You've probably seen URLs with long strings of text after a ? — things likeutm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email. Those are UTM parameters: small tags that tell your analytics platform exactly where a visitor came from. This guide explains everything you need to know to start using them.

What are UTM parameters?

UTM stands for Urchin Tracking Module — named after the analytics company Google acquired to build Google Analytics. UTM parameters are query string tags you add to any URL so your analytics platform can attribute traffic to the correct source, medium, and campaign.

They don't affect the destination page. The page loads normally; the UTM tags are simply read by the analytics script on arrival and recorded in your reports.

The 5 UTM parameters

utm_source — where the traffic came from. Examples: google,newsletter, twitter, partner-site.
utm_medium — the marketing channel. Examples: email,social, cpc, banner.
utm_campaign — the campaign name. Examples: spring-sale,product-launch, weekly-digest.
utm_content (optional) — differentiates links within the same campaign. Useful for A/B tests. Examples: hero-button, footer-link.
utm_term (optional) — the paid search keyword that triggered the ad. Mostly used with Google Ads.

Only utm_source, utm_medium, and utm_campaign are required. The others are optional and only worth adding when you need to distinguish between multiple links in the same campaign.

How to build a UTM URL

A UTM URL is just your original URL with parameters appended after a ?:

https://yoursite.com/product?utm_source=instagram&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=summer-launch

Use & to separate each parameter. If your URL already has a query string, append the UTM tags with & instead of ?.

UTM best practices

Always use lowercase. Email and email are treated as different values in Google Analytics.
Use hyphens, not spaces or underscores. spring-sale is cleaner than spring_sale or spring%20sale.
Be consistent. Decide on a naming convention and stick to it so your reports stay readable.
Don't UTM-tag internal links. Tagging links between your own pages will break session attribution in Google Analytics.

Pairing UTM parameters with short links

UTM URLs can get very long, which looks messy in social posts, emails, and print. The solution is to UTM-tag your URL first, then shorten it:

Build your full UTM URL.
Paste it into Shortfy.
Share the clean short link — the UTM parameters are preserved in the redirect.

This gives you two layers of analytics: Shortfy records total click counts and geo data, while Google Analytics records source, medium, and campaign attribution.

Viewing UTM data in Google Analytics 4

In GA4, go to Reports → Acquisition → Traffic acquisition. Change the primary dimension to Session source / medium to see your UTM-tagged traffic broken down by source and medium. Use Session campaign to filter by campaign name.

UTM Parameters: A Complete Beginner's Guide (2026)