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If a recipient tells you a link in your email isn’t working — it won’t open, lands on an error page, or gets blocked — the cause is almost always something on their end or on their network, not the email itself. Here’s how to narrow it down.
When click tracking is enabled for your sending domain, Flowforth rewrites every link in your email so it passes through your tracking domain (for example, links.yourchurch.com) before redirecting the recipient to the real destination. This redirect is how we’re able to tell you who clicked what. Some security tools — corporate firewalls, antivirus software, VPNs, and email security scanners — are aggressive about blocking redirect links because they can’t verify where the link ultimately leads. When that happens, the link may fail to open, show a warning, or get stripped out entirely, even though the email and the destination page are both perfectly fine.
Redirect links are the only way to measure link clicks. If you rely on click metrics, you’ll want to weigh that against the small number of recipients whose security tools block redirects.

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Questions to Ask the Recipient

Start by figuring out whether the problem is widespread or isolated to one person or network. These questions usually pinpoint it quickly:

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Is anyone else reporting the same issue?

If it’s just one person, the cause is almost always their device, network, or security software — not the email. If lots of people are affected, see If the issue is widespread below.

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Are you on a VPN?

VPNs frequently route traffic through security scanners that block redirect links. Ask the recipient to disconnect from the VPN and try the link again.

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Have you tried on both Wi-Fi and cellular data?

Switching networks helps rule out a network-level filter. If a link works on cellular data but not on office Wi-Fi, a corporate firewall is the likely culprit.
A simple way to explain this to a recipient: “Some security tools are pretty aggressive about blocking redirect links, which are the only way for us to track clicks. Trying a different network or turning off your VPN usually does the trick.”

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If the Issue Is Widespread

If many recipients — or everyone at a particular organization or domain — can’t use your links, and you don’t need click tracking, you can turn off click tracking for your sending domain. With click tracking off, links point directly to their destination and are no longer rewritten to pass through your tracking domain. To do this, go to your domain settings, open the domain, and disable click tracking.
Turning off click tracking means you’ll no longer see link click data in your email metrics. Open tracking is separate and can stay on.

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Other Things to Check

  • The destination URL is correct. Open the link yourself from the sent email’s Content tab. If it errors or goes to the wrong page for you too, the problem is the link itself — fix it and resend, or share a corrected link.
  • The linked page is still live. If you linked to a Planning Center form, registration, or event that has since closed or been unpublished, the link will error even though tracking is working fine.
  • The recipient’s email app or browser is up to date. Very old email clients occasionally mishandle links.

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Still Stuck?

If links are broken for a broad set of recipients and none of the above explains it, contact support@flowforth.co with the email name and — if possible — the exact link and what the recipient sees when they click it. We can check whether your tracking domain is verified and working correctly.