Businesses use multiple channels in digital marketing. But even when things seem to go well, without knowing exactly where your traffic comes from, you could be wasting budget on underperforming channels while overlooking those that could deliver better results with just a bit more focus.

This is where UTMs save the day. They offer a simple yet powerful way to understand where your website visitors originate. UTM data provides valuable insights that help you refine your marketing strategy, doubling down on what works and cutting effort where it doesn’t.

What is a UTM in marketing? Why does it matter? And how do you create a link with one? Read on to find the answers to these and other questions.

What Is A UTM In Marketing?

A UTM, short for Urchin Tracking Module, is a small text snippet added to the end of a URL to help marketers understand where their website traffic comes from, such as Facebook, Google Ads, newsletters, ChatGPT, or a QR code someone scanned.

The idea isn’t new. It goes back to the early 2000s, when a company called Urchin Software built one of the first website analytics tools. Google acquired Urchin in 2005, turning it into what we know as Google Analytics now. The tracking codes Urchin created, known as UTM parameters, survived every version of Analytics since then, up to GA4.

What Is An Example Of A UTM?

A link with a UTM can look like this:

https://yourbaselink.com/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=winter_sale

When someone clicks a link that contains UTM parameters, it passes information to your analytics tool. The tool reads the tags attached to the end of the URL to record where the visitor came from and which campaign led them to your page.

In the example above, the UTM tells the analytics tool that the user came from Facebook ads as part of the Winter Sale campaign. With that information, you can see which platforms and campaigns actually drive clicks, signups, sales, or other conversion events.

Why UTM Tracking Matters

The role of UTM in digital marketing is huge. Let’s see why.

1. UTMs help track website traffic more effectively

UTMs show exactly how visitors found your website. They reveal whether someone clicked a Google ad, an Instagram post, an email link, or a partner referral.

By tagging each source and medium, marketers can see which platforms and channels actually bring in the most engaged users.

2. You can see which campaigns deliver real results

UTM data helps you find out which campaign or channel led to a conversion. When you know which ads or emails contribute most to conversions, you can optimize your efforts toward the ones that make a real impact.

3. It becomes easier to fine-tune your marketing strategy

Again, by analyzing performance across different sources and mediums, you can adjust your approach in real time, scaling what performs best and cutting back on what doesn’t. This way, cross-channel tracking helps prevent wasted effort, helping you focus on the channels that bring the best return.

4. Measuring ROI becomes more accurate

Because each tagged link ties results back to a specific campaign, UTMs make ROI calculation far easier. You can compare how much you spent on a channel versus the conversions or revenue it generated.

UTM Parameters Explained

A UTM link consists of several parameters, each answering a different question about your traffic. There are five standard UTM parameters:

1. utm_source

The utm_source parameter identifies where the traffic came from — the specific platform, website, or sender that directed a visitor to your page, for example, utm_source=instagram, utm_source=google, or utm_source=newsletter. If you use UTMs at all, this one is required.

1. utm_medium

The utm_medium is another parameter you shouldn’t skip. It indicates the type of traffic channel, helping you separate paid traffic from organic visits in the first place. Otherwise, analytics systems will assume the traffic was organic by default. Common examples include utm_medium=cpc (cost per click), utm_medium=ppc (pay per click), utm_medium=retargeting, utm_medium=social, etc.

1. utm_campaign

The utm_campaign parameter shows the specific campaign connected to your link. It can reflect a seasonal offer, a funnel stage, or a goal, for example, utm_campaign=winter_sale_2025, utm_campaign=prospecting, utm_campaign=customer_education, or others. You can build your naming system however you prefer, using dates, goals, audiences, locations, and more. While this parameter isn’t strictly required, it’s one of the most valuable for campaign performance measurement.

1. utm_term

Originally designed for paid search, utm_term recorded which keyword triggered a paid search ad, helping marketers connect clicks to specific search phrases. With today’s automated keyword tracking in Google Ads and other platforms, it’s less essential for that purpose. However, you can repurpose it to mark target audiences or segments, such as utm_term=lookalike, utm_term=remarketing, utm_term=interest_fitness, utm_term=homeowners, etc.

