Problem
If the links in your email are not working correctly, there are a couple of issues that may cause this problem:
A. Your CNAMEs were set up incorrectly or not completed.
B. There is some sort of internal block set by your company.
C. The links may have expired.
Solution
A. Incorrect CNAME
Because ClickDimensions now offers CNAME validation directly in CRM the steps below will be useful if your Email CNAME or Domain records return an error at validation. (Since Web Content CNAMEs are saved on the Domain record, the validation will run when saving the Domain.) You can see more detail on your CNAME's error beyond what is provided by the automatic validation.
First click on the link that does not work, then manually replace your CNAME in URL in the address bar with elink.clickdimensions.com or analytics.clickdimensions.com depending on what the link is for (elink for standard links, analytics for web content links and social links). If replacing that takes you to the correct place, then something is wrong with the CNAME. You can test to make sure that is the problem by completing the following steps.
NOTE: If you are on the EU data center, use elinkeu.clickdimensions.com and analytics-eu.clickdimensions.com to perform this test. If you are on the AU data center, use elink.clickdimensions.com and analytics-au.clickdimensions.com.
1. To test your CNAME you can go to your command prompt on your computer (Called "cmd").
2. Type nslookup and then your CNAME. For example if your CNAME is link.resgroup.com, you would type "nslookup link.resgroup.com"
3. Then press enter. If the CNAME is correct, the command prompt will display the following result:
If you typed in the CNAME used for your email links, your command prompt should show your CNAME, elink.clickdimensions.com, and www.messagegears.net here. If the CNAME is incorrect, the Aliases will have your CNAME only or an error message will display.
Check your CNAME and refer to this article to set it up correctly.
B. Internal Company Block
If your links do not work when you try to click them, try instead sending the email to an email address that is not within your company network and click the links there instead. If the links work, then there is an issue within your company network rather than with the links themselves. Check your company firewall settings and spam filters, and confirm that your CNAME is also set up within your company's internal DNS settings.
C. Link Expiration
If your links were previously working and then suddenly stop working, then it is possible that they may have expired. The link expiration terms cannot be extended and the terms for all regions are the following:
- Regular links: Expire after 1 year
- Microsite/View in Browser links: Expire after 90 days
- Unsubscribe links: No expiration