In plain English
It's a coupon code printed on one flyer and not the others. When someone uses it, you know exactly which flyer brought them in.
Used in a sentence
“Every link in the newsletter has UTM tags, so you'll see how many bookings each email brought in.”
“Our Instagram link just showed up as "direct" traffic, so we couldn't tell it was working.”
In detail
UTM tags are parameters added after a question mark in a link, such as utm_source, utm_medium and utm_campaign, plus optional utm_term and utm_content. Analytics tools read them and group visits accordingly, so a link in your email signature, your Business Profile and a QR code on a van can each be measured.
Keep the labels consistent, since they're case-sensitive, and only use them on links from outside your site. Adding UTM tags to links between your own pages restarts the visit and muddles the data.
Why it matters for your business
UTM tags show which posts, emails and offline materials actually bring people to your site.
- Measure emails, posts and print
- Compare campaigns fairly
- Stop good sources hiding as "direct"
Easy to mix up
UTM tags don't track people; they label links. They tell analytics the source of a visit, nothing more.
Related terms
Google Analytics (GA4), Conversion tracking and Organic traffic. Or browse the whole glossary.
