UTM Codes: How to Track Campaign URLs in Google Analytics

“UTM” stands for “Urchin tracking module.” UTM codes are added to the end of regular URL's and are designed to tell Google Analytics (and ... twitter linkedin2 facebook youtube instagram search star viewallservices ThispostexplainshowtosetupURLtaggingusingUTMparametersandprovidesanoverviewofthedifferentusesofURLtaggingformarketingattribution. MostmarketersalreadyunderstandhowtheycanidentifyparticularreferralsourcesinGoogleAnalytics,buttaggingURLsusingUTMcodestakesthisdatatoanadvancedlevelbyisolatingvisitorsreferredfromspecificcampaigns(specificemailcampaigns,forexample)tobetterunderstandtheirbehaviourandbuildmorespecificaudienceliststoboosttheperformanceofanyongoingpaidmediaactivity. WhatareUTMCodes? “UTM”standsfor“Urchintrackingmodule.”UTMcodesareaddedtotheendofregularURL’sandaredesignedtotellGoogleAnalytics(andotheranalyticstools)alittlebitmoreinformationabouteachlinkandwhichmarketingcampaignitrelatesto. AtypeofURLtagging,usingUTMcodesensureyourdestinationURLsarelabelledwithspecificcampaignnameswhenthey’rereportedinGoogleAnalytics. Putsimply,thisenablesyoutobreakdowntrafficthat’susuallyonlyreportedbyitssourceandattributeittoindividualemailsorpaidsearchcampaignsthatyou’rerunning. ThesectionoftheURLfollowingthe?symbolbelowisasampleofwhataUTMcodelookslike: https://www.hallaminternet.com/?utm_source=blog&utm_medium=utm-tagging-post&utm_campaign=url-tagging-blog-link-feb-2020   WhyuseUTMCodes? TaggingURLshelpsprovethevalueof onlinecampaignsinwhichyou’reattemptingtodrivetraffictoyoursite,particularlyifyouhave goalssetupinGoogleAnalytics,asitwillreportoneachspecificcampaign’sconversionmetrics. Forexample,youcanuseUTMvariableswithinlinksyoupostonsocialmediatotrackhowmuchtrafficyoureceivefromeachpostyoupublish.YoucouldalsouseUTMvariablestotrackspecificlinkssuchasthelinktoyourwebsitefromyour yourTwitterbio.URLtaggingcanalsoallow youtogainagreaterunderstandingoftheoverallperformanceofeachPPCcampaignyou’rerunning. HowtoStructureUTMCodes InordertocorrectlystructureyourUTMcodesyoufirstlyneedtounderstandwhateachparametermeans: CampaignSource isusuallythesearchengineorplatformthatyou’rerunningtheadson(Google,Bing,Facebook,Twitter,Website,etc.) CampaignMedium isusedtostatethetypeofadvertisingcampaignthat’susingtheURL(PPC,email,etc.) CampaignName isthefieldusedtoinsertthenameofyourcampaign. Thesethreefieldsareallrequired,andyoucanusetheremainingcontent andtermparameterstotrackadditionaldetailsasexplainedbyGoogle: MethodsofSettingupURLTagging 1.ManualURLTagging AlotofthirdpartyadvertisingtoolshavetheoptiontoautomaticallytagURLs,butfortaggingspecificlinkswithinorganicsocialposts,bannerlinks,andanyotherlinksusedincampaignsconductedoutsideofthirdpartysoftware,manualURLtaggingistheonlyoption. Nowthisdoesn’tmeanyouhavetocrafteveryUTMtagbyhand,asyoucandothis usingUTMgenerators.TherearearangeofUTMgeneratorsavailable,butIhavelistedthemostusefulbelow: Google’sURLBuilder OurfreeUTMTaggingtemplateforGooglesheets TheExcelURLbuilder EffinAmazing’s Chromeextension Google’s URLBuilder isagreatfreetooltogenerateURLstaggedwithUTMcodesforsinglecampaigns,butisnotsuitableforcreatingUTMtags inbulk,norisitgreatforkeepingtrackofnamingconventions. Try ourFreeUTMTaggingTemplate We’verecognisedthatGoogle’sURLbuilderdoesn’tprovidetheoptiontocreateandtrackUTMcodesinbulk,sowe’veputtogetheraUTMtaggertemplatespreadsheetthatwill help youeasilygeneratelotsofUTMtaggedURLsforanymarketingcampaign. Tostartusingthetemplate,youwillneedtosignintoaGoogleaccount.Onceloggedin,clickhere toview thefreeUTMtaggingtemplate,thenclick‘File’>‘Makeacopy’tocreateyourownversionandstartusingittotagyourURLs. Auto-tagging