1. utm_content

The purpose of the utm_content parameter is to differentiate variations of ads or links within the same campaign. It’s ideal for A/B testing or comparing creative performance — using this tag lets you easily find out which message or image attracts more conversions. This parameter can look like these: utm_content=story_ad, utm_content=reel_video, utm_content=gif_banner, etc.

While most marketers rely on the five standard tags, you might also want to create custom UTM parameters to track extra details like the creative name, region, language, or partner. For example, a link could end with utm_region=canada.

In GA4, these still work alongside the standard GA4 UTM parameters (utm_source, utm_medium, utm_campaign, utm_term, and utm_content), but you’ll need to register them as custom dimensions to see their data in reports.

How To Add UTM Parameters To A URL 

UTM parameters are basically some extra characters you attach to a URL. The first parameter should be added to your base URL after the final slash and a question mark (?); join every following one using an ampersand (&). Here are the steps to follow:

1. First, determine which parameters you want to track. Remember that utm_source and utm_medium are required for UTM tracking, meaning you can’t skip them; utm_campaign, utm_term, and utm_content are optional.
2. Create the URL. You can use a UTM builder tool like Google Campaign URL Builder or do it manually:

• • Paste or type the actual link that leads to the landing page.
  • Add a question mark (?), then include the first tag.
  • Use an equal sign (=) to assign a value to each tag, for example: utm_source=facebook.
  • Add more parameters, separating each one with an ampersand (&).

A word of advice: the order of parameters doesn’t matter technically, but keeping them in the same order every time (source → medium → campaign → term → content) makes your links easier to read and manage.

3. Finally, insert the ready tracking link in your advertisement, social media post, newsletter button, CTA, etc. Most analytics platforms automatically detect UTM tracking, meaning you don’t have to import data manually.

Best Practices For Using UTM Parameters

There are a couple of things to keep in mind when setting UTMs:

1. Be consistent with naming

Use the same format across every campaign. If one team member writes “instagram” and another writes “ig,” your analytics tool will treat them as two different sources. It’s best to establish your own UTM code conventions or stick to commonly accepted examples. Keep a shared document with examples and approved terms, or use a UTM parameters generator with saved templates.

2. Use lowercase

UTMs are case-sensitive, which means that if one tag says “LinkedIn,” another “Linkedin,” and a third “linkedin,” your analytics tool will treat them as three different sources. To avoid this, use lowercase for every UTM.

3. Replace spaces with underscores or hyphens

When a URL contains spaces, browsers automatically replace them with encoded characters when shared or tracked, usually %20. This makes your URLs messy and hard to check at a glance. On top of that, older tools might treat Spring%20Sale and Spring_Sale as two separate campaign names, splitting your data. That’s why it’s a good idea to use underscores or hyphens instead.

1. Don’t tag internal links

UTMs are for external traffic only. Adding them inside your own website will break session data and mislabel visits as new.

2. Use UTMs only when they add value

There’s no need to tag your links with every parameter available. For instance, if you’re sending a single weekly newsletter, you don’t need to include both utm_campaign and utm_content. The campaign name will already tell you where the traffic came from. In short, add UTMs only when they help you measure something specific. Simpler links mean easier-to-read data.

3. Test before launch

Last but not least, paste a tagged link into your browser, open your analytics tool, and confirm it appears with the correct source, medium, and optional tags.

Conclusion

All things considered, UTMs shouldn’t be overlooked. They turn raw traffic numbers into actionable data, showing which campaigns drive results and which ones don’t. Over time, consistent UTM tracking helps you see the full picture of your marketing performance, so you know where to invest and what to improve. 

The good news is that UTMs are simple to work with. It’s easy to create UTM-tagged links manually or by using any free URL generator and start tracking your traffic effectively right away. You can also go further and add a few custom fields on top of the existing GA4 UTM parameters to capture more context, giving you an even deeper view of how your campaigns perform.