Case: 301 chain audit recovered 31% of lost links

Case: 301 chain audit recovered 31% of lost links

A migrated client kept their old links but chained them through 4 redirects. Throughput of link equity was leaking.

Workflow:
1. Export all referring URLs from the legacy domain (1,240 links).
2. Trace each redirect chain, flag any with 3+ hops or a 302 in the path (388 flagged).
3. QA gate: collapse each to a single 301 to the live target.
4. For 142 chains that dead-ended in a 404, run replacement-content reclamation.

Result: 388 chains fixed at the server level, 142 reclaimed via outreach (44 re-pointed by site owners). Net 31% link recovery.

Definition of done: zero chains over 1 hop, all dead-ends dispositioned.

Automation fits at steps 1-2. Step 3 is one regex rule in the redirect map.