UTM parameters on one page.
The five parameters, example links by channel and the mistakes that break campaign reports, in a format you can keep open while you build links.
What each one is for.
| Parameter | Purpose | Example |
|---|---|---|
| utm_source | Where the traffic comes from | newsletter, google, linkedin |
| utm_medium | The type of channel | email, cpc, social |
| utm_campaign | The campaign or promotion | spring_launch |
| utm_term | Paid keyword (optional) | running+shoes |
| utm_content | Tells similar links or ads apart (optional) | hero_button |
Complete links by channel.
| Channel | Link |
|---|---|
| Newsletter | https://example.com/offer?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=spring_launch |
| Paid search | https://example.com/offer?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=spring_launch&utm_term=running+shoes |
| Paid social | https://example.com/offer?utm_source=linkedin&utm_medium=paid_social&utm_campaign=spring_launch&utm_content=carousel_a |
| Organic social | https://example.com/offer?utm_source=instagram&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=spring_launch&utm_content=bio_link |
| QR code on a flyer | https://example.com/offer?utm_source=flyer_main_street&utm_medium=qr&utm_campaign=spring_launch |
Six rules that keep reports clean.
Lowercase
Email and email are different values in reports.
No spaces
Use an underscore or hyphen, and use the same one everywhere.
Consistent names
Agree allowed values for source and medium once, and write them down.
Source, medium, campaign
These three are the ones analytics reports need.
Never on internal links
It starts a new session and overwrites where the visitor came from.
Encode special characters
Spaces, ampersands and non-Latin letters must be percent-encoded.
What goes wrong most often.
Mixed capitalisation and spelling variants split one channel into several rows. Tagging internal links makes organic visits look like campaign visits. Adding UTM parameters to links that are then redirected by a server that drops the query string loses the tags, so test a link end to end.
Shortening a link doesn't remove the tags: the visitor is redirected to the full URL, and the parameters are visible in the address bar.
Build tagged links without typos.
Use the UTM builder, or tag a whole list at once with the bulk builder.
Common questions
Which parameters are required? +
Analytics tools expect source, medium and campaign. Term and content are optional.
Do UTM parameters hurt SEO? +
Not directly. Use a canonical tag pointing at the clean URL so search engines treat tagged and untagged links as one page.
Where do I see UTM data in Google Analytics? +
In the acquisition reports, as session source, medium and campaign.
Can I shorten a UTM link? +
Yes. The short link redirects to the full URL, so the parameters still reach your analytics.