So this all happened for a good reason

(Read time: 1min 45 sec)

Yesterday, as you know if you read my posts… we ran into a technical issue regarding an example I was trying to set. It had to do with links in emails, and what should show when mousing over them.

In short, I had thought, and told you, that they should show the domain referred to. If the link showed it was Royal Bank, then no… the mouse over should not be showing zingerbabag.de.

I also mentioned to be cautious about URL’s showing with long codes. I apparently needed to be schooled on that as well.

So, without further ado… let’s get to some clarification… I know you’re busy.

The warning stands… that hyper-links and buttons in an email, newsletter or post should be moused over to reveal the true destination of that link. Where we need to adjust the expectation, is what should show.

No… the domain showing in the mouse over will not necessarily show the same domain as the URL. However it SHOULD represent the company sending you the email… your bank’s domain, your department store’s domain, your club’s domain.

Where I learned we need to adjust a couple of my previously suggested expectations is as follows…

Links in most posts are tracked for various reasons… did readers click them and how many times etc. Therefore the links tend to first go through the sender’s domain, or at least the domain they use for their communications, and that’s what will usually show in the mouse over.

COOLCOM now uses (in most cases) COOLCOM.info as our news domain. Therefore our posted links are tracked through COOLCOM.info, and that domain “should” show in the mouse over display regardless of what the URL link actually reads.

EXCEPTION: Our newsletter provider, BeeHiiv.com has a policy of “warming up” a new domain so that the big mail companies (Google, Outlook etc) don’t think there’s a new spammer on the loose. They blend the sender’s domain with their own and as we send more newsies, they will move more of the listed sending domain mail to ours instead of their known domain. This affects both the “From” email address you are seeing and the moused over links…. and hence the “link.mail.beehiiv.com” that showed yesterday.

As for the long codes after the domain… yep, they are probably going to be there usually no matter what… because everyone tracks everything and newsletter software puts them in. I don’t tend to use that info myself right now… I’m just trying to keep you all safe and informed. It’s no easy feat.

So… what I though was some simple advice, wasn’t so simple.

In closing, it’s an example of the complexity of today’s communication and online environment… and why you need a lot of straight talk just to keep your head on straight. I’ll keep doing that…