How do I prevent 301 redirect chains during page migrations?

Short answer: The rule is simple: every old URL should 301 to its final destination in a single hop. Chains appear when new redirects get stacked on top of old ones; prevention means a complete redirect map before the migration and updating legacy redirects to point at the new final target.

Migration discipline

• Build a full URL inventory first: merge crawl data, server logs, sitemaps, and Search Console lists.
• Keep a one-to-one map from old to new URLs; avoid the blanket redirect to the homepage, which produces soft 404s.
• Update legacy redirects to the new final address; do not let http, https, and trailing slash variants stack on each other.
• Do not entrust internal links to redirects; point template links directly at the new URLs.
• Google's documentation states Googlebot follows up to 10 hops; every hop adds latency and a risk of signal loss.

Post-launch validation is mandatory: check Screaming Frog's redirect chains report and your logs, and keep the 301s live permanently.