UTM Codes: How to Create UTM Tracking URLs on Google ...

In the menu of analytics tools that appears, look to the very bottom-righthand corner. You'll see the option, "Tracking URL Builder." Click this ... Marketing|8minread UTMCodes:HowtoCreateUTMTrackingURLsonGoogleAnalytics WrittenbyGinnyMineo @ginnymineo Crucialaspectsofbeingagreatmarketerarebeingabletomeasureyoursuccessandmeasureyourimpact.Nomatterwhichmetricsyouuse,youwanttoprovetoyourboss(andthecompany)thatyou'reworthyoursalt. Youdeserveyourbudget—andmaybeneedmoreofit—andyoudeservetodedicatetimetothemarketingactivitiesthatwork.BuildingUTMcodesthattrackyourcampaigns'successisthebestwaytoproveit. Inthisblogpost,you'lllearnwhatUTMcodesare,howtousethem,andhowtobuildtheminboth GoogleAnalyticsandHubSpot. UTMCodes UTM(UrchinTrackingModule)codesaresnippetsoftextaddedtotheendofaURLtohelpyoutrackwherewebsitetrafficcomesfromifusersclickalinktothisURL.MarketerscustomizethistexttomatchthewebpagethisURLislinkedoninordertoattributethesuccessofthatcampaigntospecificpiecesofcontent. UTMcodesarealsoknownasUTMparameters—ortrackingtags—becausetheyhelpyou"track"websitetrafficfromitsorigin. Now,youmightbethinking,"Ginny,IhaveHubSpot,soIalreadyknowifmywebsitetrafficiscomingfromGoogle,email,socialmedia,andsimilarmarketingchannels.WhatdoesaUTMcodetellmethatIdon'talreadyknow?" HubSpotMarketingHubprovidesyouwiththesehigh-levelsourcesoftraffic,butUTMalsohelpsyoudrilldownintospecificpagesandpostswithinthesetrafficsources. UTMCodeExample Ifyou'repromotingacampaignonsocialmedia,forexample,you'llknowhowmuchtrafficcamefromsocialmedia. BuildingaUTMcode,however,cantellyouhowmuchofthattrafficcamefromFacebookorevenaparticularpostonFacebook. Here'sanexampleofaURLwithitsownUTMcodehighlightedinorangeattheendoftheURLbelow: http://blog.hubspot.com/9-reasons-you-cant-resist-list?utm_campaign=blogpost&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook Intheexampleabove,you'resayingthatoncetrafficcomesinfrompeoplewhoclickthislink,thetrafficshouldbeattributedtoFacebook.The"medium"issocialmedia,whilethe"source"isFacebook. Addingthesesnippetsofcodeafterthequestionmarkabovedoesn'taffectanythingonthepage—itjustletsyouranalyticsprogramknowthatsomeonearrivedthroughacertainsourceinsideanoverallmarketingchannel,aspartofaspecificcampaign. UTMTracking UTMtrackingentailsaddingaUTMcode,asnippetofcode,totheendofaURLinordertotracktheperformanceofyourmarketingcampaignsandcontentaswellasyourwebsite'strafficsources.  UTMTrackingBestPractices HerearesomebestpracticestokeepinmindwhencreatingandusingUTMtrackingURLs:  MakeyourURLsandlinksareconsistent,clean,andeasytoread(youmaycreateastandardforlinktagging/UTMparameterguidetoensureconsistencyhere).  KeepalistofyourUTMlinkssoeveryoneonyourteamknowswhichtaggedlinkscurrentlyexist.  ConnectUTMtrackingtoyourCRM(likeHubSpot)togaininsightintohowyourbottomlinelooks.  BespecificwithyourURLUTMparameterssoyourtagsclearlystatewhatyou'retrackingandwhere.  Stickwithallloweroruppercase—UTMcodesarecase-sensitive.  Keepnamesshortbutdescriptive(e.g."U.S."versus"United-States").  UTMParameterExamples&UseCases UTMcodescantrackamediumandasourcewithinthatmedium.Whereitgetsmoreflexibleisinthelanguageyouusetodescribethatsource.Maybeyouwanttoattributewebsitetraffictoasocialnetwork,atypeofcontent,oreventheexactnameofanadvertisementontheweb. HerearethefivethingsyoucantrackwithUTMcodesandwhyyoumighttrackthem: 1.Campaign Campaign-basedtrackingtagsgroupallofthecontentfromonecampaigninyouranalytics.TheexampleUTMcodebelowwouldhelpyouattributewebsitetraffictolinksthatwereplacedasapartofa20%discountpromotionyou'rehosting. Example:utm_campaign=20percentpromocode 2.Source Asource-basedURLparametercantellyouwhichwebsiteissendingyoutraffic.YoucouldaddtheexamplecodebelowtoeverylinkyouposttoyourFacebookpage,helpingyoutotrackalltrafficthatcomesfromFacebook. Example:utm_source=Facebook 3.Medium Thistypeoftrackingtaginformsyouofthemediumthatyourtrackedlinkisfeaturedin.YoucanusetheexampleUTMcodebelowtotrackalltrafficthatcomesfromsocialmedia(asopposedtoothermediums,likeemail). Example:utm_medium=socialmedia 4.PieceofContent ThistypeofUTMcodeisusedtotrackthespecifictypesofcontentthatpointtothesamedestinationfromacommonsourceandmedium. It'softenusedinpay-per-click(PPC)campaignsorwithtwoidenticallinksonthesamepage,asshowninthesampleUTMcodebelow. Example:utm_content=sidebarlinkorutm_content=headerlink 