How to Use UTM Parameters to Track Everything - Neil Patel

“UTM parameters are simply tags that you add to a URL. When someone clicks on a URL with UTM parameters, those tags are sent back to your Google Analytics ... TheAll-In-OneSEOTool Submit Ihopeyouenjoyreadingthisblogpost. Ifyouwantmyteamtojustdoyourmarketingforyou,clickhere. HowtoUseUTMParameterstoTrackEverything Blog/HowtoUseUTMParameterstoTrackEverything BytaggingyourURLswithUTMs(UrchinTrackingModule),youcanunderstandhowyourvisitorsinteractwithyourwebsite.That’swhyit’simportantforyoutoknowhowtoaddUTMparameterssoyoucantrackeverything. Here’showtheseUTMparametersappearattheendofyourURL. So,whatcanthesesnippetsoftexttellyou,afterappendingyourURLs? I’lltellyouthetrafficaspectsyoucantrackinthenextsection.First,letmetellyouonecatchassociatedwiththem…. UTMparametersarestubbornentitiesthatsticktoyourlinks,evenwhenyouswitchtodifferentnetworksandmediums. Thatmeansifavisitorpickedyourlink(taggedwithaUTM)fromTwittertoshareonFacebook,itwouldstillcountasasharefromTwitter. AccordingtoresearchconductedbyBuzzFeed,contentactuallyspreadsacrossthesocialwebinabranchingtreepattern. Researchby33acrossfoundthat82%ofonlinesharingisdonebycopy-pastingURLs. ThismeansthatUTMsstickaroundandcangivemisleadingdataforcross-platformsocialmediasharing. There’sapotentialsolution–cleaningtheURLsbystrippingUTMcodesattheend,oncesharingononesocialplatformhasoccurred. But,ifthiscleanURLthengetssharedonprivatesocialmedia(thinkEmail,WhatsAppandMessenger),itappearsasdirecttrafficinyouranalytics. Again,thisismisleadinginformation–whichbecomesapartofyour darksocialtraffic. Withthislimitation,IjustwantedyoutounderstandthatUTMsaren’ttheend-allsolutiontounderstandingtheperformanceofyourcontent. But,theysuremakeyourmarketingcampaignpicturelesschaotic. So,let’sstartwithgeneratingcustomURLsforyourcampaignandsomeUTMbestpractices.Then,we’llmoveontoliveUTMuse-cases.  Butbeforewedigindeep,letmecleareronthebasics. What Are UTMparameters? Here’sasuccinctandsuperhelpfuldefinitionfromKissmetrics: “UTMparametersaresimplytagsthatyouaddtoaURL.WhensomeoneclicksonaURLwithUTMparameters,thosetagsaresentbacktoyourGoogleAnalyticsfortracking.” AreyoureadytogetgoingonyourUTMcampaignandfigureouthowtheseinsightsmightshapeyourmarketingeffort? HowtoGenerateURLParametersWithGoogle’sURLBuilder UTMparametersareagreatwaytofigureoutwhichURLsaremosteffectiveinattractingvisitorstoyourcontent.So,isthereasystematicwaytoappendthemtoyourURLs? Fortunately,yes. SayhellotoGoogle’sURLbuilder—buttherearenowthreedifferentonesdependingonwhetheryouwanttotrackdatainGA,GooglePlay,ortheAppleAppstore. We’lllookattheoneinsidetheGoogleAnalyticshelpcenter(lookslikethescreenshotbelow)forsettingupyourURLs. Herearethefiveformfieldsthatyouneedtocomplete: CampaignSource:Theplatform(orvendor)wherethetrafficoriginates,likeFacebookoryouremailnewsletter.CampaignMedium:YoucanusethistoidentifythemediumlikeCostPerClick(CPC),socialmedia,affiliate,orQRcode.CampaignTerm:You’llusethismainlyfortrackingyourkeywordsduringapaidAdWordscampaign.Youcanalsouseitinyourdisplayadcampaignstoidentifyaspectsofyouraudience.CampaignContent:Ifyou’reA/Btestingads,thenthisisausefulmetricthatpassesdetailsaboutyourad.YoucanalsouseittodifferentiatelinksthatpointtothesameURL.CampaignName:Thisisjusttoidentifyyourcampaign.Likeyourwebsiteorspecificproductpromotion.Here’sanexamplescreenshotwiththecampaignnamesyoumightseewhenyounavigatetoTrafficSources>>Sources>>Campaigns. YoucanalsousetheEffinamazingUTMBuilderChromeextension(nowcalledUTM.io)tocreateUTMs.Itauto-populatestheURLandsavesyourmostusedtermsaspresets. UTMParameterBestPractices HerearethreebestpracticesthatyoumustfollowfortaggingyourURLs.Itwillhelpyoueasilyidentifywheretrafficcomesfrom. 