# CTA - URL with query string

**URL:** <https://community.hubspot.com/t/cta-url-with-query-string/12470>\
**Category:** Email Marketing Tool\
**Created:** [January 25, 2019, 8:33pm UTC](https://community.hubspot.com/t/cta-url-with-query-string/12470 "2019-01-25T20:33:19Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![mkarsten](https://d10pqhm3lwygmk.cloudfront.net/user_avatar/community.hubspot.com/mkarsten/32/70521_2.png) [@mkarsten](https://community.hubspot.com/u/mkarsten)\
**Post date:** [January 25, 2019, 8:33pm UTC](https://community.hubspot.com/t/cta-url-with-query-string/12470/1 "2019-01-25T20:33:19Z")

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I’d like to auto populate fields when a customer clicks on a CTA from an email to update their communication preferences on a hubspot landing page. I used [https://knowledge.hubspot.com/articles/kcs\_article/forms/can-i-auto-populate-form-fields-through-a-query-string](https://knowledge.hubspot.com/articles/kcs_article/forms/can-i-auto-populate-form-fields-through-a-query-string) to create the following testing string:

[https://info.pitsco.com/communicationprefs?firstname={{contact.firstname}}&lastname={{contact.lastname}}&email={{contact.email}}&the\_pitsco\_network\_e\_newsletter={{contact.the\_pitsco\_network\_e\_newsletter}}&opted\_in\_of\_email\_pitsco\_blog\_instant\_settings={{contact.opted\_in\_of\_email\_pitsco\_blog\_instant\_settings}}&pitsco\_enews\_subscription={{contact.pitsco\_enews\_subscription}}&tetrix\_e\_newsletter\_subscription={{contact.tetrix\_e\_newsletter\_subscription](https://info.pitsco.com/communicationprefs?firstname=%7B%7Bcontact.firstname%7D%7D&lastname=%7B%7Bcontact.lastname%7D%7D&email=%7B%7Bcontact.email%7D%7D&the_pitsco_network_e_newsletter=%7B%7Bcontact.the_pitsco_network_e_newsletter%7D%7D&opted_in_of_email_pitsco_blog_instant_settings=%7B%7Bcontact.opted_in_of_email_pitsco_blog_instant_settings%7D%7D&pitsco_enews_subscription=%7B%7Bcontact.pitsco_enews_subscription%7D%7D&tetrix_e_newsletter_subscription=%7B%7Bcontact.tetrix_e_newsletter_subscription)}}

But when I paste this in the CTA URL and save I get the error, "Something went wrong. The changes to your CTA were not saved. Please choose a valid redirect URL. (I cloned another CTA, and was updating for this new CTA).

The only thing I can think of is, I’m selecting External website URL, since the HubSpot page or blog post option is a drop down and doesn’t allow for the custom string.

So, is the only way to get auto-populated fields on a page from an email to place a button image and use the hyperlink option? I’d like to have the CTA tracking, so hoping I’m just missing something in the settings.☹

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**Author:** ![MFrankJohnson](https://d10pqhm3lwygmk.cloudfront.net/user_avatar/community.hubspot.com/mfrankjohnson/32/22490_2.png) [@MFrankJohnson](https://community.hubspot.com/u/MFrankJohnson)\
**Post date:** [January 25, 2019, 8:46pm UTC](https://community.hubspot.com/t/cta-url-with-query-string/12470/2 "2019-01-25T20:46:26Z")

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You are correct. HubSpot CTAs cannot be modified in the fashion you’ve described. Your options are to use either linked text or a linked image (e.g., button image).

Note: While you won’t have CTA-tracking, all links in email are tracked, so … no loss there.

Help answer your question? If so, remember to accept this solution now.

Best,  
Frank

Author, the [_Perfect HubSpot_ Series](https://mfrankjohnson.com/blogs/marketing-lab/tagged/_featured/?utm_source=hs-forum)

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[MFrankJohnson.com](https://www.mfrankjohnson.com/?utm_source=hs-forum) | [Connect on LinkedIn](https://www.LinkedIn.com/in/mfjlabs)

 

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![mkarsten](https://d10pqhm3lwygmk.cloudfront.net/user_avatar/community.hubspot.com/mkarsten/32/70521_2.png) [@mkarsten](https://community.hubspot.com/u/mkarsten)\
**Post date:** [January 25, 2019, 8:51pm UTC](https://community.hubspot.com/t/cta-url-with-query-string/12470/3 "2019-01-25T20:51:07Z")

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Darn! Thanks for resolving.