5.Term Aterm-orkeyword-basedtrackingcodeidentifiesthekeywordsyou'vepaidforinaPPCad.IfyoupayforaGoogleAdscampaigntorankunderthekeyword,"marketingsoftware,"youmightaddthefollowingUTMcodetotheendofthelinkyousubmittoGoogletorunthisad. Example:utm_term=marketing+software ThebestpartaboutUTMparametersisthatyoucanmakeanycombinationyoulikeofthesecodes—usethebareminimum(campaign,source,andmedium)totrackallofyourlinks,oruseallofthemtogetsuperspecificaboutyourtracking. Clearly,youcanuseacombinationofUTMparametersinlotsofways: Trackthesuccessofcertainmarketinginitiatives. Seehowwellyoursocialchannelspromoteyourcontentversuswhenyourfollowerspromoteyourcontent. Measuretheeffectivenessofguestpostingreferraltraffic. Trackthesamepieceofcontentacrossmultiplemarketingchannels. Seewheremostpeopleclickonyourinternallinksinablogpost. Okay,soyou'reonboardwithUTMcodes...buthowtheheckdoyousetthemup?It'seasy. BelowareinstructionsforsettingupandmeasuringUTMparametersinGoogleAnalyticsandHubSpot. HowtoBuildUTMCodesinGoogleAnalytics HerearethestepsinvolvedinbuildingUTMcodesinGoogleAnalytics.  1.OpenGoogle'sCampaignURLBuilder. TherearethreedifferenttypesoftrackingtagsyoucancreateinGoogle,twoofwhichhelpyoutracktraffictonewappsonappmarketplaces.You'llbeusingtheGoogleAnalyticsCampaignURLBuilder—thethirdoptiononthislist. 2.Fillineachlinkattributeinthefollowingform. VisitthepagelinkedaboveandclickthelinktoseethisURLbuilder.Then,you'llseetheUTMbuildershownbelow.AddtheURL,Campaign,Source,andMediuminformationintotheirrespectiveboxes. 3.Usethelinkinyourmarketingcampaign. Ifyou'dliketoshortenit,you'llneedatoollikebit.ly...orjustuseHubSpot'sURLBuilderifyou'reaHubSpotcustomer. 4.Measureyoursuccess. IfyoualreadyhaveGoogleAnalyticssetupforyoursite,Googlewillautomaticallytrackincomingcampaigns.LikeinHubSpot,youcanaccessthemunder"Audience,"then"Sources,"then"Campaigns."Clickoneachcampaigntoviewthesourceandmedium. Andthat'sit—you'llhavecustomtrackingcodessetupandrunninginnotime!Inafewweeks,you'llbeabletomakeacaseforwhatyouneedbecauseyou'llhavetherightmetricsavailable. HowtoBuildUTMCodesinHubSpot  Here'showyou'dgoaboutbuildingUTMcodesinHubSpot.  1.NavigatetoyourAnalyticsTools. InyourMarketingHubdashboard,select"Reports"onthetopnavigationbar.Thenselect"AnalyticsTools"inthedropdown,asshownbelow. 2.OpentheTrackingURLBuilder. Inthemenuofanalyticstoolsthatappears,looktotheverybottom-righthandcorner.You'llseetheoption,"TrackingURLBuilder."Clickthisoptionatthebottomofthepage,asshownintheredboxbelow. 3.OpentheTrackingURLformtocreateanewUTMcode. WheneveryoucreateawebcampaignthatincludesatleastoneUTMcode,you'llseethiscampaignlistedonthepageshownbelow. Thispageoutlinesatrackingtag'ssource,medium,term,content,andcreationdate,whichyoucanseealongthebottomofthescreenshotbelow.Click"CreateTrackingURL"inthetop-righthandcorner. 4.FillineachattributeofyourUTMcodeandclick"Create." Intheformthatappears,fillintheURL,Campaign,Source,andMediumfields.Ifyou'dliketoaddContentandTerm,youcandosointhebottomtwofieldsofthisform.Whenyou'redone,you'llseeanorange"Create"buttonbecomeavailableatthebottom. Clickit,andHubSpotwilllogyourUTMcodeasanewcampaign,andthislinkwillbereadytoincludeonanywebpagefromwhichyouwanttotrackthetraffic. 5.Usetheshortenedlinkinyourmarketingcampaign. 6.Measureyoursuccess. YoucantrackyourUTMparametersinyourTrafficAnalyticsdashboardunder"OtherCampaigns,"asshownbelow.Clickontheindividualcampaigntobreakdownthesourceandmedium. Asyoucanseeinthesecondimage,below,thenameofthecampaignappearstotheleft—basedonthetextintheUTMcodeyoucreated—withthetrafficfrompeoplewhousedeachURLtoarriveatyourcampaign'smainwebpage. StartCreatingUTMTrackingURLs Usethesteps,bestpractices,andtoolsabovetostartcreatingandusingUTMtrackingURLssoyou'reabletotracktheperformanceofyourmarketingcampaignsandcontent.  Editor'snote:ThispostwasoriginallypublishedinSeptember2013andhasbeenupdatedforcomprehensiveness.   OriginallypublishedAug20,202112:45:00PM,updatedAugust202021 Topics: MarketingCampaigns Don'tforgettosharethispost! RelatedArticles TheUltimateGuidetoMarketingCampaigns Marketing  |15minread AdTracking:WhatItIs&HowtoDoIt Marketing  |8minread HowtoImplementaBrandActivationStrategy[+Examples] Marketing  |6minread ExpandOffer SocialMediaContentCalendarTemplate Getitnow Getitnow DownloadforLater