Why won't reformatted link in SMS work?

[DanaH03]

I'm preparing my first SMS campaign, which is just a short sentence and a link for the event I'm sharing with followers. When setting up the campaign, Constant Contact notes, "Links will be reformatted for tracking purposes." Sure enough, when I received a test SMS to myself, the link I typed in was changed (it looks like they reformat the links to be https:/b/ct.ct.sh/XXXXXX with the XXXXXX custom to my link) which is okay I guess, but the reformatted link doesn't work! I tested Constant Contact's link numerous ways: Clicking link in the next message to open in phone's browser (fail) Typing in the link in my Chrome browser on my laptop (fail) Typing in the link in my Edge browser on my laptop (fail) Typing in the link in someone else's Chrome browser (fail) The message every time it fails: "Check to see if there is a typo in rs6.net. DNS_PROBE_FINISHED_NXDOMAIN" Customer Support was no help.

[William_A]

Hello @DanaH03 ,

Based on the links provided in your chat case, both open for me - including our reformatted one. Even when opening on other devices, networks, and in incognito/private mode I'm not having any issue opening the track rewrite version of your link. 

Based on that, and the explicit error message you received, it's looking more like something on your side is blocking our tracking domain from opening properly. I'd advise going through some standard connectivity troubleshooting to narrow down what the source of the block is - such as checking if the link opens in other browsers, in incognito/private mode, on other devices, or on other networks.

It'll likely come down to you making sure our domains are safelisted in whatever program is blocking the tracking redirection from occurring. 

If none of those alleviate the issues, please call our general support number so they can continue troubleshooting with you live. 

See also:

Connectivity Troubleshooting FAQ

[francesclarkcenter]

I am having this issue as well.  I tested the link with my team - it works for half of us.  Additionally, the reformatted links look like spam links, instead of looking like they lead to our website. Can the reformatted links be edited?  Is there a way I can include the URL without reformatting?

[William_A]

No and no, URLs must be reformatted for link click tracking, and this functionality cannot be turned off for compliance reasons.