About utm builder
UTM parameters are tags added to a link so your analytics tool can tell which campaign, source and medium brought each visitor.
The parameters
- utm_source: where the traffic comes from, such as newsletter or instagram.
- utm_medium: the channel type, such as email, social or cpc.
- utm_campaign: the campaign name, such as diwali-sale.
- utm_term and utm_content: optional, for paid keywords and for telling similar links apart.
Keep them consistent
- Use lowercase everywhere, because analytics treats Email and email as different values.
- Avoid spaces; use hyphens.
- Agree on a naming scheme with your team so reports stay tidy.
- Do not add UTM tags to links inside your own site, since they can break session tracking.
Privacy
Do not put personal data such as email addresses in UTM values, because the full URL can be stored in logs and shared.
A worked example
A link to your Diwali offer shared in a newsletter could be https://example.com/sale?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=diwali-sale. In your analytics you will see traffic labelled with those three values, so you can compare it with other campaigns.
Mistakes to avoid
- Using different spellings for the same source, such as Facebook, facebook and fb.
- Adding UTM tags to links within your own website.
- Putting UTM tags on links to pages that redirect, since they can be lost on the way.
