Bulk replace URLs

[Matt_Perkins]

Following a website re-design, we've faced the requirement to update all our marketo assets to the new revised URLs for our new website.

Rather than having to manually go through each individual asset and updating the multitude of links within them (risking missing some), a find and replace function that allows you to search and replace URLs across our assets would save a lot of time and de-risk the potential of missing updating links across our assets.

[SanfordWhiteman]

But that could never catch URLs that are built from tokens and variables -- and if you used {{my.tokens}} it would also be that much easier to replace.

[Matt_Perkins]

I was thinking about this more from a database perspective where it looks at URLs listed anywhere in your accounts (which could potentially include tokens).

Replacing tokens would be a good idea going forward within emails with the same URL multiple times. But saying that, there is still hundreds of emails, landing pages, forms etc that now need to be updated. Even if you were using tokens that wouldn't cut down the amount of time to go into each program to update the token URLs. (thus my hope for a find and replace)

[SanfordWhiteman]

I was thinking about this more from a database perspective where it looks at URLs listed anywhere in your accounts (which could potentially include tokens).

But that's the thing: URLs are often composed of multiple {{my.tokens}}. There's nothing about a {{my.token}} that signals it'll be used as the value of a query param, or that a variable is used as part of a tracking pixel path.

[Matt_Perkins]

Admittedly it sounds like your URLs creation and use is more complex than we have implemented. The dynamic addition of query parameters or tracking pixel paths makes complete sense. But surely somewhere the base URL is listed?
If tomorrow, you had to update all your link URLs, what would you do to speed up the process beyond manually going into each program and updating the tokens?

[SanfordWhiteman]

Update the hostname {{my.token}} (if just that changed) or the path/page {{my.tokens}} (if they applied) or the UTM param {{my.tokens}}... or use JS to update the links on the page on-the-fly (since at that stage I can read all the links in full). Or would update the central Google Sheet that stores all the asset URLs and gets used by Landing Pages in realtime.

[Jesse_Richard]

Yes! Just went through a similar exercise. Re-did our website, and needed to update all the confirmation emails with the new links. We implemented redirects in the CMS, problem is, Marketo appends tracking parameters to all links, so the redirect doesn't pick up the URL and instead delivers a 404.

[SanfordWhiteman]

But any redirect logic needs to be prepared for additional query parameters. This isn't Marketo doing anything wrong. What do you do when a search engine automatically appends query params? Is that a 404?

[Jesse_Richard]

Organic search results doesn't append any query parameters and we aren't running any PPC ads or other advertisements with querystrings to the old links.

Unfortunately we can't use RegEx santax for these specific redirects because of the nature of the domain structure. For example, we have a link pointing to website.com/solutions/, but Marketo links it to it website.com/solutions/?mkt_tok=#&#&#&#&#&#&#&#&#&#&#&#&#&#&#. If we used RegEx to include any link with preceded with website.com/solutions/ then any page underneath the /solutions/ section (e.g. website.com/solutions/product) would redirect to the top-level page.