UTM link builder

Know which link brought the visit

When someone reaches your site, analytics can usually tell that they came from a search engine, another site or social media. What it cannot tell is which of your emails, ads or posts they clicked. UTM parameters solve this. They are short labels added to the end of a link, such as ?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=spring_sale, that analytics tools read and report. With them you can compare campaigns and see what really brings visitors and sales.

The parameters

• utm_source: where the traffic comes from, such as a newsletter, a site or a platform.
• utm_medium: the kind of channel: email, cpc for paid search, social, banner.
• utm_campaign: the name of the campaign or promotion.
• utm_term: the keyword, mostly for paid search.
• utm_content: tells apart two links to the same page, for example a button and a text link, or two versions of an ad.
• utm_id: an identifier that some ad platforms use to link the visit to a campaign.

Mistakes it helps you avoid

The most common problem is inconsistency. Analytics tools treat Email and email as different values, so one campaign is split into two lines in your report. Spaces are encoded as %20 and make reports hard to read. Forgetting a required parameter means the visit goes into a vague bucket. The tool can lowercase everything and replace spaces with underscores, and it warns about anything missing.

A naming convention helps

Agree on names before you build dozens of links: lowercase, words joined with underscores, the same medium names each time, and campaign names that say what and when, for instance blackfriday_2026. Keep a small spreadsheet of what each name means.

When not to use UTM

Do not use UTM parameters on links inside your own site. They start a new session in most analytics tools and hide the real origin of the visit. They are also visible to anyone who clicks, so never put private information in them. If you want to remove tracking from links you receive, use the link cleaner.