Utm Source vs Medium: A Guide to Tracking and Optimization

Tracking the source of website traffic is crucial for any online business. Utm source and Medium are two popular tools used for this purpose.

Utm source allows you to track the source of your website traffic by assigning a unique identifier to each source. This helps you understand where your visitors are coming from, whether it's a social media platform, a blog, or a paid advertisement.

Medium, on the other hand, is a platform that allows you to create and share content with your audience. It also has built-in analytics to track your content's performance.

Parameters are the building blocks of UTM codes, and they're what make it possible to track different campaigns and sources. A normal URL would look like this: https://example.com/. But when you add UTM tags, your URL might look like this: https://example.com/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=onboarding.

There are 5 tags in UTM code, with the last two being optional. The 5 tags are: source (utm_source), medium (utm_medium), campaign (utm_campaign), term (utm_term), and content (utm_content). Source shows you the source your visitors are coming from, like Google, Facebook, Twitter, or your email marketing provider. Medium is used to identify the campaign medium of your traffic, like email, social media, or ad.

Here's a breakdown of the 5 tags:

UTM tags are case-sensitive, so it's essential to decide on a naming convention before naming your campaigns.

Understanding the importance of parameters is crucial in marketing. Attaching UTMs to your links helps you identify which messages and channels are generating the most traffic or conversions.

UTM parameters provide valuable insights into your marketing performance. This data is crucial for allocating marketing budget, justifying your spend, optimizing campaigns, and putting your team's focus on the right things.

The campaign parameter (utm_campaign) is particularly useful for tracking the effectiveness of a particular marketing campaign. This parameter provides the name of the specific marketing campaign, such as “launch” or “giant sale.”

Here are some key facts about the campaign parameter:

Campaign tracking is essential to find out whether or not your ads are effective. It helps you understand the process of creating and tracking your campaigns, making it a crucial step in your marketing strategy.

Adding parameters to URLs can be a bit tricky, but it's crucial for accurate tracking. You should set up naming conventions and stick to them to avoid inconsistent parameters.

Using a URL builder tool like Google's Campaign URL Builder can simplify the process. You can plug in your campaign details, and it will spit out a full URL with UTM codes. This way, you can avoid stringing together a coherent UTM parameter manually.

Here are the required fields you'll need to enter in a UTM builder for a campaign:

Using parameters in URLs can be a game-changer for tracking and optimizing your online campaigns.

For instance, using UTM parameters in different types of campaigns can help you understand how your audience is interacting with your content.

UTM parameters can be used to track the performance of specific social media ads, like a Facebook ad promoting a new product.

For example, a UTM parameter can be used to identify which campaign a visitor came from, such as a Google Ads campaign promoting a sale.

UTM parameters can also be used to track the performance of email marketing campaigns, like a newsletter promoting a new service.

Creating Google Analytics codes can be a breeze with the right tools. You can either type them manually, but beware that this can lead to lengthy and error-prone codes.

There are 5 tags in a UTM code, with the last two being optional, including Source (utm_source), Medium (utm_medium), Campaign (utm_campaign), Term (utm_term), and Content (utm_content).

Google uses UTM parameters to track data about link clicks, such as the number of visitors, traffic sources, conversions, and more. This helps you differentiate each URL from the rest and understand your campaign's performance.

To create UTM codes, you can use a URL builder tool, which spits out your full URL with UTM codes after you input your campaign details. The Campaign URL Builder from Google is a great example of this.

Here are the 5 UTM tags in detail:

Remember, UTM tags are case-sensitive, so decide on a naming convention before naming your campaigns to keep things concise and organized.

The Google Campaign URL Builder is a nifty tool that makes it easy to create UTM tags without worrying about stringing a coherent parameter.

You can simply plug in the details of your campaign, and the builder will spit out your full URL, complete with UTM codes. This is a much simpler way of creating UTM tags than typing them manually, which can be prone to errors.

The Campaign URL Builder is a brief form that you can fill out with your campaign, source, medium, and other tags, and it will create your final URL for you. If you're a WordPress user, you can use MonsterInsights for both campaign URL creation and tracking those campaigns right inside your WordPress dashboard.

Here are the required fields you can enter in the UTM builder:

Once you've entered the required fields, the UTM builder will automatically generate a URL for you. Copy the link and use it for your promotion.

If you're looking for a simple way to generate and keep track of UTMs, a sharable spreadsheet is a great option. One such tool is the $UTM builder template, which can be copied for your use.

The template has two main tabs: one for naming conventions and examples of parameter types, and another for building out your UTMs with platforms, URLs, and campaign types. Use the second tab to get started.

You can find an example on the second tab to help you build your UTMs.

The Google Campaign URL Builder is a fantastic tool that can save you a lot of time and effort when creating UTM tags for your URLs. It's a simple form that you can fill out with your campaign details, and it will generate a complete URL with UTM codes for you.

