UTM parameters are the industry standard for tracking marketing campaigns across different platforms.
But what are they exactly, and how do you use them correctly?
In this guide, we cover everything you ever wanted to know about UTM parameters. You can either jump to a section or follow the guide right the way through.
Table of Content
UTM parameters are extensions of URLs that enable marketers to track the source of traffic to a webpage.
UTM parameters work like “tags” on a URL. When someone clicks on a URL containing UTM parameters, those tags are sent back to your associated analytics tool, such as Google Analytics, for tracking.
There are five UTM parameters:
UTM parameters are the string of characters that come after the primary URL address, starting with a “?” symbol.
For example, a URL with UTM parameters might look like this:
https://blog.loomly.com/brand-trust/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=email-campaign-2020-05-24
Clicking this link would tell our Google Analytics account that you visited the Loomly blog post on “Brand Trust” from our email newsletter campaign dated 24th May 2020.
Fun Fact: “UTM” stands for Urchin Tracking Module. Urchin is the name of the software company that invented the system before Google acquired it in 2005. The Urchin product became “Urchin from Google,” before turning into Google Analytics.
Credit: Urchin.biz
UTM parameters are the industry standard for tracking marketing campaigns across different platforms.
They’re helpful for content marketers trying to understand their most effective campaigns and valuable sources of traffic.
They provide the owner of the URL with information about which blog post, email newsletter, ad, or CTA button, etc., was clicked to direct a visitor to a specific URL.
Nowadays, most analytics tools, marketing apps, marketing automation tools, and CRMs look for these parameters automatically.
UTM parameters accurately track user engagement from outside sources within your analytics platform, such as Google Analytics. They provide more contextual information on how people interact with your content so that you can build better campaigns for your brand.
UTM parameters help you understand more about your website traffic. For example, you can discover:
In short, UTM parameters:
Most major analytics platforms support the use of UTM parameters, especially the source and medium tags.
Plus, marketing apps, marketing automation tools, and CRMs handle these parameters, too.
UTM parameters are simply “tags” added to existing URLs. Anything that comes after the “?” is considered a parameter.
From a user point of view, the UTM parameters are ignored when directing them to a destination URL.
So, for instance, clicking:
https://blog.loomly.com/brand-trust/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=email-campaign-2020-05-24
Is the same as clicking:
https://blog.loomly.com/brand-trust/
But behind the scenes, Google Analytics brings the UTM parameters into their platform and puts the values into the correct dimensions: source, medium, campaign, term, and content.
There are five UTM parameters that you can append to a URL:
According to Google, the first three parameters – source, medium, and campaign – are required. The last two parameters – term and content – are optional fields that add further context to the tracking.
When you add parameters to a URL, you should always use utm_source, utm_medium, and utm_campaign. utm_term and utm_content are optional. utm_ is simply the required prefix for these parameters.
However, according to Holini, only the source parameter is required:
If you leave utm_campaign and utm_medium off, the custom campaign tracking still works, but you’ll see “(not set)” as the value for those fields in Google Analytics.
So, while using only source works, the results are less meaningful.
The easiest way to add UTM parameters to a URL is with a URL builder, such as Google’s Campaign URL Builder or Loomly’s URL Builder (available in Post Builder & Ad Builder):
Let’s take a look at an example.
All you have to do is fill in the fields with relevant campaign information.
For example:
As you populate each field, Loomly builds the URL below:
When you’ve finished adding the UTM parameters, you add the (long) URL to your post or ad — or copy/paste it elsewhere.
Other URL builder tools, like UTM.io and Terminus, offer advanced features that you let define, manage, and enforce UTM naming conventions, so everyone on your team creates URLs consistently.
Here are ten more tools to help you add UTM parameters to a URL:
The order of the UTM parameters doesn’t matter, as long as you start the tags with a question mark (?) and join them with an ampersand (&).
No, UTM parameters are not used for SEO purposes – they’re only used to track the results of the URLs you share online. They’ll neither improve your website’s search rankings nor harm them.
So, UTM parameters have zero effect on SEO.
Follow these best practices when creating your UTM parameters.
Most people recommend using lowercase letters in your UTMs as they are case sensitive. But whatever you decide, make sure you’re consistent.
For instance, Google Analytics would categorize utm_source=twitter and utm_source=Twitter as two different sources.
Matt Cutts recommends using dashes rather than underscores as separators in your URLs. For example, use facebook-ad rather than facebook_ad. Alternatively, you could use the plus symbol, facebook+ad, but don’t leave spaces.
