute link equity across hops.
• Crawl budget is spent on redirects instead of content.

How to fix

1. Decide the canonical origin once (e.g. https://example.com).
2. Make every variant redirect directly to the canonical URL in a single 301.
3. Update internal links to point at the canonical URL so no redirect fires at all.
4. Verify: curl -sIL http://www.example.com | grep -i location — one Location line is the goal.