1.CreateStandardNamingConventionforUTMParameters Ifyoustayconsistent,youcanavoidalotofconfusionandensurethatyourUTMsarereportable. First,usedashesoverunderscores,percentage(representationforspacesinsideGA),andplussignsinyourURLs.Googlealgorithmdoesn’tpenalizeyouforusingthemandtheyworkbetter–MattCuttsexplainswhyhere. Second,stayconsistentwithlowercasethroughoutallofyourcampaigns.Forexample, utm_source=LinkedInisdifferentfromutm_source=linkedin. Changingtouppercase,camelcase,oranyothercapitalizationgivesyouanadditionalresponsibilityofrememberingthisconvention.So,it’sbettertostickwithlowercaseandnotlethumanerrorcreepin. Third,keepyourURLsclean,descriptive,non-redundantandeasytoread. Forexample,youmightmistakenlyputthesamevaluesinsidesourceandmediumparameters. Or,youcanputthespecificoriginatingaspectundermedium(liketheexamplebelow),butstillmanagetoconfuseyourselfwiththedoubleuseof‘facebook.’ ThebestwayistosimplymaketheUTMsflowlikeanormalsentencesansanyredundancy.SeehoweasyitistodecipheryourcampaigndetailsintheURLbelow. ThetrafficsourceisFacebookwithpostasthemediumandapartofthenewadmindashboard2014Aprilcampaign. HereisavisualsummaryofthepointsIjustmentioned. Note:Onceyou’vetakensufficienttimetocreatedata-richURLs,Irecommendedthatyoushortenthem,usingtoolslikebit.lyorGoogleLinkShortener.AlongandbulkyURLdoesnotmakeforagooduserexperienceandmightevencomeacrossasspammy. Also,theUTMparametersarevisibletotheusersintheiraddressbars.So,betransparentanddon’tusevaluesthatyoudon’twanttobeseenbytheuser. 2.TrackYourUTMLinksInsideaSpreadsheet Keepingarecordofthetaggedlinkswillensurethatyourmarketingteamstaysonthesamepage.YoucanusethisfreespreadsheettemplatebySamWiltshireorthisfreelinktaggingtoolbyRafflecoptertogetstarted. Additionally,createanamingconventionguidedocumentthatlaysoutclearinstructionsfortagginglinks.Thiscanbeaniterativeandexpandingguide–ifyoucomeacrossanewscenario,youcanaddtheexampletothisdocument. 3.NextStepsAfterEstablishingaUTMSystem Themostimportantaspectforabusinessisn’tthenumberofclicksandtrafficgeneratedbyvarioussources;it’srevenue. So,onceyouknowyourwayaroundUTMs,it’susefultoconnectyourtrackingdatawithyourCRM.Itshowsyouaclearpictureofhowvariousonlinemarketingchannelsareaffectingyourbottomline. Alternatively,youcanalsosetupgoalsinsideGA.Forexample,ifyouwanttomeasurereaderloyaltyandengagement,Ishowyoutheprocessinthisarticle. Irecommend,though,thatyoutrackmoreconcreteconversion-focusedmetrics,likeleadsgeneratedandemailsignups. Alright,nowthatyou’reawareofthesebestpractices,let’stalkaboutwhentouseUTMparameters. WheretoUseUTMParameters HerearethreeUTMparameterusecasesyoucanimplementrightaway. 