What are UTM parameters?

UTM parameters are small labels you add to the end of a link, so your analytics knows which campaign a visitor came from. Example: a link in your newsletter ends with “?utm_source=newsletter”, so visits from it show up as “newsletter” in your reports. They record the source, the medium and the campaign name.

Definition

UTM originally stood for “Urchin Tracking Module”. Today it simply means the familiar utm_source (where from), utm_medium (what kind of channel), utm_campaign (which campaign), plus optional content and term fields on links.

Why they exist

The referrer is often missing for email, many ads and PDFs. With UTM parameters you write the campaign name into the link yourself. PureMetrix reads them, so your weekly reports can name campaigns instead of guessing.

Basic rules

Spell each campaign name the same way forever (no weekly renames).
Use lowercase values.
Never put personal data (names, email addresses) in UTM parameters.
Tag paid ads and emails; leave normal search links alone.

Tools: campaign URL builder, UTM builder tool.

Example

https://example.com/pricing/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=launch-sept

Do not trust a screenshot of a link from a chat. Copy the final page address after all redirects; some email tools remove or rewrite the parameters.

Habits that save hours of reporting

Do not trust a screenshot of a link from Slack. Copy the final page address after all redirects—email tools and link shorteners may rewrite the parameters. Keep a shared list of names for source, medium and campaign, so “facebook / paid” and “fb / cpc” do not split one campaign into two rows.

Upper and lower case and special characters cause trouble when a team uses several tools. Stick to lowercase letters without special characters. If a partner portal forces ugly tags, translate them in a lookup list so your PureMetrix campaign filters stay readable.