Anyone can see the UTM parameters you use. So it’s best to use plain language that’s easy to understand and doesn’t scare a user from clicking the link. Plus, you don’t want to give away any sensitive or proprietary company information.
Here’s an example of a messy, confusing string:
https://blog.loomly.com/brand-purpose-with-laurent-janneau/?utm_source=Blog&utm_campaign=13b8679dcd-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2019_02_20_07_55_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_3ca412ae04-13b8679dcd-149993002
Using too many words to describe your parameters makes them unreadable. For example, a short tag:
utm_campaign=navigation-menu
Is better than a long one:
utm_campaign=big_drop_down_menu_in_the_navigation_bar
Once you’ve added UTM parameters to your URL, it can get quite long. Using a link shortener helps to keep URLs tidy and manageable.
Loomly’s UTM builder includes the Loom.ly link shortener.
Other link shorteners include Bitly and TinyURL, or Rebrandly for creating branded links.
Track your UTM parameters for all your campaigns in one central location. You could use a UTM tracking tool like Terminus or a spreadsheet. Whatever you decide on, make sure you create a user guide for your team so they know how to read and create the parameters consistently.
Here are a couple of mistakes you’ll want to avoid with your UTM parameters:
Never use UTM parameters on internal links as you’ll lose your tracking data.
For instance, if a user clicks on an internal UTM link, it causes the current session to end and a new session to start. Any subsequent action they take is attributed to the internal source, not the external one that brought them to your site.
Don’t use personal information like someone’s name, email address, or telephone number in the UTM parameters (or any other URL query parameter). The UTM parameters are visible to everyone and should not reveal personal and sensitive information. Plus, it will most likely violate the terms of service of your analytics platform.
Here are three tests you can use to check your UTM parameters.
To test your UTM parameters, enter a tagged URL into your browser and see what happens:
https://www.loomly.com/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=test
If everything is working as expected, the URL should keep the tags and display the page as usual:
If UTM parameters disappear after the page loads, they are not working correctly, and no information will be tracked.
You can also check the “Real-Time -> Traffic Sources” report in Google Analytics to see if the test values you entered are being correctly picked up and reported:
Use the Digiguru UTM Validator tool.
Enter your campaign URL and click the “Validate” button:
Check your results to see what variables will be passed to Google Analytics:
Now you know how to add UTM parameters to a URL, let’s see how you can use them in your social media campaigns.
Google recommends using the Source field to describe the platform that’s sending the traffic. So for social media, you can use the social media platform in the source field:
utm_source=twitter utm_source=facebook utm_source=instagram
Where’s the traffic coming from? It’s coming from Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, or Instagram, etc.
For the Medium field, Google recommends using the generic name of the marketing medium, such as email, blog, or cpc. So for social media, you can use the term “social”:
utm_medium=social
How is the traffic coming to my website? It’s coming via social media.
Google recommends using the Campaign field for specific product promotions or strategic campaigns. You can use whatever is appropriate for your campaign. For example, we might use the campaign name “loomly-studio-post-builder” for our new Loomly Studio feature:
utm_campaign=loomly-studio-post-builder
Why is the traffic coming to my website? It’s coming via our new Loomly Studio campaign.
The Term parameter identifies the paid search term associated with an ad. For example, if we were targeting the keyword “social media calendar” we’d use:
utm_term=social-media-calendar
Which keyword is driving the traffic? It’s the social media calendar ad.
The Content parameter can be used to add any clarifying information to the URL string, such as A/B tests, different CTAs, or buttons. For example, you could specify that the URL is testing two images in your A/B split testing, and “Image 2” was clicked:
utm_content=test-image-2
Or, you may want to specify that this was a Facebook “promoted video post”:
utm_content=promoted-video-post
What content is this? It’s our promoted video post on Facebook.
After you’ve added UTM parameters to your social media campaigns, you’ll want to track their performance.
There are two places where you can find the UTM data within your Google Analytics dashboard:
You can select the three main UTM parameters — Source, Medium, and Campaign — via the Primary Dimension:
But if you want to check the other two parameters – Term and Content – you’ll need to either click “Other” on the Primary Dimension line or select a Secondary Dimension. In Google Analytics:
For example, enter the name of the parameter – Ad Content or Keyword – in the “Secondary dimension” field, and you’ll find the data you’re looking for:
Craft, schedule, & auto-post content to all your social channels, then track analytics and manage interactions from a single, easy-to-use dashboard.
When used correctly, UTM parameters can provide a wealth of information to marketing teams.
You can use UTM parameters with most analytics tools, especially Google Analytics, plus other marketing apps and tools to highlight your best sources of traffic and most effective campaigns.