1.InsertUTMParameterstoSocialMediaLinks SupposeyouwanttofindyourhighestROI-yieldingsocialmediaplatformandwhichlinksonthatplatformperformthebest,traffic-wise.Then,UTMscanhelpyouanalyzeyoursocialmediareferraltraffic. Forexample,onTwitter,youhavefouroptionstopromoteyourlinks–aregulartweet,apromotedtweet,awebsitefield,aandprofile/biodescription. Barringtheprofilelink(sinceitdisplaysthefirstpartoftheURLyouenter),youcantrackalloftheselinkclicksseparately. HereareexampleUTMparameterstrings,basedonTwitterwithdifferentmediumvalues. ?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=profile&utm_campaign=email ?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=tweet&utm_campaign=email ?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=promoted&utm_campaign=email Onceyou’vegeneratedacustomURL,youcanshortenthelink,usingshortenersImentionedearlierandsavetheprecious160characterrealestate. Similarly,onFacebook,youcancreateseparateUTMlinksforpromotedposts,profilecontactinfo,postsinagroup,organicpostsfromyourpageandmore.KristinHinessharesUTMparametersformajorsocialmediahere. Onceyoustartgettingdataandifyoucreategoals(asImentionedinthebestpractice3above),thenyou’llgetanenrichingGAreportliketheonebelow. 2.TestClicksFromYourEmailNewsletters Wanttounderstandtheparametersinsideyournewsletterthatcontributethemajorityoftraffictoyourwebsite? Then,appendingUTMstoyourURLscanhelp. Let’slookatanexampleinstantupdateemailbyRedfin. AllofthelinksinsidetheaboveemailsharetheseUTMparameters: utm_campaign:instant_listings_update utm_medium:email utm_source:myredfin But,Redfinhascorrectlysetupdifferentutm_contentvaluesforalloftheirlinks(thescreenshotabovedisplaystheuniquevaluesforeachlink).So,evenwhenthesubscribersofthemyredfinlistgotothesamepage,redfinknowsthelinktheyhaveclicked. Now,let’slookatabadexampleofUTM. Here’sanemailfromPinterest,recommendingcertainboardstofollow. Asyoucansee,everyboardhasanauthor,5imagesandafollowboardCTA. AlloftheabovelinkssharethefollowingUTMparameters: utm_campaign:weekly_wkly_130722 utm_medium:email utm_source:sendgrid.com Notethattheutm_camapignvalueat130722representsthedateitwassenton(22/07/2013).It’sausefulpieceofinformation. But,otherthanthat,PinterestfailstoimpresswithitsUTMimplementation. There’snowaytofindoutthespecificimagesandCTAbuttonsinsidetheemailwheretheaudienceclicks.So,Pinterestdoesn’tevenknowwhichoftheir“FollowBoards”buttonsworkwell.Theutm_contentcanbeemployedtogainthisinsight.Theutm_campaignvalueaddsaconfusingoverheadwithdoubleusageof‘weekly’and‘wkly.’And,sendgrid.comasutm_sourcedoesnotaddanyvalue,fromananalyticsperspective.It’stheemailserviceproviderthatPinterestusesandtheyarealreadyawareofthat. IrecommendthatcheckouttheUTManalysisof8morecompanies,byPuruChoudhary,here. YoucanfurtherimplementUTMparametersinsideyouremailsignaturetotrackifitleadsvisitorstoyourwebsite. GniewkoOblickicreatedacompany-widesignaturetemplate,appendingUTMparameters.Here’showitlooksinCodeTwoExchangeRulesHTMLeditor. Heranfivefootercampaignsinthecompanyandfoundthatusersengagedincrediblywellontheirwebsite.Here’stheGAreportshowingtheresultsof1682sessionsinitiatedbythefivecampaigns. 