UTM Codes And Why You Should Be Using Them

UTM Codes are important for tracking correctly from different sources.

Obviously, you need to be tracking your results, but it's very important to understand which marketing channel are creating those conversions for you.
UTM or Urchin Traffic Monitor Codes allow you to do this.

how to setup UTM tracking codes

These parameters attach UTM codes to the end of a web address to create a unique tracking code.  When a user clicks on the link, the tags are sent back to your analytics software, giving you insight on how many people are coming through your traffic sources.

UTM Codes are universally accepted as a tracking paradigm.  So not only will Google Analytics understand them, but all other reputable analytics software will understand these and accept the data from them.

Basically the UTM parameters get passed in the URL address of the link and allow you to track the source of each link.You should bookmark a UTM builder so you can easily use this in all your marketing, like the UTM builder tool here.

So the next time you promote an affiliate product, don't use your link, create a special UTM code, particularly if you are promoting any of your own websites or funnels.

Here's a breakdown of what each of the terms mean:

Website URL

This is the page you want your audience to land on.  This is the link you would use if you were not using UTM codes 😉

Campaign Source

This is the channel you want to track. The term should match where you’re putting the link (for example: Email, Facebook, Instagram.)

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Campaign Medium

The campaign medium is what’s generating the traffic. The medium is where the link was shared (for example: social, CPC, banner ad, email, etc). This tells you how your traffic is coming to you.

Campaign Name

This is the internal unique identifier given to your campaign (for example: website launch, product video, sale, etc). The campaign name tells you why traffic is coming to you.

Campaign Term

The campaign term identifies keywords that are used in paid search.Campaign Name & Term are used when performing A/B testing. Both of these optional fields allow for more granular tracking.  This is used mainly for keyword tracking, but it can identify a specific targeting “audience” in Facebook, for example.

Tip:Don’t get too caught up on UTM source and medium, these are fields created to help you. Use them in whatever way keeps you organized.

You don't need to use all 5.  The first two are the most important.

Now when you look at your Google Analytics data, you can slice it by traffic source!  Yeah, boss!

Are you currently using UTM codes?  If not, why not?

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