ManythirdpartytoolshavetheoptiontoautomaticallytagURLsusingUTMvariables.Forexample,Mailchimp,BufferandHootsuiteallofferthisfunctionalitytopaidsubscribers. GoogleAdsusersshouldalreadybeawarethatGoogleoffersanauto-taggingfeaturewithintheplatformwhichutilisesUTMvariables. ThisfeatureisselectedbydefaultinallGoogleAdsaccounts,butifyou’reunsurewhetherthishasalreadybeensetupandwouldliketoenableordisableauto-taggingyou’llneedtonavigatetoSettings>AccountsettingsinthelefthandmenuwithinaGoogleAdsaccount: UseConsistentNamingConventions Ifusingmanualtagging,ensureyou chooseanamingconventionthat’seasytoremember.Forexample,withthe utm_medium= sectionofeachURL,“Email”or“Display_Ads”arenames thatyoumaychoosetorepeateachtimeyoulaunchanewcampaignineachcategory.TaggingURLsthiswaymeansthatyoucanbreakdowncampaignreportsinGoogleAnalyticsandeasilyfilterbycampaignmedium. Fortheutm_campaignattribute,besuretousedescriptivetagstoensureyou’reeasilyabletodecipherwhateachcampaignrelatestowhenlookingatthedatainGA.Forexample,thedescriptionsonthelefthandscreengrabbelowaremucheasiertodecipherthanthoseontheright: Thisshowshowimportantisistousesimple,descriptivetextintheutm_campaignfieldwherepossible. ImprovingtheAppearanceofTaggedURLstoWebsiteUsers It’struethatUTMcodescreateoverly-long,unattractiveURLsforusers,butthereisasolutiontoresolvethis issue. Let’sassumethatwehavejusttaggedthefollowingURL: http://www.example.com/bens-tagging?utm_source=mysite.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=url+tracking+post TheURLabovelooksextremelylongandwouldn’tlooktoofriendlytoauserwhoclicksthroughtoit. However,yourusersneverneedtoseeit,thankstothefollowingsnippetofcode. Youwouldsimplyneedtoplacetheabovelinkinsomeanchortext,suchas clickhere. ThenonthecorrespondinglandingpageyouwouldaddthefollowingpieceofcodetotheHTMLofthepage: _gaq.push(function(){ window.history.pushState(”,”,‘some-page‘); }); ThismeansaftertheGoogleAnalyticscodecollectedalltheattributiondatafromthereallylongURLtaggingparametersIsetintheexample,theURLwillreverttowhateverisplacedinthe‘somepage’quotesintheexampleabove. WheretoFindTaggedURLDatainGoogleAnalytics Onceyou’vebecomecomfortablewiththeideaoftaggingcampaignURLsandhavestartedtotagURLsacrossyouronlinemarketingcampaigns,you’llneedtoknowwheretonavigateinAnalyticsinordertoviewtheinformationthetagshavebeendelivering. TheinformationyouneedcanbefoundinAcquisition>Campaigns>AllCampaigns withinGoogleAnalytics: ThereportwillbreakeverythingdownautomaticallybyCampaignName. Remember,ifanyofyourcampaignshaven’tyetreceivedanyclicks,theparametersyou’vesetwon’thavebeentriggeredandthereforethoseURLswillNOTbereportedinthissectionuntilthey’veactuallybeenclicked. Didyoufindthispostuseful? Haveyoujustlearnedsomethingnew? Thenjointhe80,000peoplewhoreadourexpertarticleseverymonth. Firstname*Lastname*Emailaddress* BysigninguptothisformIagree,thatHallammaystoremydataandmaycontactmeusingtheemailaddressIhaveprovidedwithpromotionalemailsaboutproducts,specialoffers,andotherinformationwhichmaybeofinterest.Pleasealsoreadourprivacypolicy.YoucanrevokeyourconsentatanytimeCAPTCHACommentsThisfieldisforvalidationpurposesandshouldbeleftunchanged. Δ Ifyouneedhelpwithyour GoogleAnalytics don'thesitateto contactus. Enjoythisarticle? Subscribeforweeklyinsights Youmayalsolike JonathanEllins Downloadthese7freeCustomReportstohelpanalyseyourdataonanhourlyordailybasis Jonathan'Cat'Catton GoogleAnalytics:Desktopvs.Mobilevs.TabletMetrics TeamHallam GettingthemostfromyourLinkedIncompanypageanalytics UTMCodes:HowtoTrackCampaignURLsinGoogleAnalytics Share × Sharethis LinkURLCopied Let’sthrivetogether Getintouchtotakethefirststep. Contactus Haveyoujustlearnedsomethingnew? Thenjointhe80,000peoplewhoreadourexpertarticleseverymonth. Firstname*Lastname*Emailaddress* BysigninguptothisformIagree,thatHallammaystoremydataandmaycontactmeusingtheemailaddressIhaveprovidedwithpromotionalemailsaboutproducts,specialoffers,andotherinformationwhichmaybeofinterest.Pleasealsoreadourprivacypolicy.YoucanrevokeyourconsentatanytimeCAPTCHACommentsThisfieldisforvalidationpurposesandshouldbeleftunchanged. 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