Measurement
UTM parameters, with a link builder
UTM tags are labels on a link that tell your analytics where a visitor came from. They are the simplest way to check an ad platform against a second opinion.
Ad platforms tell you what they think they achieved. UTM parameters let your own analytics tell you what arrived. When the two disagree, you want both numbers.
The five tags
| Tag | What it records | Example |
|---|---|---|
| utm_source | Where the visit came from | facebook, google, newsletter |
| utm_medium | The type of traffic | paid_social, cpc, email |
| utm_campaign | Which campaign | winter_appeal_2026 |
| utm_content | Which ad or link | video_testimonial_a |
| utm_term | The keyword, for search ads | kitchen_renovation |
Source, medium and campaign are the ones to use every time. Content is worth adding whenever you run more than one ad.
Build a tagged link
UTM link builder
https://example.com/offer?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=paid_social&utm_campaign=winter_appeal_2026Nothing you type here is sent anywhere. The link is built in your browser.
A naming convention that stays tidy
- Lowercase only. Analytics treats Facebook and facebook as two different sources.
- Underscores, not spaces. Spaces turn into symbols that are hard to read in reports.
- Decide your values once. Write down the allowed sources and mediums and stick to them. One person typing fb and another typing facebook splits your data in two.
- Put the date or season in the campaign name. You will thank yourself next year.
Adding them to ads
On Meta, the ad setup has a URL parameters field with a builder. It supports dynamic values, such as the campaign, ad set and ad name, that Meta fills in for you, so you do not have to type them for every ad. On Google Ads, auto-tagging handles the link to Google Analytics for you, and you can add UTM tags through a tracking template if other tools need them.
Where they do not belong
Never put UTM tags on links between pages of your own site. Doing so overwrites the visitor's original source, and every sale looks as if it came from your own homepage.
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