💡 What are UTM tracking parameters?
UTM (Urchin Tracking Module) parameters are a set of parameters appended to the end of a URL, used to label and track the source, medium, and campaign behind a piece of traffic. Think of UTM as an "automatic label" attached to every visitor who arrives at your site through an ad or a push message, letting you precisely identify where they originally came from.
UTM was originally developed by Urchin (later acquired by Google and folded into the foundation of Google Analytics), and it's an essential tool for marketers measuring the performance of external traffic.
✨ Why does UTM tracking matter?
Identify your channels: pinpoint exactly whether a visitor arrived via a Facebook ad, a LINE push, a KOL partnership, or a member EDM.
Pinpoint your highest-converting channels: track which external channel ultimately drives the highest conversion rate (like orders or form submissions).
Optimize your campaigns: use this data feedback to adjust your marketing budget in real time, putting resources behind the ad sources or partners performing best.
🏷️ The five UTM naming parameters
There are five types of UTM parameters. Source, Medium, and Campaign are the most basic and required.
Parameter name | Full parameter | Description & example | Notes |
Source | utm_source | Identifies the original source channel of the traffic. For example: fb, line, google, kol_name. | Required |
Medium | utm_medium | Identifies the type of channel that reached the visitor. For example: ad, edm, post, banner. | Required |
Campaign | utm_campaign | Identifies the name of the marketing campaign or project. For example: 2024_Q3_sale, autumn_project. | Required |
Term | utm_term | Records paid search keywords, or can be used to record an ad's target audience (like 30-35_female). | Optional |
Content | utm_content | Records the specific content touchpoint, commonly used to distinguish creative assets in an A/B test. For example: edm_version_A, banner_tall. | Optional |
⚠️ Two strict rules for using UTM
You must use at least utm_source and utm_medium. If either is missing, Google Analytics tracking may record incorrectly.
Never use UTM parameters between pages on your own site or subdomain.
Consequence: using UTM parameters internally causes GA to misread the data and overwrite the visitor's original, correct ad source or SEO source. When a visitor clicks a link on your site that carries a UTM parameter, GA treats it as a new session and re-attributes it, causing you to lose visibility into the original traffic source.
🛠️ GA4 / Marketing Tracking Tools | UTM Parameter Setup Guide
"Setting up" UTM parameters is mainly about naming and combining them — it doesn't involve complex steps in the GA4 dashboard. As a marketer, focus on standardized naming and connecting your parameters to a tracking goal.
Step 1: Build your UTM (manually or with a tool)
UTM parameters go at the end of the URL you're sending out, separated from the URL with a question mark (?), and chained together with an ampersand (&):
[link URL]?utm_source=label1&utm_medium=label2&utm_campaign=label3
Example:
Recommended tool: we recommend using Google's Campaign URL Builder to build your ad URLs, to avoid typos or formatting mistakes.
Step 2: Keep a record of your UTM naming conventions
To keep your data clean and consistent, your marketing team needs a standardized set of rules for naming UTM parameters.
Keep a log: use a spreadsheet or shared doc to record every naming convention — for example, that "fb" in utm_source means a Facebook post, while "fb-ad" means a Facebook ad.
Avoid spaces and special characters: parameter values should only use lowercase letters, numbers, and underscores (_) — avoid spaces or Chinese characters.
NOTE: we recommend keeping a simple log (a notes doc or spreadsheet) of every naming convention you use, so it's easy to reference and cross-check later.
Step 3: Set a GA4 tracking goal (destination URL or event)
To measure the real value of your UTM traffic, you need to set up a clear tracking goal (conversion) in GA4.
Destination URL: works well for a static "thank you" page or "order complete" page.
Events: works well for tracking dynamic behavior, like a button click or form submission.
Important: you'll need a developer (or GTM) to define a dedicated event for the key action on your site.
Step 4: Analyze UTM performance in GA4 reports
Once your UTM parameters and conversion goals are set up correctly, you can use GA4 reports to see which external source (as defined by your UTM) is most effective.
Open GA4 reports: in the left-hand navigation, go to "Reports" > "Acquisition" > "Traffic acquisition."
Adjust the primary dimension: the report's primary dimension can show you Session source/medium or Session campaign directly (these dimensions automatically read the UTM parameters you set).
Check conversion data: the "Conversions" column on the right of the report shows the number of goal completions driven by that UTM traffic directly.
You can also use the "Landing page" report to see how a page performs when it's reached through a specific UTM.