What is an Urchin Tracking Module and why should you start ...

UTM stands for the Urchin Tracking Module, which is a bit of a mouthful. Urchin was originally a web analytics software, developed by Urchin ... GetunlimitedaccessOpeninappHomeNotificationsListsStoriesWritePublishedinIntellyoWhatisanUrchinTrackingModuleandwhyshouldyoustartusingitnow?WHATDOESURCHINMODULESTANDFOR?UTMstandsfortheUrchinTrackingModule,whichisabitofamouthful.Urchinwasoriginallyawebanalyticssoftware,developedbyUrchinSoftwareCorporationanddesignedtotrackthebehaviorofuniquewebsitevisitors.Googleboughtitin2005andtheacquisitionledtothecreationofGoogleAnalytics,whichbecamethemostpopularwebdataanalyticstoolacrosstheinternet.Nowadays,theUrchinModuletaggingisananalyticstoolusedbymarketerstotracktheimpactoftheironlinemarketingefforts,betterunderstandtheiraudience’sbehavior,andmeasureperformance.Forinstance,UTMtagsallowyoutodiscoverwhichchannelsbringthemostsalesconversionstoyourwebsite.It’smadeupoftags(alsocalledmodulesorvariables),whichyouaddtotheendofalink,totrackandanalyzethegivenpage’strafficsources.Whenapersonclicksonthegivenlink,theseparametersaresentbacktoGoogleAnalyticsandwillappearinthedifferentAnalyticsdashboards.Theanalyticssystem,therefore,allowsyoutospecificallytrackwhereyourvisitorscomefrom.WHATARETHEBENEFITSOFUSINGTHEURCHINMODULE?ByusingUTMtags,youwillbeabletotrackthenumberofnewandreturningvisitors,thebouncerate,conversionandthedetailedsocialmediaperformanceofyourtraffic.Forexample,let’ssayyoujustpublishedanewblogpost.YouwanttosharethispostinseveralFacebookgroupsandunderstandwhichgroup’smembersreactedwelltoyourposts.YoucandothisbypostingUTMlinkstotheFacebookgroupsandthenlateranalyzethedetailedresultsinAnalytics.Yourreportscanbecomeasdetailedasfiguringoutwhichgroup’svisitorspaidthemostvisitstoyourpostorwhichgroup’smemberswerethemostengaged.Lateron,youcanusethisdatatobuildastrongerstrategyandoptimizeyourresources.Butthereisalsoalessknownbenefit:UrchinModuletagginghelpsyoutogetridofdarksocialtraffic.Inthecaseofdarksocialtraffic,GoogleAnalyticscan’tidentifythesourceofyourtrafficduetotechnicalreasons.WhathappenswhenyousendyourblogposttoagrouponWhatsApp?Oncethegroupmembersclickthelink,GoogleAnalyticswillsensethetrafficandaddthevisitorstoyournumbersbutitwon’tbeabletounderstandthesourceofthetrafficsinceWhatsAppencryptsthemessages.Asaresult,thevisitsfromtheWhatsAppgroupwillfallintothedirect,unknown,or(notset)category.Unknowntrafficcanoccurforseveralreasons,includingsharingthelinkinmessagingapps,emails,andevenSMStextmessages.Whenitcomestoanalyzingyourwebsitetraffic,usingUTMparameterswillhelpyoutacklealloftheseanalyticschallenges.HOWDOESURCHINMODULETAGGINGWORK?Throughthisdataanalyticstoolyoucantrackfivethingsbyusing5distinctparameters:utm_sourceWhatisthesourceofyourtraffic?(e.g.Facebook,Twitter,etc.)utm_mediumWhatisthemediumthroughwhichyouraudienceendeduponyourwebsite?(e.g.social,mail,etc.)utm_campaignWhichcampaignattractedyouraudience?(e.g.Summersale2017)utm_contentWhichcontentworksbestforyourpost?(e.g.differentiatebetweentwoCTAtexts)utm_termWhichpaidtermbroughtyouthemosttraffic?(e.g.ifyouhavepaidcampaignsyoucanspecifythekeywordyouused)Theabove5parametersarethevariablesyouareusingwhenyouarecreatingaUTMtaggedlink.Youmustaddsource,mediumandcampaign,whilecontentandtermareoptional.SohowdoyoucreateaUTMtagactually?Thereareactuallyseveralways:MANUALLYLet’sseeabasicexamplewithonly3parameters:yourlinkis“https://www.utmthings.com”,yousharedapostonFacebookandyouusedittopromoteadiscountonthesoftwarepackageyouareselling.Yourparameterswillbethefollowings:YourUTMtaggedlinkwilllooklikethis:https://www.utmthings.com/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=softwarediscount2017CAMPAIGNURLBUILDERBYGOOGLEAsupersimpleservicebyGoogle.Youjustentertheparametersintothefieldandthesystemgivesyoutheready-to-golink.Don’tforgetaboutusingconsistentparameters,though!Thetoolevenprovidesyouexplanations.TheycreatedthesameserviceforAndroid(GooglePlayURLBuilder)andiOS(iOSCampaignTrackingURLBuilder)apps.Additionally,therearesomeservices,mostlyforsocialmedia,whichcreateUTMtrackingautomatically,suchasBufferorAmplifr.ButthereareacoupleofthingsyoushouldpayattentiontowhencreatingyourowncustomUTMs!Don’tconfusesourceandmediumBasedontheirnameitisnotcompletelyevidentwhichonetouse.Yoursourceisalwaystheplatform’sname(e.g.facebook,newsletter)andthemediumisthetypeofplatform(e.g.social,mail).ConsistenttaggingWhennamingyourparameters,youshoulduseconsistenttagging!BecarefulbecauseFacebookwillbedifferentfromfacebook.comandgoogleisnotthesameasGoogle,withacapitalletter,inthiscase.ThelinkYoushouldusethefulllink,withhttps://atthebeginning,andneverforgetthe/attheend!Asanexample,wedon’tputsimply“intellyo.com”insteadweusethefulllink,suchas“https://www.intellyo.com/”SpacesInsteadofspaces,youshoulduse“_”or“+”astheformeroptionwon’tberecognizedbythesystem.So,forinstance,whenthinkingaboutparameters,don’tuse“facebookad”,insteaduse“facebook_ad”or“facebook+ad”.SeparatetheparametersfromtheURLwithaquestionmarkWhencreatingyourcustomUTMtag,youaddthefulllink+?+parameters.Thelinkshouldbeseparatedfromtheparameterswitha“?”,suchthat:https://www.link.com/?parameter_1...ListthevaluesandpairsseparatedbyanequalsignToeachUTMvalue(utm_source,utm_medium,etc.),youassignapair(facebook,social,etc.),justlikeIdidinthemanualmethodabove.Theseshouldalwaysbeseparatedwitha“=”,whichindicatesthattheutmsourceequalsfacebook,forexample.So,likethis:https://www.link.com./?utm_source=social...ShortenthelinkLonglinksinyourposts,onsocialmedia,forinstance,areannoyingforyouraudienceandmightsignificantlydecreaseyourclick-through-rate.Youshoulddefinitelyusealinkshortenerservicelikegoo.glorevenbetter,youcancreateyourowncustomizedshortlink!Theprocessisquitesimple.Firstofall,youhavetobuyashortdomain,forexample,google.comboughtgoo.glorbit.lyinsteadofbitly.comAfterthepurchase,registeronbit.lyandaddyourcustomshortdomaintothesystem.Itonlytakesafewsimplestepsandinsteadofusingsuperlonglinkstheoneyoupostwillsimplylooksomethinglikegoo.gl/Kjsj2Uw(butwithyourowndomainnameinsteadofgoo.gl,ofcourse).Order?Itdoesn’tmatterwhatorderdoyouusewhenaddingtheparametersaslongasyoupayattentiontotheotherrules.HOWTOMAKESENSEOFTHERESULTS?NowthatyouunderstandwhatdoesUTMstandsforandhowtoassembleaUTMtaggedlink,youcanchecktheresultsthroughGoogleAnalytics.Asamatteroffact,themostusefulareAcquisitionandConversionreport.Below,Ihaveaddedsomeexamplequestionsandthestepstofindtheanswers.Themoreyouareusingthistool,themoreyouwilldiscoverwithinyourowndataanalyticstool.Whichsocialchannelperformsthebestforyourwebsite?Acquisition>Campaigns>Allcampaigns>PrimarydimensionsettoSource/MediumWhichcampaignperformsthebest?Acquisition>Campaigns>Allcampaigns>PrimarydimensionsettoCampaignByplayingaroundwiththeCampaignsinGAyouwillbeabletodiscoverthenumberof(new)usersandtheirhabits.Forinstance,mostoftheaudienceoftheIntellyoblogisconvertingthroughoursocialcampaignsandourvisitorsfromRedditarethemostengagedwithonlya27.78%bouncerate.--1MorefromIntellyoNextLevelContentishere.ReadmorefromIntellyoRecommendedfromMediumHarryWritesRomewasn’tbuiltinaday-EmailListBuildingCaseStudy — Log02BetsyKentASurefireWayToFindYourIdealClientOrCustomerAbrarAslamGetResponseDetails,Overview,UniqueFeatures,ProsandConsP+MeasurementServiceStopTryingtoCalculatePRROI — PerformaCost-EffectivenessAnalysisInsteadJYTheMythofModernMarketingkokoshungsan.netinKokoshungsanltdAreYouLosingMoneyWithOne-Time-Offer?MarcCollinAppFuturaCustomerJourneyMapping:TheUntoldStoryofdifferentiatingtheBrandExperienceChoonginProductJournalBirthdayBeep:Amicro-productbuildingexperienceAboutHelpTermsPrivacyGettheMediumappGetstartedFruzsinaPeti90FollowersFollowMorefromMediumUXinRealLifeinUXInRealLifeUXIRLEp.9:2021Recapand2022PredictionsAyusheeMishraItisliberatingtolimityourLinkedInappearance.DeepakyadavMASAISOLOPROJECT — ORBITZWEBSITENavyaRaoWhyit’sbettertobeafreelanceanimatorratherthanhaveajobatananimationstudio?HelpStatusWritersBlogCareersPrivacyTermsAboutKnowable