Urchin Tracking Module (UTM) codes are short pieces of text that are appended to the end of a URL to improve marketing campaign tracking and gain a deeper understanding of your target audience. We are all aware that running marketing campaigns is a difficult endeavor. With so many different platforms, campaigns, ad types, and creatives, this becomes quite a headache. This is especially true if you’re having trouble explaining to your management where and how you’ve been spending your marketing money, as well as gaining more funding. Fortunately, you can see your campaign data in Google Analytics 4, albeit there are some differences in where you can find your campaign data in the reports and what UTM parameters can be tracked in GA4. By the end of this tutorial, you should have a better understanding of how UTM tracking works in general and how to track UTM codes in Google Analytics.
Google UTM
UTM is an abbreviation for “urchin tracking module.” Urchin Analytics was the company that preceded Google Analytics. Google acquired it and rebranded it to Google Analytics. The Urchin platform used these “urchin tracking modules,” or “UTMs,” to track campaign traffic. Even after Urchin Analytics became Google Analytics, the term stayed. Google Analytics automatically categorizes the majority of traffic. For example, all organic search engine traffic is automatically classified based on a traffic “source” and a traffic “medium.” The source is the particular location from which the traffic is coming. The medium is the mode of transportation. In the following example of organic search traffic, “Google” and “Bing” are traffic sources, while “organic” is the medium. Google Analytics can automatically categorize most traffic in this manner. It cannot, however, measure all traffic on its own. In some cases, Google Analytics requires our assistance.
Email traffic is one sort of traffic that Google Analytics cannot detect automatically. Let’s take a look at an example of email traffic that we might wish to monitor and where we can locate that information in our GA4 property. UTM (Urchin Tracking Module) codes are snippets that are applied to the end of URLs to provide more exact information about the origins of your traffic, such as source, medium, and campaign. We can get data for 8 UTM parameters in GA4. These characteristics can be quite useful in analyzing the performance of various traffic sources and/or marketing efforts.
Google UTM Builder
The UTM builder allows you to quickly and easily create URLs with UTM codes. Fill in the blanks, and it will generate a link with UTMs that you can use for campaign tracking. To generate your UTM codes, simply follow these simple steps in the UTM builder:
- In the first field, enter the URL of your website, blog post, or landing page.
- Fill in the remaining fields with the campaign provider, medium, name, term, and content values you’ve chosen.
- To generate your UTM code, click the “Build URL” button.
- Copy the produced URL by clicking the ‘Copy URL’ button, and then use it in your marketing efforts.
After the builder generates the URL with your specific settings, you may use it wherever you want to link: social media, emails, advertisements, and so on. You can create these linkages by hand. When inputting large query strings like this, it’s easy to make mistakes. And when it comes to UTMs, which are the foundation of marketing attribution, campaign tracking, and campaign reports, errors can be extremely costly. A minor misspelling will jeopardize the accuracy of the data you receive from Google Analytics.
#1. When Generating Links in a URL Builder, How Do You Name a UTM Parameter?
A UTM parameter can have any name you like. It’s not so much the UTM tag’s name. What is important is consistency and recognizability. For example, if you use “utm_medium=paid-social” for one campaign, being consistent means using it for all subsequent campaigns. For other campaign links, use this option without the dash — ‘?utm_medium=paidsocial’ — or with capitalized letters — ‘?utm_medium=Paid-Social’. Recognizability entails having distinct and identifiable parameters. So when another colleague sees this parameter three years later, they’ll know exactly what it means. Your campaign performance reports will not be accurate. This defeats the purpose of tracking campaign URLs in the first place.
Google UTM Generator
You can generate UTMs for GA4 using Google’s UTM code generator. (GA4 is the most recent version of Google Analytics, in case you’re unfamiliar. It will soon take the place of UA.) To construct UTMs in GA4, simply swap the “Demos & Tools” switch from UA to GA4. UTM codes can also significantly boost your lead-generation efforts. Wouldn’t it be fantastic if you could pinpoint the source of each of your leads? When someone submits your lead/contact forms, all you need to do is capture the UTM codes and referrer. This saves UTM information along with the lead, and you’ll know which of your campaigns are effective.
#1. How to Use the Free UTM Generator to Create a UTM Tracking Link
The UTM builder allows you to quickly and easily create URLs with UTM codes. Fill in the blanks, and it will generate a link with UTMs that you can use for campaign tracking. Not sure what to put in each blank field? Here’s a full tutorial on correctly filling out the UTM generator to ensure dependable, relevant, and accurate GA tracking and reporting.
To generate your UTM codes, simply follow these simple steps in the UTM builder:
1. In the first field, enter the URL of your website, blog post, or landing page.
2. Fill in the remaining fields with the campaign provider, medium, name, term, and content values you’ve chosen.
3. To generate your UTM code, click the “Build URL” button.
4. Copy the produced URL by clicking the ‘Copy URL’ button, and then use it in your marketing efforts.
Google UTM Code
UTM codes, often known as custom URLs, give marketers specific information on the efficacy of a campaign. They can, for example, aid in determining the efficiency of a social media marketing effort. Or which channels generate the most visitors. Or which Google Ads keywords are more effective.
UTM codes allow links to track five basic parameters:
- Source: The platform from which the traffic is coming
- Medium: The campaign type
- Campaign: The campaign’s title
- Term: Used to specify the target term in sponsored search advertising.
- Content: The precise content on which the user clicked.
