How to Track UTM in Google Analytics – The Guide

First Link to the demo shop to check which UTM parameters are tracked · User is tracked under Traffic Source in Google Analytics as Medium (none) ... Skiptocontent Skiptocontent HowtoTrackUTMinGoogleAnalytics–TheGuide JulianJuenemann October17,2020 TrackingUTMtagscorrectlywillallowyoutotrackthecorrectmediums,sources,andcampaignsfromwherethetrafficiscominginGoogleAnalyticsreporting. Inthisguide,wewilllearnhowtotrackUTMinGoogleAnalyticstohelprecognizewhereyourusercamefromandfillyouracquisitionreportswiththerightdata.ThiswillhelpyoutrackyourGoogleAnalyticsgoalsinabetterway. WewillalsolookathowyoucanuseourMeasureschoolUTMTooltocreateparametersforUTMtracking. CheckwhichUTMparametersarebeingtrackedTestingyourUTMsLearnhowyourUTMsworkUsingtheMeasureSchoolUTMtool CheckWhichUTMParametersAreBeingTracked Now,let’sstartwithalittletesthere.Wehavetwolinkswithustoademoshop.Wewanttofindoutifthislinkisclicked, wheredoesGoogleAnalyticsthinktheusercamefrom? Let’sclickonthisfirstlink. Weenteredourdemoshop.Now,let’sgointo GoogleAnalyticstotheMasterprofileandclickundertheReal-TimereportingonTrafficSources.Weseetherewasjustapageviewonourpage.  GoogleAnalyticssaysthattheusercamefromtheMedium(none)andtheSource(direct),alsoknownasdirectnone,inourreport. ThiswillalsoreflectunderAcquisition,andunderAllTraffic,youwouldseetheSource/Mediumas(direct)/(none). Fromexperience,youprobablyknowthatthiscolumnhasalotofpeoplemostlycomingthroughyourwebsite.Itisreferredtoas(direct)/(none)becausewedon’tknowwheretheuserexactlycamefrom.  Inthiscase,hecamefromouremailnewsletterbutGoogleAnalyticsdoesn’tattributethattotherightsource.LearninghowtotrackUTMinGoogleAnalyticscanhelpyouchangethis. TestingYourUTMs Nowlet’sdoanothertest.Let’sfirstdeleteourcookies.Forthis,gotoSettings→Clearbrowsingdataofyourbrowser. Nowlet’sgobacktoourReal-Timereporting.ClickonTrafficSources.Weseethatthere’sanewpageview.  ButthistimeitwasgeneratedbytheMediumemailandtheSourcegmail. HowUTMsGetAddedToYourTraffic Sowhatisthedifferencehere?Well,whenwegobacktothepagethatwejustopened,weseethatthereisadifferenceintheURLthatthebrowserloaded.  Goingbacktotheemail,youseethatthefirstlinkisplain.Andthere’snothingtowardsthebackofthelink.  Now,goingtothesecondlink,theURLisnotplain.So,thedifferencehereisjusttheendoftheURL. Thus,apartfromthetailoftheURL,boththepagesarethesame.Nowthequestionis,whatisthistail?Let’sinspectthatalittlemore.  YouprobablyhaveseenthequestionmarkaroundURLsonotherwebsites.Sometimestheycommunicatewiththeserverandthecontentchanges.Butinourcase,thecontentdoesn’tchange. ThisisbecausetheparametersinthetailoftheURLarespecificallydesignedtocommunicatewithGoogleAnalytics.Thewholetailiscalledaquerystring.Andthequerystringconsistsofdifferentkey-valuepairs,whichareparameters. UnderstandingTheURLQueryStrings Solet’stakeacloserlookattheURLQueryStrings.First,thereisautm_sourceparameter,whichequalsgmail.Notethattheparametersareseparatedbyan&sign. Thenwehaveoursecondparameterutm_mediumwhichisemailinourcase.Andourthirdparameterisutm_campaignwhichwe’veenteredasnewsletter. Thus,wecanseethattheseparametersareaddedaskey-valuepairs,wheregmail,emailandnewsletterarevaluesoftheparametersSource,MediumandCampaign. WhatDoUTMParametersDo? UTMparametersexplicitlytellGoogleAnalyticsthattheuserthatjustenteredthepagecamefromthesourceofournewsletter.ButforGoogleAnalytics,wewillhaveadifferentattribution.ThesewillalsobefilledintoourAcquisitionreportundertheSource/Mediumasnewsletter/email