What are UTM tracking codes and how to use them
We have all heard the expression, if you don’t measure it, it doesn’t count. Or some similar phrase like it. But how do you measure your website traffic and marketing activities? Do you need to be a software/website programmer? Is it expensive and time-consuming?
The answer is it is easy, no programming skills required, and it is free. Yup, free. It takes a little extra time after you’ve completed the project to add the UTM tracking codes to your URLs. No programming, just copy and paste.
What is a UTM tracking code?
UTM stands for “Urchin tracking module.” Urchin Software Corporation was acquired by Google in 2005, and its software is the foundation of what is now Google Analytics. It is a simple suffix you add to the end of a URL when you want to track activity to that URL.
UTM codes can be used almost anywhere on websites, social media, paid ads, emails, and other forms of digital marketing when you want to track how users interact with your content.
What does a UTM tracking code look like?
You’ve seen them and didn’t realize it. They are suffixes pasted at the end of a URL. For example, if I write a blog post on my website, the URL would be something like this:
https://inosolutions.co/blog/greatcontent
The URL with the UTM attached might look like this:
https://inosolutions.co/blog/greatcontent?utm_medium=post&utm_source=blog&utm_campaign=greatcontent
Notice at the end of the URL there is a question mark and then the term UTM is used three times. This is what tells Google that you want to track this URL. Anytime someone interacts with this URL Google will record it and report it in Google Analytics.
What does each of these UTM terms mean?
There are five UTM terms Google allows you to use. Three of them are required and the other two are optional. Each term can be whatever you want it to be. The only stipulation is that there cannot be any spaces. The five terms are:
- Medium
- Source
- Campaign
- Campaign Content
- Campaign Term
Medium, Source, and Campaign are required terms. Campaign Content and Campaign Term are optional. As you can see in the example above, we made Medium = post, Source = blog, and Campaign = greatcontent. The important part of selecting your UTM terms is to use a naming convention that helps you know where each term was used when you read your Google Analytics reports.
Another example might be:
- Medium = ad
- Source = facebook
- Campaign = holidaysale
With this example, we would be able to see how many visitors clicked on an ad on Facebook and went to the page about our holiday sale. To get even more information you could use the Campaign Content term and make it the name of the holiday and use the Campaign Term and make that the product that is on sale. It might look something like this:
- Medium = ad
- Source = facebook
- Campaign = holidaysale
- Campaign Content = july4th
- Campaign Term = grills
By using all five available options you can see which products, on which channel (Facebook, Google Ads, etc.), on which holiday drove the most visitors to your website.
How do I create UTM tracking codes?
The simple manual way is to copy the format above and make the UTM tracking code. There are also several tools and you can build a spreadsheet to save you time. Here are links to three free tools you can use:
- https://ga-dev-tools.appspot.com/campaign-url-builder/
- https://web.utm.io/google-analytics-utm-tracking-code-builder/
- https://www.terminusapp.com/google-analytics-url-builder/
The process is simple. You copy the URL for the page you want the visitor to go to. Paste it in one of the tools or your spreadsheet. Fill in the UTM terms you want to use. Copy of completed UTM-URL and paste it into your content. Usually, it will be the link on a Call-To-Action (CTA) button in your content.
How do I use UTM tracking codes?
You put UTM tracking codes on links. These are often when the visitor transitions from one location to another. From on-page of a website to another. From Facebook to a web page, etc. The two most common places UTM tracking codes are used is in traditional links and CTA buttons.
And the link doesn’t have to go to your content. You can track when a visitor goes from your blog post to an external website, something that you referenced. For example, we could have a UTM tracking code on a link to a Wikipedia URL. That way we can measure how important that reference link is and use the data to add more content, create an offer, or any number of options.
How do I get reports on my UTM tracking codes?
As we mentioned at the beginning of this article, UTM codes are owned by Google and they report the data gathered in Google Analytics. You find the data in Acquisition > All Traffic > Source/Medium, but it can be found in several other areas within Google Analytics.
To take advantage of UTM tracking codes, you must first have Google Analytics set up on your website. Once completed, you can add UTM tracking codes to any links or CTA buttons you want to track.
If you need help setting up Google Analytics and UTM tracking codes please contact us and we would be glad to do it for you.