You can use the Campaign URL Builder to create UTM tags for your URLs, and it's especially useful when you have a lot of campaigns to track. The builder will spit out your full URL, complete with UTM codes, which you can then copy and use for your promotions.

One of the benefits of using the Campaign URL Builder is that it eliminates the risk of manual errors when creating UTM tags. This is especially important when you're working with multiple campaigns and need to track your results accurately.

The Campaign URL Builder is a free tool provided by Google, and it's easy to use. Simply plug in your campaign details, and the builder will do the rest.

Here are the steps to use the Campaign URL Builder:

By using the Google Campaign URL Builder, you can create accurate and consistent UTM tags for your URLs, which will help you track your marketing performance and make data-driven decisions for your business.

UTM codes are a game-changer for tracking referral traffic.

Without UTM codes, you'd likely see a report in your analytics that shows total traffic from Facebook, but doesn't tell you which specific posts brought the traffic.

UTM codes can give you that level of insight, so you can see which exact posts or campaigns drive traffic.

This is particularly useful for tracking email campaigns, which web analytics can't accurately track on their own.

UTM codes also help you track referral traffic at a micro level, allowing you to see which specific sources are driving traffic to your site.

For example, you might see that a specific Facebook post is driving a lot of traffic, and then use that information to create more content like it.

UTM tracking helps you find out which websites and ad locations are bringing in the most traffic and leading to the most conversions.

You can use UTM tracking to see how many clicks and conversions each separate ad is getting, even if they're landing on the same product page. This information can help you optimize your CPC and hone your ad spend to only the best-converting placements.

For example, if you run two different types of banner ads for the same product, one in the sidebar and the other in the page content, UTM tracking will show you which one is performing better.

UTM tracking is a game-changer for advertisers, allowing you to see which ad placements are driving the most traffic and conversions.

By using UTM parameters, you can compare the performance of different ad placements, such as sidebar ads versus page content ads. This information will help you optimize your CPC and allocate your ad spend more effectively.

With UTM tracking, you can see how many clicks and conversions each separate ad is getting, even if they're landing on the same product page. This level of detail allows you to make data-driven decisions about your ad placement strategy.

For example, let's say you run two different types of banner ads for the same product. One ad is placed in the sidebar and the other ad is shown in the page content. Using UTM tracking, you can see which ad is performing better and adjust your strategy accordingly.

UTM parameters allow you to track the effectiveness of content across different channels. You can use them to see which channel sent the best traffic.

For example, if you publish the same content on multiple channels, you can use UTM codes to see which one performed better. This is especially useful if you run an article on three different social media networks and send it out via email.

Here are some common UTM parameters you can use to track content effectiveness across channels:

By using UTM parameters, you can easily see which channel sent the best traffic and make data-driven decisions to optimize your content strategy.

UTM codes help you tie a dollar figure back to your marketing campaigns. You'll know exactly which campaigns and posts are driving conversions.

You can see how each campaign performed, which helps you plan future campaign messaging and forecast your potential return on investment (ROI).

With UTM codes, you can drill down into each campaign's performance, making it easier to allocate your marketing budget more appropriately.

For example, running several organic social media campaigns advertising products shows you which campaigns are working best.

Inconsistent parameters can lead to incorrect, incomplete, or hard-to-interpret data, so it's crucial to set up naming conventions and stick to them.

To avoid this, create a guide for naming conventions before making a ton of UTMs or asking your team members to use them.

You'll want to consider how granular you want your sources to be, what you consider to be the "medium" of a source, and if there are things that you run consistently that should always use the same name.

Having these things laid out beforehand will save you (and your analyst) a ton of time and heartache.

UTMs are case sensitive, so be sure to use the same naming convention throughout.

It's recommended to always use lowercase letters in your UTMs to avoid counting different sources separately.

To make your UTMs easily interpretable, be descriptive with your tags and use recognizable and clear terms.

For example, instead of using ambiguous terms like "1A" or "1C", use descriptive terms that anyone interpreting the data can understand.

Here are some best practices for parameter naming:

A good UTM parameter should tell you something different about your visitors, so it's best to avoid repeating yourself and use each parameter to answer a question.

The campaign and medium parameters are two essential components of UTM tracking. They help you understand which marketing efforts are driving traffic and conversions to your website. The medium parameter defines the type of traffic, such as "organic" or "email".

These parameters are used to group similar traffic types together, allowing you to monitor their performance at a high level and use them as benchmarks. For example, if your email traffic usually converts at a rate of 8%, but a specific campaign converts at only 2%, you can identify the underperforming campaign and make adjustments.

The campaign parameter sets the name of the specific marketing campaign, like "fall_sale" or "product_launch". This parameter is useful for tracking the effectiveness of a particular marketing campaign across multiple channels.

Here are the two parameters in a nutshell:

By using these parameters, you can gain valuable insights into your marketing performance and make data-driven decisions to improve your campaigns.