. Thisishugelyvaluabletous.Wecanseeexactlyhowmanypeopleenteredthroughourspecificlinkwiththetagging.AndifyouhaveagoaloreCommercetrackingsetupcorrectly,youwillalsoseehowmanypeopleboughtorreachedyourgoal. Soyoucandeterminetheeffectivenessofthegivenlinkorthegivenchannelthatyoutaggedinyouremails,yourbannercampaigns,orevenofflinecampaigns. Butkeepinmind,youalwaysneedtosendtheusertoalinkthathasUTMparametersattachedinthequerystring. TheysignaltoGoogleAnalyticsoncewelandonthepagethatitshouldn’ttakethedefaultofdirectassource.Butratheritshouldrewritemediumasemail,thesourceasGmail,andthecampaignasnewsletter. TheMeasureSchoolUTMTool Itmightbecumbersometoaddsomanyparameterswithoutmakinganymistakes.Ifyouwantalittlehelpwithaddingflawlessparameters,youcandownloadourhandyUTMTool. Onceyougetaccesstothetool,GotoFile→Makeacopy... Thiswayyou’llbeabletocopyittoyourGoogleaccountandbeabletoeditit. Andwiththistool,youcaneasilygenerateyourready-madeTaggedURLthatyoucancopyintoyourmarketingtool. AllyouneedtodoisinputalandingpageURL. AfteraddingthelandingpageURL,addCampaignMedium.WealsohaveafeatureherewhereyoucanchooseyourCampaignMediumfromthesuggestions. Now,inputyourCampaignSource.SomeoptionalparametersaretheCampaignContentandCampaignTerm,whicharemostlyusedforPPCcampaignsandoutcomes. NowyouhaveareadymadeTaggedURLwiththeUTMTagsattached.YoucannowattachthisURLtoyourinputtedUTMTagsinyouremailmarketingtool. CampaignExamplesInUTMTool Now,ifyouwanttohaveanexampleotherthantheemailcampaign,wehaveanExamplestabonthetool.Here,youcanfindsomedifferentcampaignexamples,suchasaFacebookAdCampaign,BingSearchAd,orAdRollRetargeting,whichyoucanuseasatemplateforyourcampaign. Summary NowyouknowhowtotagyourincominglinkswithUTMTagsforeffectivecampaigntrackingandmeasurement.YoucanadddifferentUTMparameterstoyourlinktogetthecorrectmediumandsourcefromwheretheuseriscoming.So,youknowhowtheURLQueryStringscanbecreated. YoucanalsousetheUTMtoolforyourmarketingcampaignsandmakeiteasiertocreatethesetaggedURLS.Withthis,youwillbeabletocollectaccuratedatainGoogleAnalytics. HaveyouusedthisorothertoolsforyourUTMtracking?Letusknowinthecommentswhatyourexperiencewas! JOINUS! MasterData&AnalyticswithMeasuremasters ExclusiveCourses&Workshops|OngoingTroubleshooting|SupportResources,Tools&muchmore FINDOUTMORE JulianJuenemann Julianstartedandgrewventure-backedstartupswithhisunique'datafirst'approachtoOnlineMarketing.HethenfoundedMeasureSchool.comtohelpmarketers,likehim,withthedata-drivenwayofdigitalmarketing. Label {} [+] Name* Email* Label {} [+] Name* Email* 1Comment Oldest Newest MostVoted InlineFeedbacks Viewallcomments Filip 13daysago Thetoolworksawesome–wereworkedsomeofthemechanicsandnowuseitacrossthemarketingdepartment 0 Reply PrevPreviousHowtoAddGoogleAnalyticstoWordPress–[CompleteTutorial] NextGoogleAnalyticsEnhancedeCommerceTrackingwithGoogleTagManagerNext Search BlogCategories Analytics BigQuery GoogleAds GoogleAnalytics GoogleAnalytics4 GoogleDataStudio GoogleSheets GoogleTagManager Other Join50,000+marketersgettingexclusiveresourcesandourlatestcontent!SUBSCRIBE! nowit'stimeto Startmeasuringlikeamaster ItchingtojumpintotheworldofMeasureMasters?Thisiswhatyouhavetolookforwardto. MoreOnMeasureMasters ©2022MeasureSchool.Allrightsreserved. TermsandConditions PrivacyPolicy CookiePolicy Contact Login Careers Menu TermsandConditions PrivacyPolicy CookiePolicy Contact Login Careers Home MeasureMasters Services MeasureHero ConsultingCall Done-For-You Courses OurTools Blog About Login Close wpDiscuzInsert