What are UTM parameters?
UTM parameters are short tags added to the end of a URL so that analytics tools can tell where a visit came from. A link such as example.com/page?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=spring_sale tells Google Analytics that the visitor came from a newsletter, through email, as part of the spring sale campaign.
Without tags, much traffic from email, messaging apps, social posts and ads is grouped as direct or mixed with other sources. UTM links let you compare campaigns, channels and creatives and see which ones bring visits and conversions.
How to build a UTM link
- Enter the full page URL, starting with https://.
- Fill in the three required fields: source, medium and campaign.
- Optionally add term, content and campaign id.
- Keep Lowercase values ticked so that Email and email do not appear as two different sources.
- Copy the URL and use it in your email, ad or social post.
Naming rules that keep reports clean
Analytics tools treat UTM values as case-sensitive, so Facebook, facebook and FB are three separate sources. Decide on a naming convention before you start and write it down: lowercase everywhere, underscores or hyphens instead of spaces, and the same medium names for every campaign.
Use a small, fixed set of mediums, such as cpc, email, social, referral and display, so that Google Analytics can place your traffic in the right channel. Make campaign names descriptive, including the month or year when useful, for example spring_sale_2026.
Mistakes to avoid
- Do not put UTM tags on links inside your own website. They start a new session and overwrite the real source of the visit.
- Do not put personal data, such as email addresses, in UTM values.
- Do not change naming from one campaign to the next, because the reports will split.
- Check that the destination page keeps the parameters after redirects.
- Avoid very long values. Short links are easier to share and less likely to be cut off.
Reading UTM parameters from a link
Paste any tagged link into the reader at the bottom of the tool to see its UTM parameters in a table. This is handy for checking links in an email template, an ad platform or a spreadsheet before you send them.
Example naming convention
A simple scheme that works for most teams: utm_source is the platform (google, facebook, newsletter), utm_medium is the channel type (cpc, social, email), and utm_campaign is a short name with the date (spring_sale_2026). Use utm_content to tell two links in the same email apart, such as header_button and footer_link, and utm_term for the paid keyword. Keep a shared spreadsheet of the values you use, so that everyone on the team tags links the same way.
The UTM parameters
| Parameter | What it tells you | Example |
|---|---|---|
| utm_source | Where the traffic comes from | newsletter, google, facebook |
| utm_medium | The type of channel | email, cpc, social |
| utm_campaign | The campaign or promotion | spring_sale_2026 |
| utm_term | The paid keyword | running shoes |
| utm_content | Which link or creative was clicked | blue_button |
| utm_id | A campaign identifier | abc123 |
Frequently Asked Questions
Which UTM parameters are required?
Source, medium and campaign are the three that every campaign link should have. Term and content are optional.
Are UTM values case-sensitive?
Yes, in most analytics tools. Use lowercase everywhere to avoid split reports.
Can I use UTM links for organic social posts?
Yes. They show which posts bring traffic, although you should keep the naming consistent.
Do UTM parameters hurt SEO?
They do not hurt rankings when the page uses a canonical tag pointing to the clean URL, which is good practice.
Should I use UTMs on internal links?
No. They restart the session and hide the real source of the visit.
What happens if the URL already has parameters?
The tool keeps them and adds the UTM tags, and it preserves any hash at the end of the link.
Is my data uploaded?
No. The link is built in your browser.