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Re: UTM string being re-arranged on webpage

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NadineRegan
Level 2

UTM string being re-arranged on webpage

What would cause the UTM string to be re-arranged when hitting a webpage?


In MKTO our utm string looks like this when added to emails: 
?utm_source=mkto&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=XXX

 

But when clicking through the link (in some cases) it shows up like this on the webpage: 
?utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=XXX&utm_source=mkto

Anyone have any idea what might be causing this? I am just curious. We've recently changed web platforms and since then have encountered that issue with some pages but not all of them.

PS. I realize this is not really a MKTO question but it is somewhat related so I hope someone will still answer ๐Ÿ™‚

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SanfordWhiteman
Level 10 - Community Moderator

Re: UTM string being re-arranged on webpage

Please link to your page so we can look further.

 

Query parameters are ordered. That is, apples=yes&oranges=no is different from oranges=no&apples=yes. However, the order rarely matters in practice, as code just seeks the value of apples regardless if it came first or second. (Yes, there are major exceptions, but theyโ€™re outside the realm of UTM parameters.)

 

I suspect you have code that parses the query string, inspects each UTM param in a hard-coded internal order, and rewrites it. Confusing but not unprecedented.

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6 REPLIES 6
jsiebert
Level 5

Re: UTM string being re-arranged on webpage

@NadineRegan I'd check to see if there is some sort of redirect rule on your new platform. There may be a RegEx script that is reordering your UTM strings. (Disclaimer: I am no expert on this, just did a quick search and found this Reddit thread)

Jack Siebert
NadineRegan
Level 2

Re: UTM string being re-arranged on webpage

It was indeed a redirect issue, almost not noticeable (one letter changed in the new URL path).

joshhughes
Level 1

Re: UTM string being re-arranged on webpage

@NadineRegan Is it consistent for certain users or links?  Or is it random and inconsistent?  

SanfordWhiteman
Level 10 - Community Moderator

Re: UTM string being re-arranged on webpage

Please link to your page so we can look further.

 

Query parameters are ordered. That is, apples=yes&oranges=no is different from oranges=no&apples=yes. However, the order rarely matters in practice, as code just seeks the value of apples regardless if it came first or second. (Yes, there are major exceptions, but theyโ€™re outside the realm of UTM parameters.)

 

I suspect you have code that parses the query string, inspects each UTM param in a hard-coded internal order, and rewrites it. Confusing but not unprecedented.

NadineRegan
Level 2

Re: UTM string being re-arranged on webpage

Hi Sanford,

 

just as I was ready to provide you with a link to our page I realized that the URL path slighly changed (e.g. guide vs. guides) which seemed to have caused the problem as part of some re-direct we had in place.

Tip for anyone who might see this in the future: Make sure your web team is aware that even the slightest changes to URLs can cause major headaches for someone else. ๐Ÿคฃ

SanfordWhiteman
Level 10 - Community Moderator

Re: UTM string being re-arranged on webpage

Yep, itโ€™s usually something like that. Either query parameters are re-added in a hard-coded order (as I noted above) or theyโ€™re re-added in alphabetical order.