Advice for swapping out existing LP without breaking links?

[Ari_Echt1]

Hi there,

We're in process of creating responsive versions of our landing pages using the new Guided template.

Since we can't change the template of an EXISTING page, that means creating a NEW, separate page, which creates some challenges.

If the EXISTING page you're creating a NEW version of has links all over the place pointing to it, and is referenced in many smart lists, what's the best approach for getting people to the NEW responsive page without breaking URL links and having to update every smart list?

Setting up a redirect from EXISTING to NEW wouldn't be ideal for us as utm values don't get pushed over on the redirect, so we'd lose attribution data.

Any suggestions for handling this process would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.

[SanfordWhiteman]

If you're willing to accept that the user must have JavaScript enabled to preserve the original query string (and to also add the referrer to the query string), then location.replace() is the way to go.

You can fall back to a <NOSCRIPT><META http-equiv="refresh"...> which will send non-JS browsers to the new page, but will not keep the QS/

[Ari_Echt1]

Thanks, Sanford. This might be a solution for the URL piece of the migration.

The other hurdle is updating smart lists that have triggers and filters referencing the EXISTING page. So far, I haven't been able to find a "Used By" report or view for landing pages that shows you all of the locations where a landing page is referenced. If the logic isn't updated to include the new landing page, smart campaigns won't fire and everything breaks.

Anyone come up with any process for this piece?

[Ari_Echt1]

I just did a test using redirect rule in Marketo admin and utm values did get pushed. I had heard or read somewhere that they don't travel — obviously not the case.

[SanfordWhiteman]

Heh, that'll teach me to take your word for it. We only use a couple of redirects so I didn't go back and check.

It's interesting, though, that you can't turn the functionality off.  I can think of situations where I wouldn't want to reflect the query string, including for security purposes.

[Anonymous]

Hey! We're doing something similar -- migrating everything old to new responsive pages. Needless to say, we've got lots of redirects and values are being pushed through! We push through channels and campaign IDs and the new flows recognize it from the old links. We have multiple triggers for the new responsive campaigns, for old links and new links. Querystring contains or starts with has been the two we use.

Hope this helps.

Sara