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How to Fix a Broken Link after an Email Has Been Sent :: 4 Simple Steps
Have you ever sent out a large email blast and then received email replies saying one of your links is broken? YIKES! It happens to the best of us.
Luckily, if you use redirect links in your Eloqua emails, you can repair a link after an email has been sent. Any future clicks on this link will magically work...even emails that have already been delivered! This method is super simple but can be a little scary if you're not comfortable with HTML. Don't let the code scare you, though, especially since we won't be editing it at all.
Prerequisite
When you insert hyperlinks into your emails, the Insert as Redirect Link box has to be checked, or this method won't work for you.
How to Update Your Link in 4 Simple Steps
- Open the source code of your email. This can be done with the Edit Source button at the bottom of your email or with the Source Editor selection from the drop-down menu at the top your email. (The method depends on whether your email was setup using templates or imported as HTML.)
- Search for lid= in the HTML code next to the link you need to update. Make note of the number after the equal sign. You'll need this!
HTML newbies, don't be afraid! Just use Ctl+F in your browser to search for lid=, and then look for the human-readable text afterwards that matches the link text in your email. You can do this! - From the Get Started bar, select Tools & Content Components > Redirect Links. Then search for the number you found after lid= in the Start from Link ID (Optional) box. Select the magic carrot next to to the number and click Edit.
- Now, just enter in the correct URL in the Redirect URL field and click Save Redirect Link
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Ta da! Even though your email is already sitting in your recipients' inboxes, all future clicks to this link will work - without some of them even knowing it was broken in the first place. Yay!
Many thanks to Tarek in Customer Support for helping me figure this out. This method works for Eloqua 9...not sure about Eloqua 10.
Comments
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Great tip Betsy! Redirect Links can be managed the same way in Eloqua10 -- at Step 3 in Betsy's post above, navigate to Setup>Redirect Links.
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Great tip Betsy! Redirect Links can be managed the same way in Eloqua10 -- at Step 3 in Betsy's post above, navigate to Setup>Redirect Links.
Thanks, Gaea! That's fantastic that it works the same way in E10. I just upgraded yesterday afternoon...so excited about all the new features!
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Thank you for this! This information saved the day on my first big email send at my new job.
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Thanks for posting Gaea - I've used this several times to help Eloqua users out of a jam and its a gem to know about.
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Thank you for this! This information saved the day on my first big email send at my new job.
So glad it helped you, afreccero! That makes my day!
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This has been great, thanks for sharing. Just used this for the first time to get someone out of a mess. Much appreciated!
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This has been great, thanks for sharing. Just used this for the first time to get someone out of a mess. Much appreciated!
Thanks for letting me know, Eytan! So glad it helped get you out of a pinch!
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What a great idea. Never knew you could even get to those Redirect links once they were created. Awesome!
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What a great idea. Never knew you could even get to those Redirect links once they were created. Awesome!
Glad you like, Gary! It's a great tip to have in your back pocket!
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Betsy - Your tip is awesome!! I've used to fix broken links, and also as a quick, easy way to update a Twitter link (found in the sub-footer of nearly all of our emails) when we changed our username. Thanks!!
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Betsy - Your tip is awesome!! I've used to fix broken links, and also as a quick, easy way to update a Twitter link (found in the sub-footer of nearly all of our emails) when we changed our username. Thanks!!
That's absolutely fantastic, Mickie! So glad it helped you in such a big way!
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Do these instructions still hold true for e10?
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Do these instructions still hold true for e10?
Hi, afreccero, Gaea Connary at Eloqua has confirmed that they do, "Step 3 in Betsy's post above, navigate to Setup>Redirect Links." Since I wrote this post, I've transitioned to Eloqua 10, and the interface looks exactly the same from then on out. Are you guys upgrading to 10, or you already on the new version?
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I tried this trick in E 10 and I get a message that says -
The field labelled "Redirect URL" is not a valid URL. Please ensure the URL starts with http:// and does not contain invalid characters.
And it won't let me save and close.
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I tried this trick in E 10 and I get a message that says -
The field labelled "Redirect URL" is not a valid URL. Please ensure the URL starts with http:// and does not contain invalid characters.
And it won't let me save and close.
Hi Don, I haven't encountered that problem in E10. (We've upgraded since I wrote this post.) Have you tried contacting Eloqua Support? It might be helpful for them to see the exact URL you are trying to use.
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This is great! Thanks for sharing!
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This is great! Thanks for sharing!
Always glad to be helpful, Jennifer! Thanks for letting me know.
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Does this also work for when you replace a content asset (pdf)?
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Does this also work for when you replace a content asset (pdf)?
Hi Aniek, as long as you used a redirect when linking to the content asset originally, I don't see why this wouldn't work like any other URL that you would edit as a redirect. You might want to check with Eloqua support for additional confirmation, though.
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This is great! Thanks for sharing!
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This is great! Thanks for sharing!
My pleasure, Abhishek! Glad to help!
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Thanks, Gaea! That's fantastic that it works the same way in E10. I just upgraded yesterday afternoon...so excited about all the new features!
Hi Betsy,
So we need to put the correct url in both redirect and tracked and then save it as a redirect link.
Thanks
Faizal Reza
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Hi Betsy,
So we need to put the correct url in both redirect and tracked and then save it as a redirect link.
Thanks
Faizal Reza
Hi Faizal, when you insert a link into your email, you need to check the box for either "Redirect" in E10 or "Insert as Redirect Link" in E9, so you'll have the ability to correct the link after an email is sent. I'm not sure I t understand what you mean by "put the correct url in tracked"...so, I'm not sure if I've answered your question fully.
Thanks,
Betsy
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Hi Faizal, when you insert a link into your email, you need to check the box for either "Redirect" in E10 or "Insert as Redirect Link" in E9, so you'll have the ability to correct the link after an email is sent. I'm not sure I t understand what you mean by "put the correct url in tracked"...so, I'm not sure if I've answered your question fully.
Thanks,
Betsy
Hi Betsy,
I got what you were trying to say. Thanks ..........
Faizal Reza
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That just saved me! Thank you!
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Any suggestions for E10, as I have been trying this but step 4 doesn't seem to be working for me at all. Not allowed to enter a redirect URL. thanks
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how to track mailto links and how to change the mailto links once the email is live