UTM codes are capable of tracking both a medium and a source inside that medium. The language you use to characterize that source is where it becomes more flexible. Perhaps you’d like to attribute website traffic to a social network, a type of content, or even the actual name of a web advertisement. Being able to quantify your success and influence are critical parts of being a great marketer. You want to prove to your boss (and the firm) that you’re worth your salt, regardless of the metrics you utilize. You deserve your budget — and possibly more of it — and you deserve to devote time to effective marketing initiatives. The simplest method to demonstrate this is to generate UTM codes that track the success of your initiatives.
It’s not enough to rely on your analytics tool’s source and medium breakdown to determine whether a strategy is effective. UTM connections offer more detailed data, allowing you to drill down to the source of the traffic.
Google UTM Parameters
UTM parameters are codes that give us valuable extra information, with their keys containing the value we add. As previously stated, these parameters require three sources. Others are optional, but employing them can provide additional information and perspective. We have five parameters in UA, and GA4 now contains three more, bringing the total to eight. The tracking tags are useful because UTMs improve Google Analytics reports. Without UTMs, for example, it’s impossible to tell if a click from LinkedIn came from an organic article or a paid ad. However, with UTM parameters, that information will be available in all of your analytics programs. You can also acquire more precise data, such as which ad variation drove the visitors.
When you can track the smallest elements in your campaigns, you can discover which campaigns to double down on, which ads to spend more money on, and which copy isn’t resonating with your clients. The fact that UTMs are the attribution language of all analytics systems and most marketing platforms makes them a more powerful tool. UTM parameters can be utilized to gain a more in-depth understanding of the traffic to your website. They are especially valuable for tracking organic (unpaid) traffic sources that Google Analytics would not otherwise be aware of, as well as for obtaining more precise information about paid advertising campaigns. Let’s look at each UTM parameter individually.
#1. Source
The source option specifies the website, newspaper, or advertiser that is bringing traffic to your site. The URL will say “utm_source=[source].” This parameter can contain various referring sources, such as the following:
- Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and LinkedIn are examples of social media platforms.
- Google, Bing, and Yahoo are examples of search engines.
- Other sources include a newsletter, a paid advertisement, a sponsored post, or a billboard.
#2. Medium
The medium option specifies the type of traffic channel. It’s useful to know whether one channel is more successful than another for a certain campaign. The URL will say “utm_medium=[medium].” This parameter can encompass several marketing channels or categories, such as the ones listed below:
Organic search,
Pay-per-click (PPC)
Paid social
Organic social
To distinguish social media traffic from other channels, for example, you may use the following UTM code.
#3. Campaign
The campaign UTM parameter specifies the campaign, promotion, or sale your link is associated with. It is used to split campaigns in order to track their performance separately. It can, for example, assist you in determining which of your PPC campaigns produced the best results. This option is commonly stated as “utm_campaign=[campaign].” In GA4, this is “utm_id=[campaign]”.
#4. Term
The term parameter identifies the specific keyword that is directing visitors to your website. It determines which keywords in your PPC campaign are working successfully. As a result, you can modify your bidding approach accordingly. In a URL, the term parameter will appear as “utm_term=[term].”
#5. Content
The content parameter identifies the many content options available to a user within the same campaign. It can, for example, assist in determining if a user clicked on a header link or a button in the same email. This parameter is useful for emails with numerous CTAs or landing pages with multiple CTAs. You’ll see it written as “utm_content=[content].”
What Is UTM in Google?
The Urchin Tracking Module, or UTM, is a simple piece of code that can be added to any URL to create Google Analytics data for digital marketing. UTM is a Google Analytics feature that allows you to follow the development of your campaign across all internet platforms.
What Is the Difference Between Google UTM and Gtm?
Adding UTM tags to your URL allows you to track those metrics in your Google Analytics account, whether or not it is configured with Google Tag Manager. GTM does not offer analytics. It can be used to deploy Google Analytics tracking, but it is not dependent on GTM in any manner.
How Do I Find Google Utms?
Navigate to analytics.google.com > Acquisition » Campaigns » All Campaigns to find your UTM data in Google Analytics.
- Please take note of the several Primary Dimensions you might use to go further into this data:
- Campaign, Source, Medium, and Source / Medium are the Primary Dimensions.
Is Tracking Pixel the Same as UTM?
A pixel differs from a UTM code in that it can track a specific EVENT or ACTION, such as the completion of a form, an online order, a site visit, and so on. Each activity that you want to track requires the creation of a new pixel.
Is WGS84 the Same as UTM?
Both examples are coordinate systems. WGS 84 is a geographic coordinate system, whereas UTM is a projected coordinate system. Geographic coordinate systems use angular units (degrees) and are based on a spheroid.
Why Not Use UTM?
Do not, and I repeat, do not use UTM tags on internal links. If you do, clicking the link will start a new session in Google Analytics, which will inevitably mess up your site’s analytics by introducing redundancies, distorting the attribution source, and inflating your numbers.
What App Shows UTM Coordinates?
GPS UTM provides a quick and precise UTM grid reference. Use topographic maps to pinpoint your location. GPS UTM supports various regional datums used around the world, including ED50. There is no need for a phone signal, and it works even in the most isolated regions.
Final Word
We now know how to track UTM codes in GA4, as well as a basic grasp of what they are, why tracking UTM data is important, where to access UTM data in GA4, and some best practices to help us make the most of our data.
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