UTM values: what are they and what are they for?

Do you want to know everything about the people who visit your website? Are your digital marketing actions working? You just need to know what UTM is to answer these questions highly accurately .   

Índice

  1. What is UTM
  2. What is a UTM for?
  3. How to create a UTM

What is UTM

We call UTM the codes that are inserted at the end of a URL to know where exactly your website traffic comes from (ads on social networks or Google Ads , blog, newsletter , etc.) That is why it is a very important tool for determine if our online marketing actions work as expected.         

To better understand what UTM is, we must start from its literal meaning: Urchin Tracking Module . This company was purchased by Google in 2005 and renamed Analytics .   

Surely when you browse the Internet you have come across these types of parameters many times, even without knowing what UTM is and what it is for. And its use is full of non-negligible advantages : 

  • Improve the keyword list 

  • Discover what content is ideal to attract the buyer persona   

  • Track useful information to correctly segment visitors  

  • Identify the campaigns, promotions and links that work best  

  • Optimize the results offered by Google Analyti

What is a UTM for?

These text fragments (also called codes, parameters or coordinates) allow Google Analytics to be more precise when investigating traffic sources . Thus, the same URL can contain several UTMs intended to inform on very specific aspects. 

To understand what UTM coordinates are, we must assume that there are five different types of codes : 

  • 1. utm_source – What website am I getting traffic from? 

  • 2. utm_medium – From which medium was my website clicked?  

  • 3. utm_term : what is the keyword by which the client found me? 

  • 4. utm_content : what kind of content brought the customer to my website? 

  • 5. utm_campaign : what is the promotion that brought the customer to my website? 

What is a UTM for?

The fastest way to generate UTM codes is to use Google URL Builder : a free tool that is very easy to use. In fact, you just have to fill in the fields presented to you to obtain your personalized parameter. 

  • Enter the full URL of your website

  • Determine the five UTM parameters of the campaign . Namely: source (URL of the campaign), medium (how you have delivered the campaign to your users), term (keywords), content (words that define each ad) and name (promotions) 

  • We recommend shortening the resulting URL with the link shortener provided by the tool  

  • Every time a visitor clicks on a link to which a UTM parameter has been added, Analytics will track it, providing you with valuable information about it. 

Now that you know what UTM is and what you have to do to create this type of code, you can start using these parameters to improve Google Analytics. It’s perfect for taking your conversion rate to the next level.