Free tool
UTM Generator
Build clean UTM tracking URLs in seconds. Fill in the fields, copy the link, and know exactly which campaign drove every visit.
UTM values are case-sensitive — we lowercase and hyphenate spaces automatically so “Spring Sale” becomes “spring-sale” and stays consistent across your reports.
What each UTM parameter means
UTM parameters are small tags appended to a URL so your analytics tool can attribute traffic to the right source, medium, and campaign.
| Parameter | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| utm_source | Where the traffic comes from. | google, newsletter, twitter |
| utm_medium | The marketing medium or channel. | cpc, email, social |
| utm_campaign | The specific campaign, promo, or launch. | spring-sale, product-launch |
| utm_termoptional | Paid search keyword, when relevant. | running-shoes |
| utm_contentoptional | Differentiates similar content or links in the same campaign (e.g. A/B test variants, two links in the same email). | header-link, footer-cta |
Naming convention best practices
- Always lowercase.UTM values are case-sensitive — mixing “Email” and “email” splits one channel into two rows in your reports.
- Hyphenate, don't use spaces or underscores.“spring-sale” is easier to scan than “spring_sale” or a raw space (which URL-encodes to %20).
- Keep a shared naming sheet.Agree on source/medium values as a team so “ig” and “instagram” don't end up as two different sources.
- Be specific with campaigns.“spring-sale-2026” beats “sale” once you have more than one promotion in your history.
- Use utm_content to split near-identical links. Two CTAs in the same email, or two ad variants in an A/B test, should share source/medium/campaign but differ only in content.
Where UTM traffic shows up in analytics
Once a visitor lands on a UTM-tagged URL, analytics tools (including Gizmo Analytics) read the utm_source, utm_medium, and utm_campaign values from the query string and attribute that session to the matching channel and campaign — usually surfaced in a “Campaigns” or “Sources” report, broken out by source and medium. This is what lets you see, for example, that your newsletter drove 400 visits last week versus 120 from a tweet, instead of both showing up as generic “referral” traffic.
Also try the CTR Calculator
Once your links are tagged, check how well your headlines and ads are converting impressions into clicks.
FAQ
- What are UTM parameters?
- UTM (Urchin Tracking Module) parameters are tags added to the end of a URL that tell your analytics tool where a visit came from — which source, medium, and campaign drove the click. They don't change what page loads; they just attach tracking data your analytics platform reads.
- Do UTM parameters affect SEO?
- No, UTM parameters don't directly affect search rankings. But if the same page is reachable through many different UTM-tagged URLs, make sure the canonical tag points to the clean, untagged URL — otherwise you risk diluting signals across near-duplicate URLs in Google's eyes.
- What's the difference between utm_source and utm_medium?
- utm_source is the specific place traffic came from (google, newsletter, twitter). utm_medium is the general category of channel it traveled through (cpc, email, social). Think of source as "who sent this" and medium as "what kind of channel."
- Are UTM parameters case-sensitive?
- Yes. Most analytics tools treat "Newsletter" and "newsletter" as two different sources, which splits your reporting. Always use a consistent case — lowercase is the standard convention — and stick to it across every link you tag.
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