3.TracktheMostEffectiveBannerAdvertisements Ifyouregularlyperformpaidmarketing,thenIamsureyouwouldliketoknowthebanneradsthatperformthebest. WithUTMs,youcannotonlyfindouttheexternalwebsitethatbringsthemosttraffic,butyoucanevenfindoutthebannerplacement,design,size,colorandbannertypesthataremosteffective. Forexample,supposeyouusetwobannersizes,300pxand600px,foradvertisingonathird-partywebsite,Koozai. Here’showtheUTMmightlookifitis300pxwide. Here’showitwouldlookwhenitis600pxwide. Onceyou’vetaggedbothsizes,youcaneasilyfindtheonethat’smoreeffectiveanddoubledownonit. Kristiuses320pxbanneradsinherblog’ssidebar.And,here’showtheyperformagainstotherclicksonhereBook. Onceagain,Iwanttoemphasizethatifyou’vesetupgoalsinsideGA,thenyoucanfindthemostvaluablepieceofinfothataffectsyourbusiness. Forexample,Kristinavigatedto‘GoalSet1’tofindouthowherbanneradconvertstosales.And,shecancompareitwithhereBooksalesthroughotherlinks. UTMGuideFAQs WhatdoesUTMstandfor?UTMisanacronymforUrchinTrackingModule.TheyareshortpiecesofcodeaddedtoaURLthattracksthesourceofwebsitetraffic.WhatareUTMs?UTMsareparametersyoucanaddtoalinkthatallowsyoutotrackspecificinformationaboutthelinkincludingchannel,source,campaign,context,andterm.MostmarketersuseUTMstotracktrafficsources.HowdoUTMswork?UTMsuseasmallsnippetofcodethatprovidesspecificinformationaboutalink.DependingontheUTMyouuse,itmighttrackwhichcampaignaclickcamefromorhowmanypeopleclickedalinkinyouremail.WhatisthepointofUTMs?Inmarketing,UTMsaregenerallyusedtotrackmarketingROI.ByplacingsmallpiecesofcodeinanURL,marketerscantrackexactlyhowasitevisitorfoundtheirsite.Forexample,apaidad,Facebookpost,oremailcampaign.DoIneedtouseUTMs?Ifyouwanttounderstandhoweffectiveyourmarketingis,yes.UTMsprovidedetailedinformationaboutwheretrafficcomesfrom,whichallowsyoutounderstandwhatcampaignsareactuallydrivingtrafficandrevenue. UltimateGuidetoUTM:Conclusion UTMparametersprovideextremelyvaluableinsightsintoyourtraffic.Youcanuncoveragoldmineofbehavioraldatatohelpboostyoursalesandrefineyouroverallmarketingstrategy.  Torecaphere,tocreateUTMparametersforyourlinks,useGoogle’sURLbuilder.It’llhelpyoustartcampaigntracking. And,remembertokeepthebestpracticesinmindasyoudoso. HaveyoueverusedUTMparametersforcampaigntracking?Diditleadtoinsightsaboutbuildinga customcampaign?Letmeknowyourthoughtsinthecommentssectionbelow.  SeeHowMyAgencyCanDriveMassiveAmountsofTraffictoYourWebsite SEO-unlockmassiveamountsofSEOtraffic.Seerealresults. ContentMarketing-ourteamcreatesepiccontentthatwillgetshared,getlinks,andattracttraffic. PaidMedia-effectivepaidstrategieswithclearROI. BookaCall Share Doyouwantmoretraffic? Hey,I'mNeilPatel.I'mdeterminedtomakeabusinessgrow.Myonlyquestionis,willitbeyours? Submit AboutNeilPatel Heistheco-founderofNPDigital.TheWallStreetJournalcallshimatopinfluencerontheweb,Forbessaysheisoneofthetop10marketers,andEntrepreneurMagazinesayshecreatedoneofthe100mostbrilliantcompanies.NeilisaNewYorkTimesbestsellingauthorandwasrecognizedasatop100entrepreneurundertheageof30byPresidentObamaanda top100entrepreneurundertheageof35by theUnitedNations. Learnmore Guides Guides DigitalMarketing OnlineMarketing GoogleAdWords FacebookAdvertising Remarketing SEO ContentMarketing Blogging GrowthHacking SocialMediaMarketing AffiliateMarketing ConversionOptimization MarketingAutomation Agency EcommerceAgency AdWordsAgency SEOAgency PPCAgency DigitalMarketingAgency PPCCompanies SEOCompanies FacebookAdvertisingConsulting Tools SEOAnalyzer A/BTestingCalculator Ubersuggest BacklinksChecker WebsiteTrafficChecker ChromeExtension Doyouwantmoretraffic? Hey,I'mNeilPatel.I'mdeterminedtomakeabusinessgrow.Myonlyquestionis,willitbeyours? 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