UTM Code

As a marketer, you know your marketing drives visitors to your clients' websites, but do you have the hard data to prove it? During a client visit, can you show exactly which tweets or guest posts generated leads and which didn't?

An old quote by Peter Drucker, "What gets measured gets managed," is more relevant than ever for modern agencies. If you can't measure the impact of your marketing, you can neither improve it nor use it as proof of your work. This is where UTM tracking codes come into play.

A UTM code is a simple code snippet appended to the end of your URL to track the performance of content and social media campaigns. Five URL parameters are available for tracking, including:

• Content
• Concept
• Campaign
• Medium
• Source

UTM codes provide a more detailed view of your marketing performance. These dimensions are also displayed in your analytics reports. Google's URL builder offers a quick way to create UTM codes; simply add your website address and select your campaign parameters.

What exactly does UTM mean?

UTM translates to... Urchin Tracking ModuleAn early version of Google Analytics was previously owned by a company called "Urchin on Demand" – hence the name Urchin Tracking Module or UTM.

Google acquired the company in 2005, when the idea of ​​tracking visitors through code added to URLs was still very new.

How to? Understanding performance tracking in online marketing campaigns

A UTM code is a simple snippet of code that you can append to the end of a URL to track the performance of campaigns and content.

The data you track via UTM codes will be displayed in your analytics reports to give you a better insight into marketing performance.

UTM stands for "Urchin Traffic Monitor". This name comes from Urchin Tracker, a web analytics software that served as the basis for Google Analytics.

A UTM code looks something like this:

https://www.mikgroup.ch/seo-agentur/?utm_source=google

The part that begins after «?» is the UTM code.As you may have already guessed, this code can be used to determine who sent the data traffic to the page (i.e., the source).

The UTM code itself consists of two components:

• UTM parameters – those that begin with utm. There are 5 standard parameters you can track: utm_source, utm_medium, utm_campaign, utm_content, and utm_term (more on these below).
• Tracking variable – a unique variable used to identify the tracked dimension (e.g., the name of the traffic source). This variable is preceded by an equals sign (="). The variable may only contain numbers, letters, hyphens, plus signs (+), and periods.

Meaning of UTM codes

The code serves only one purpose: to help your analytics tool track the source of your visitors.

For agency marketers, this means you can use these UTM parameters to calculate the impact of your campaigns. If you've ever struggled with attributing marketing efforts, UTM codes will be very helpful.

What can you track with UTM codes? What do the UTM parameters look like?

As mentioned, there are five different UTM parameters. The first three are by far the most commonly used (source, medium, campaign), but for additional insights, you can choose to track all five. Here's exactly what you can track with each one.

1. Traffic Source

The UTM parameter for the traffic source allows you to track the origin of the traffic. The parameter added to the URL is utm_sourceSources you can track could include Facebook, Google, Bing, inbound.org, or the name of an email list.

For example: &utm_source=twitter

2.Medium

The UTM parameter "Medium" indicates the type of traffic from which visitors originate – CPC, email, social, referral, display, etc. The parameter is utm_source.

For example: &utm_medium=cpc

3. Campaign Name

The UTM parameter "Campaign Name" allows you to track the performance of a specific campaign. For example, you can use this parameter to differentiate traffic between various Facebook ad campaigns or email campaigns. The parameter is: utm_campaign

For example: &utm_campaign=gads-campaign

4. Contents

If you have multiple links pointing to the same URL (e.g., an email with two CTA buttons), you can use this code to determine which link was clicked. The UTM parameter is utm_content.

For example: &utm_content=firstlink

5. Keyword Term

The UTM parameter "Keyword" allows you to track the search terms that brought website visitors to your site. This parameter is specifically used for paid search ads. The parameter is: utm_term.

For example: &utm_term=seo+agentur

How to use UTM codes in Google Analytics

You can use these codes in any combination by separating each UTM parameter with the "&" character.

For example, you could have a simple URL that only wants to track the actions of visitors from an email campaign.

yoursite.com/your-page/?utm_campaign=spring-sale

By adding the parameter utm_campaign You can track the performance of your "Spring Sale" email campaign in Google Analytics. If you run a spring sale every year, add the year to the parameter (e.g., 2020). utm_kampagne=spring-sale-2023), to differentiate the campaign for each year. Want to know how many sales were generated by an email campaign? UTM links are your answer.

You can also opt for a more complex code that tracks multiple UTM parameters. Here's an example tracking source, medium, campaign name, and content:

yoursite.com/your-page/?utmsource=facebook&utmmedium=cpc&utmcampaign=springsale&utmcontent=shoead

How to display the performance of the UTM code in Google Analytics

Once you have added the UTM code to your campaign URL, you can track its performance in Google Analytics in several different reports.

• Create a custom report under "Customization" > "Custom Reports". Add Medium, Campaign, or Source as a dimension, along with the metrics you want to display.
• Go to Acquisition → Overview → Total Traffic → Source/Medium to view the traffic.
• Go to Acquisition → Campaigns → All Campaigns to view traffic based on your custom campaign names.

How do I create UTM codes in Google Analytics?

There are several ways to create UTM codes. Below I will cover the most common ones:

1. Manual

UTM codes aren't technically complicated. One option is to add the parameters manually. Simply add the individual UTM parameters to the end of your URL. The tricky part is avoiding mistakes!

UTM codes can become quite long, and you will inevitably make mistakes, so we generally do not recommend the manual method.

However, if you simply want to append the name of a campaign or source to the end of a URL, typing it in is an easy way. For example, let's say we're writing a guest post and want to track the number of clicks on our author bio link.

We could therefore include a URL like the following in our biography:

http://mysite.com/page/?utm_source=blogsite.com&utm_content=author_bio

2. Google Website URL Builder

Google's URL builder offers a quick way to create UTM codes. To use it, simply enter your website's address.

You must enter the campaign source (so that you can keep track in All Traffic → Source/Medium); the other UTM parameters are optional.

After you have entered the desired parameters, scroll down to see your URL.

Copy this link containing the UTM code and paste it into your campaign or content.

Advantages of using a UTM code & UTM Builder

A UTM code is a powerful method to track additional information about your campaigns with Google Analytics.

However, if you have a long-term campaign that you need to track over a long period of time, it is often easier to use a social media publishing tool like Sprout, which has built-in URL tracking.

With constant access to URL tracking solutions, you can:

• See where your website traffic is coming from and increase your investments in the right area.
• You know which links customers click in a campaign and can optimize your call-to-action content.
• Analyze the impact of each campaign and learn more about which social media channels your customers are present on.

Before UTM codes were introduced, it was nearly impossible to track content variables during A/B testing. But thanks to Sprout Social and knowledge of how to use UTM parameters, you now have complete control over your campaigns!